Coolant low after 300 miles?

[kundalini]

Brand new 2015 model, only about a month old and I've run down my coolant. Is this normal? Never had any kind of vehicle before, so I have no frame of reference. I've had a poke around the reserve tank and I can't see any obvious signs of leaking, but the pipes are pretty tucked away so I can't see all that much. Probably had to the dealer after work tomorrow to ask them and at least buy some coolant, but I wanted to ask you guys too in case they fob me off.

I checked my oil too (yeah, I've been far too lax on maintenance thus far), and my god is that dip stick tricky to read. I'm supposed to see the mark of a thin oil on a 1cm strip of thatched turquoise plastic?

Clearly me and maintenance don't get on

[iceman]

Apparently your supposed to turn the steering to the left when on the centre stand and read the level that way - it definitely goes up. Mine dropped from new but is ok doing it this way - strange it's not in the user manual if the approved method.

Yes, the dip stick is tricky to read and not too easy to get to. Once out, wipe it clean and put in but don't screw it in - the level should be covering most of the thatched area. Mine was doing ok but I had to add quite a bit recently to bring it to a decent level (2 year old 4 stroke car 10w30!). I will add new oil soon as I am on 4800 now.

[kundalini]

Apparently your supposed to turn the steering to the left when on the centre stand and read the level that way - it definitely goes up. Mine dropped from new but is ok doing it this way - strange it's not in the user manual if the approved method.

Yes, the dip stick is tricky to read and not too easy to get to. Once out, wipe it clean and put in but don't screw it in - the level should be covering most of the thatched area. Mine was doing ok but I had to add quite a bit recently to bring it to a decent level (2 year old 4 stroke car 10w30!). I will add new oil soon as I am on 4800 now.

Cheers for the info Iceman. I did read the steering turning thing (I think when I did a pre-search on here). I was doing that anyway as I always lock the steering to the left. Still just below "low". I'll see what Honda make of it. To be fair, they've been really helpful so far, so I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of it.

[yak]

You shouldn't be low on coolant at 300 miles. But a bottle of the premixed Honda coolant is cheap. The tank is fairly easy to read. Monitor it. You will get to know the pattern of fluid loss.

The nipple (that is what the mechanic called it) broke off from my coolant tank. That emptied the coolant fast.

[WhiteNoise]

Ain't that oil dipstick a treat? There's a Honda procedure to this madness. 2015 user manual (the one we get with scoot) says to check yer oil this way vv (I do it, it works )

[iceman]

Yeah WhiteNoise - a real pain. Idle for 3-5 mins, let it cool for 2-3 mins, remove and check the tiddly well recessed dipstick - repeat every day. No thanks - I'll check it from cold every month or so and make sure oil is on the notched part after cleaning and checking a few times. If I have no leak at home or parked in the same place at work - should be good enough.

[jims]

Kundalini, Keep a close eye on that coolant. I would check it before every ride until you get a handle on what's going on. If you see it going down and find no external leaks, suspect that the engine is using it. My bike started using it in April. It finely started to not start with a cold engine. When it gets bad enough the coolant fouls the plug. On my bike it looks like the head gasket went bad. I'm still working the problem.
jim