Startup issues on Ryker 900 - is it normal to add coolant?

Lady rider here has a question! We started having issues with our 2021 Ryker 900. After a short ride, bringing the engine up to temp, we noticed if we shut it off and attempt a restart it would stall and not run. We were concerned about overheating in the Texas heat (100+) so we were afraid to ride it a lot this summer. Well it was still happening on cooler days. It has about 2900 miles on it and we bought it brand new. We noticed the coolant level was below the minimum line. Naturally we filled it up and charged the battery externally and now we don’t have any issues. My question is, is it normal to have to fill the coolant up this soon or should we be concerned about a leak. Haven't noticed any spots on the ground but I thought it was odd.

Hi RC, & Welcome to the Forum! :2thumbs: . I've moved your thread out of the Welcome section (where only a few of us are likely to ever see it! :sour: ) and expanded the Title to briefly ask your question (briefly asking your question in the Title helps searching and gets in the readers more likely to respond. :ohyea: )

You could've easily lost a little coolant if you've ever ridden it on one of those very hot days, or maybe it had a little air bubble in the system from the factory & it took a bit of a while to work its way out?!? :dontknow: . Either way, if you've topped it up now & it's starting fine atm, I don't think you should worry overly much; just keep an eye on the coolant level... maybe check it before each ride for the next few months & see how it behaves?

Given the heat you've had out your way over summer, those starting issues you were having after a warm up ride could simply have been a vapour lock due to the heat or even just an issue with cooking off the initial few injector shots into the cylinders.... and the coolant use sorta suggests it was probably something like that too - doing a short sharp run & getting an engine warmed up in a high temp environment & then shutting down so there's no oil or coolant circulating & leaving it for a bit does lend itself to 'heat soak' & both the fuel & coolant can get quite hot fairly quickly, often doing pretty much what you've described.... hence why I wouldn't really worry about it too much if things are working fine now the weather's cooling off a bit for you. It's not too good for the battery either - they don't like short runs, cos they don't get enough charging time to restore the charge loss from the last start! They much prefer runs of 30+ minutes at highway revs, and will rapidly lose charge/condition if you don't give them that at least once a week or so! And they REALLY don't like being turned on & left to idle for a while 'just to keep things lubed/charged up' - if you can't ride it for a couple of weeks or more, connect up a proper battery maintainer and don't run it at all during a lay-over, unless you can actually RIDE it for at least 30 mins at highway speeds! :lecturef_smilie:

But I'd also be a bit wary of just pulling up after a ride in the heat with a warm/hot engine & instantly shutting it down... if it's hot out & the engine is warm, just let it idle down for maybe a minute or 2 before shutting it down - that doesn't mean you need to let it sit there idling for a minute or so after you stop, altho that can work, if you don't idle it for too long; you can usually just take it a bit easier in the last 2 minutes or so of your ride, coast for a bit, or simply just ride to keep the revs down a tad as you travel the last mile or so to your stop.... just let the engine take it easy for that last mile/minute or 2 in order to give the cooling system a chance to start taking the edge off the heat in the cylinders & block so that there's not so much heat to get rid of/dissipate once you shut it down & the oil/coolant stops circulating. By doing this, you're just reducing the opportunity for heat soak to cook off the last bit of fuel in the injector system held close to the heads; avoids burning off the oil on the cylinder walls & valve gear; reduces vapourising the coolant immediately surrounding the hot bits of cylinders & heads; so overall, that idle down/cool off bit ttends to minimise any potential coolant loss & it generally makes for easier starting of a hot engine on those particularly hot days!

Over to you! :cheers:


Oh, & it's worth checking out the big text down below in my sig line & maybe trying to make that a daily practice! :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Rcbluhm

Lady rider here has a question! We started having issues with our 2021 Ryker 900. After a short ride, bringing the engine up to temp, we noticed if we shut it off and attempt a restart it would stall and not run. We were concerned about overheating in the Texas heat (100+) so we were afraid to ride it a lot this summer. Well it was still happening on cooler days. It has about 2900 miles on it and we bought it brand new. We noticed the coolant level was below the minimum line. Naturally we filled it up and charged the battery externally and now we don’t have any issues. My question is, is it normal to have to fill the coolant up this soon or should we be concerned about a leak. Haven't noticed any spots on the ground but I thought it was odd.

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:congrats:..... :welcome: .... " bringing the engine up to temp " .... this is a myth ..... Just drive it without ACCELERATING too quickly for about 2 mi. .... and the Ryker will be fine ..... I can't help with the starting issue I don't own a Ryker ..... Mike :thumbup:

Lots of info thanks! It’s another scorcher today too.

What is temperature gauge reading?
Once mine warmed up (1/2 mile around the community at 15 MPH in summer) the reading was steady.
A mechanical thermostat controls coolant flow.
An electrical sensor controls fan operation. Does fan operate?

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...rs#post1531384

I had zero temperature issues running in Las Vegas, NV at temps just under 120F.

As already mentioned:
1. Reservoir may not have been filled when set up
2. Air bubble may have been present

How did it behave just before stalling upon restart?