Honda coolant. Car vs motorcycle???

[Jimiii]

I don’t own a Honda car but when I look on line I see the coolant service schedule for late model Hondas are very extended. 7 or more years or 100,000 miles. I just bought a 2018 new gen Honda GoldWing that was originally purchased (by a friend of mine), June 2020. The manual calls for coolant flush at 2 years / 30,000 miles. I find it almost inconceivable that Honda is using 2 different formulas of coolant ( other than the color dye), and choosing to use a lower quality in their flagship $30,000 plus bikes. Any facts or educated opinions will be appreciated.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Whoops. Need to change my motorcycle coolant. I just use regular asian coolant in my Yamaha. Running since 2002

 

[ripcord]

I don’t own a Honda car but when I look on line I see the coolant service schedule for late model Hondas are very extended. 7 or more years or 100,000 miles. I just bought a 2018 new gen Honda GoldWing that was originally purchased (by a friend of mine), June 2020. The manual calls for coolant flush at 2 years / 30,000 miles. I find it almost inconceivable that Honda is using 2 different formulas of coolant ( other than the color dye), and choosing to use a lower quality in their flagship $30,000 plus bikes. Any facts or educated opinions will be appreciated.

It's probably that the GoldWing is harder on the coolant than a car? More HP per cubic inch, lower volume of coolant circulating for the amount of work it does? More contamination, etc?

 

[twX]

Motorcycle manufacturers are known to be very conservative with most maintenance recommendations, probably for liability reasons. Coolant degrades over time, but does so much faster at high temperatures when the engine is running. If the bike's mileage is low and it's stored in a cool garage most of the time, I wouldn't hesitate to at least double the time interval.

You can buy test strips to test the coolant condition. Another method is to use a DC voltmeter with one probe in the radiator coolant, and the other to the negative battery terminal. This will test the conductivity of the coolant, which increases as it gets contaminated by products of corrosion and as ethylene glycol breaks down. A good reading is <100 mV, with 200-300 mV supposedly being a reasonable condemnation limit. It will vary by engine and multimeter though, so I'd get a baseline reading with relatively fresh coolant, then change the coolant once it's significantly more conductive.

 

[Tkonrr]

I was told on Honda bike forums that both Honda car/SUV and Honda motorcycle coolants are identical in formula. Obviously the car gallon jugs are more economical.

 

[Bluestream]

Motorcycle manufacturers are known to be very conservative with most maintenance recommendations, probably for liability reasons. Coolant degrades over time, but does so much faster at high temperatures when the engine is running. If the bike's mileage is low and it's stored in a cool garage most of the time, I wouldn't hesitate to at least double the time interval.

You can buy test strips to test the coolant condition. Another method is to use a DC voltmeter with one probe in the radiator coolant, and the other to the negative battery terminal. This will test the conductivity of the coolant, which increases as it gets contaminated by products of corrosion and as ethylene glycol breaks down. A good reading is

This! My 2007 Yamaha recommends changing my brake lines every 4 years. ( i still have original) They recommend changing spark plugs every 8,000KM, or once a year. My 10 year old Sea-Doo GTR has the original coolant and it looks like Prestone LL, I don't plan to change it.

 

[KrisZ]

There is absolutely no ready why motorcycle coolant would be different from automotive coolant in except for marketing reasons.