installed overflow bottle with pics

i have recently installed a little bottle on my 07 fe550 as it pisses out coolant like no tomorrow on slow tight tracks,
, its pretty basic

drilled hole for hose in the lid and then drilled a little hole next to it on lid for a breather.

the bottle only holds 130mls so i will just have to see how it goes tomorrow, but it was only bottle i could find that would fit there, i will be getting a yamaha one eventually

This one is from a Yamaha Raptor quad.

I use the setup from a WR450 Yamaha on both my 450 and 650. Mounts right under the seat on the right, and looks almost like it was made for the bike...at least after drilling a couple of holes in the frame gusset and using a couple of spacers.

I guess I should take a pic. If anyone wants to see that then post here and I'll get it done.

Satex said:

I use the setup from a WR450 Yamaha on both my 450 and 650. Mounts right under the seat on the right, and looks almost like it was made for the bike...at least after drilling a couple of holes in the frame gusset and using a couple of spacers.

I guess I should take a pic. If anyone wants to see that then post here and I'll get it done.

Click to expand...

Post it Bud i wanna check it out

Robg187 said:

Satex said:

I use the setup from a WR450 Yamaha on both my 450 and 650. Mounts right under the seat on the right, and looks almost like it was made for the bike...at least after drilling a couple of holes in the frame gusset and using a couple of spacers.

I guess I should take a pic. If anyone wants to see that then post here and I'll get it done.

Click to expand...

Post it Bud i wanna check it out

Click to expand...

Per your request. I ordered a WR450 overflow bottle with cap, and then bought about 4 ft of rubber tubing about the same as the stock overview tubing.The tubing follows the electrical harness, and then goes to the bottle through a notched that I filed out of the top of the inner fender. Oh yeah...mounting the bottle takes a bit of fidgeting, and I also filed down some of plastic of the inner fender where it mounts on the right side of the frame. Get some nylon spacers and the correct lenght bolts (I should have kept records, but I didn't) and you're ready. Total cost is about $25.

Filling the bottle requires a very small bottle, a long funnel, or removal of the fender, but you rarely need to add any fluid.

Nice one!!!! only 25$$$$$ nothing wrong. :idea:

sickd said:

i have recently installed a little bottle on my 07 fe550 as it pisses out coolant like no tomorrow on slow tight tracks,
, its pretty basic

drilled hole for hose in the lid and then drilled a little hole next to it on lid for a breather.

the bottle only holds 130mls so i will just have to see how it goes tomorrow, but it was only bottle i could find that would fit there, i will be getting a yamaha one eventually

Click to expand...

The only thing that I would worry about is the low mounting position of the coolant bottle. Will the coolant be properly 'sucked' back into the radiator when the coolant cools down considering the long distance between the overflow and the bottle.?

A mate of mine on a CR500 used a baby bottle strapped to the side of the frame. all up cost was about 15 bucks for the bottle, an old tube and zip ties - he wrapped it in the tube for a little protection, but mainly so it didnt look like he had a baby bottle strapped to his bike.

he just cut a little hole into the nipple and shoved the existing hose into it, then zip tied it all on.

I'll be attempting a similar overflow bottle attachment on my '09 FE450 in the next few weeks, when i do a coolant flush. will post piccies.

Also i've noticed that the stock overflow setup is the hose sending it straight onto the head. my experience with older car engines says this is bad juju, but i could be wrong with the bergs setup. will fitting the overflow bottle cause further overheat damage by removing the flow of excess coolant onto the engine? or would it minimise ride-home damage by maintaining coolant levels?

Chas said:

sickd said:

i have recently installed a little bottle on my 07 fe550 as it pisses out coolant like no tomorrow on slow tight tracks,
, its pretty basic

drilled hole for hose in the lid and then drilled a little hole next to it on lid for a breather.

the bottle only holds 130mls so i will just have to see how it goes tomorrow, but it was only bottle i could find that would fit there, i will be getting a yamaha one eventually

Click to expand...

The only thing that I would worry about is the low mounting position of the coolant bottle. Will the coolant be properly 'sucked' back into the radiator when the coolant cools down considering the long distance between the overflow and the bottle.?

Click to expand...

been on few rides now on some killer hot days and it sucks up the coolant no worries i never see it with anything in it, should i put some coolant in the bottle or is it fine to be empty

sickd said:

been on few rides now on some killer hot days and it sucks up the coolant no worries i never see it with anything in it, should i put some coolant in the bottle or is it fine to be empty

Click to expand...

The advantage of keeping some coolant in the bottle at all times is that it keeps you informed that the radiator coolant is full at all times......just like in your car or truck.

hey, ride an 09 fe450

started buying stuff for an overflow tank. using a babies bottle for the tank itself, as it is cheap, can handle high temps, and is fairly rugged & flexible. bought most the stuff for it from kmart - bottle, 100mph tape, and zip ties ($15... being the professional i am, i forgot extra tubing so the only place it fits is right infront of the radiator). the checkout chick - who was a bit of an old duck - gave me the strangest look when i got to the register, but didnt say anything. when i left...
her - "have a good day sir"
me - "yeah i sure will, that little bugger wont be throwing his bottle around the room anymore"

i think she went into shock. even if this overflow bottle turns out to be a dismal failure, it'll still be worth it just for the look on her face. got me to wondering what she'd have been thinking if i'd remembered the tubing.

does anyone know of a good place to put an overflow tank on the 09 berg?