Okay, I found a few things out while working on the Hurricane. Before the ride to Mena, the water pump on the new motor had the seal go out on the water pump. I ordered the seals and bolts to rebuild the water pump. When the parts came in, I went to work. I pulled the water pump off and replaced all the seals in it. I figured if I had to remove it, I might as well just replace everything. When I put it back together, everything was fine. The bike ran wonderful....in the garage. I figured I was completed with the task and had done a good job. I took the bike to work a couple days ago and as I rode I noticed the needle on the temp gauge jumped quickly to HOT. As I rode, I knew the bike wasn't overheating....but I continued to think what might've gone wrong. I revved the motor and the needle would briefly go down, but then quickly go back up. I thought maybe the fan had went out because it wasn't turning on....but that wouldn't explain the heat up while riding. I kept thinking about it and thought maybe the water pump went out completely, but there's nothing to the water pump to go out. It's a single shaft with a fan on it and pulls water. After I got the bike back home, I felt around the engine and it felt "not hot" and the same with the radiator. So, was I looking at a faulty gauge? I did some reading on the internet and it turns out there's a difference between coolants and for the CBR Honda motors, everyone recommends the Hondaline brand because of something called "silicate". Hmm....doing some more research, maybe this was it. I went to the store and picked up a couple gallons of distilled water and fully flushed the system clean and refilled it with the Hondaline coolant. Now, here's the kicker of what I discovered....and notice I haven't finished my story, yet. The coolant system fully drained is to hold 2.2 quarts of coolant. When I put the plug back in the drain and refilled the radiator, I filled it to the neck with just over 1 quart. Something surely wasn't right. As I stood there and looked at this bottle to make sure the capacity, it dawned on me. I stood the bike up from it's kickstand and the coolant went way down and air blew up. I finished filling the neck of the radiator with the bike upright. I found that when I filled the radiator before, I had the bike on the sidestand keeping the radiator from completely filling. Essentially, I turned the bike into an air cooled engine by not filling the system up. When the water pump hit air, it spun the air around thus heating the motor up. The sensor for the gauge is in the engine and the sensor for the fan was in the radiator, which would leave the fan thinking the bike wasn't running hot. I went ahead and ran the bike while standing upright and the coolant bubbled until all the air came out. I put the cap on the radiator and suddenly the gauge started going up....but this time the fan kicked on and all is well now. I reset the idle and put the Hurricane back together with the confidence that this time it has a full cooling system with fresh coolant and a good mix where I shouldn't have any cooling or heating problems from this new motor again. Oh, one more thing I learned....when pulling a gas tank that's been filled up right before pulling it, make sure you sit it level. Otherwise, the gas will seep out the over vent and make your house's garage smell like a refinery....and have your wife pissed off when you open the door and she smells it entering the house.
