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After sitting for about a month, the Relfex really didn't want to run. I've been really busy on the weekends helping at my friend's horse farm, so haven't had much time to mess with bikes.

I had tried to take it to work two weeks ago, but a low battery combined with a refusal to idle meant it got put back into the garage that day.

With extra time available this morning, I tried it again. It took about 15 minutes before it would idle steady, but would die if I gave it any throttle. 5 minutes later, I could rev it to 2000 RPM, but no further. 5 more minutes of idling and it would wind out all the way to redline, but there still seems a bit of hesitation right around 1500 RPM (this might just be where the transmission engages).

If you remember, the scooter overheated on the way home after I purchased it due to low coolant. Today on the way to work, the coolant temp guage was on high by the time I reached the office. I'll double check the coolant resevoir before going home - it is possible that I wasn't able to totally fill the system last time and it's still low on coolant.

A few observations: The Reflex handles much more motorcycle-like than the Elite. Perhaps this is due to the larger wheels and weight. I've got a slightly dragging rear brake caliper - probably need to grease the pins or sliders or whatever it has. Acceleration is on par with the Elite, just that the acceleration continues past the point where the Elite would peter out. The extra storage space is great; makes it much more practical as a daily vehicle than the Elite.

I hope it starts this afternoon; I expect it will.

Filled (actually over-filled because I couldn't see the level) the coolant resevoir bottle before heading home.

Reflex died after the first start, but stayed running with a little careful throttle management after that.

On the short trip, the temp gauge went to 3/4 hot. I parked in the garage and shut it off, then noticed a line of coolant from the driveway into the garage, and a small puddle under the scooter. I didn't see any active drips coming from the bike and the line of coolant started in the driveway where I was sitting for a short time while opening the door. If I had to guess, I'd say it was coming from the area of the radiator in the front nose cowl.

I'm guessing the system was dumping excess coolant due to the overfilled resevoir bottle.

Other possibilities: loose radiator hose that leaks under pressure (would explain the original low coolant incident), bad thermostat (opening too late) or bad temp sensor.

Any other ideas?

Checked the coolant resevoir today (with a light this time so I could see what I was doing) and it had dropped to just below the 'low' mark. So I filled it to the 'full' mark. Hopefully weather will hold off and I'll ride to work again this week; this is about a 5 mile trip, so enough to get the scooter to temp, but not so long as to strand me someplace.

I'm not much of a mechanic, but having the reservoir drop to below low from having been overfilled the day before does NOT sound good.

That tidbit aside, though, I know that our bike radiators have to be fully 'belched' of air after a coolant change, or whenever they get too low for the reservoir to keep it full. What I mean is that air bubbles can be in the radiator that decrease cooling efficiency and might break the vacuum between the radiator and the reservoir.

My thinking is much along the same lines. Once I can establish that I've filled the cooling system, then I can start trying to diagnosis possible leaks. I'm trying to avoid pulling the bodywork off, but that might be inevitable.

Air in the coolant system is bad, although I would not consider it end-of-the-world sorta bad. Air pockets will cause your scooter (or motorcycle, or ???) to run hotter than it should. On most motorcycle (and scooter) that have a reservoir, you should not be filling the system at the radiator cap (not saying you ever do, just saying...). Until all the air is out of the system (if that is the problem), you will continue to see it coughing up bodily fluids.

Since it's not 30ºF out right now, I would be filling it with straight water right now. Straight water is a better coolant than anti-freeze (anti-freeze is actually an insulator). Just don't forget to put the anti-freeze back in before Winter. Once you get your issues resolved and you find that it is still running a tad bit hot, I'd suggest adding some 'Water Wetter' or something similar.

If I run my Elite WOT (70mph+) for an extended period of time, it will pi$s out a bit of coolant after I park it. Keep in mind, that some machines are just not meant to be run at max speed for extended periods of time. Hehe... anywho, I'm probably gonna add some Water Wetter to mine in the near future.

Not sure if anything I've said is relevant or will help, or if I'm just blabbering.

I've experienced something very similar with my Elite - running WOT for about 5 miles, partially uphill then hitting stop and go traffic, and the temp would go to max. It never spit any fluid, and would eventually fall, but it made me nervous. I think the cooling system is designed to maintain with the assumption being cruising, not performance, and once you remove the additional airflow cooling, the heat soak from the engine hits the radiator.

As far as using just water or water + Water Wetter, should I use distilled water to avoid any calcium or other minerals found in tap water? Right now I'm using a 50/50 mix of ethel glycol and distilled water. Since the scooter will always be garaged, I'm not too concerned with freezing temps.

Update:

Rode to work again this morning, had to hook the scooter to the battery charger because initially it didn't want to idle.

Checked the resevoir before starting - it was just below the full mark, so I was good there.

Regarding the temp during the trip - got to 3/4 Hot indication on the gauge, then to my surprise it started lowering slightly. Stayed at 3/4 for the rest of the way to work. When I pulled in to work and parked, I had a small puddle of coolant around the front tire, and a short trail along my path.

Perhaps 3/4 hot is operating temperature?

At this point I'm thinking maybe a loose hose clamp; I wish I had a few more data points, like coolant system pressure and actual temperature. As soon as some space clears up in my buddy's garage (right now he has three Harleys in there), we'll do a little tear down, look at the cooling system and maybe clean the carb.

I might have resolved (I won't say solved) the cooling issue. I topped off the coolant resevoir before going home Tuesday, but this time I didn't see any leakage when I parked.

Today I checked the resevoir and it was right in the middle between full and low, so I left it. Rode to work and the temp only went up to 50% of the range and stayed there, no leaking coolant when I parked. Checked it before heading home for lunch, resevoir still at 1/2, and temp got to 50% by the ride home and no leaks.

I'm still having trouble with it not wanting to stay running when cold; not sure if it's a carb adjustment or the automatic choke not working properly.