Not sure we are on the same page. ??

Coolant expands when heated, and then contracts when again cooled. So a full radiator, with the coolant cold, absolutely will cause the coolant to expand when it is heated (the engine is running) and the pressure caused by this will force the radiator cap open (to the first stage on modern vehicles) and purge the [now] excess fluid. On all modern vehicles, there is an overflow bottle to catch this 'overflow' and hold it until the coolant in the engine and radiator again cool down (sometime after the bike is shut off). When the coolant cools and shrinks, it creates a vacuum and the radiator cap will again allow a 'leak' to the first stage, which is connected to the bottom of the overflow bottle, thereby drawing the original purged fluid back into the radiator.

I was merely  responding to your statement "it really can't suck air into the radiator from an empty reservoir bottle." which is incorrect. If the coolant shrinks, creates a vacuum but there is no fluid in the overflow bottle (for whatever reason) then the cooling system cannot help but suck air into the top of the radiator. That is all I was responding to, the statement quoted above that you made  in a previous post. If there were quantifiers in your post, I either did not see them or did / do not understand them. ??

Brian

mmmmm.....
we can agree to disagree...
if you go back, and read the full body of what i said, that you pulled the quote from, you will see the first thing I wrote beginning that post.
IF the radiator is completely full (right up to the neck, as it should be), AND IF there are no leaks allowing a loss of coolant from anywhere in the system, then it cannot occur, as any burped out coolant will flow to the bottle, and be returned to the radiator when the system cools..so a completely full radiator can't suck in air, when it's full of coolant...  or am I wrong?
 

anyway, I think Brent has it covered now, and they can also check to see if they plugged both the fans in when they inspect...

Yes, a leak and therefore an empty overflow bottle. The other potential problem, although you should not have this due to a valve lash check, would be that the hose that runs to the bottom of the overflow bottle fell off so the radiator ships fluid to the overflow bottle but sucks air from the top of the overflow bottle when the bike cools. The draw point needs to be at the bottom of the overflow tank.

Brian

Both fans were running when I arrived at home yesterday.

A full radiator, brought up to temperature will as you say expel fluid as the temp climbs. Then could suck in air if there was a leak in the overflow bottle that would allow the excess to leak out and only leave air, as the radiator temp cools.

And BTW, even that should not cause the bike to run noticeably hotter IMO. The radiator will still be full when hot, and very nearly full when cold, and the vehicle will perform just fine that way as did a gazillion vehicles with water cooling made long before overflow tanks came into being. I believe you have a different problem, though of course that is just a guess....

Brian

Both fans were running when I arrived at home yesterday.

A full radiator, brought up to temperature will as you say expel fluid as the temp climbs. Then could suck in air if there was a leak in the overflow bottle that would allow the excess to leak out and only leave air, as the radiator temp cools.

I checked my records and it is in fact only three total. Once at 16k, and another at 53k. Always in spec, but most don't believe me on that.

I am one who absolutely believes it is possible.    I think we have had almost as many reports of "always in spec" as those needing adjustments.  Usually it seems to be a first inspection is out of spec and adjusted and subsequent ones are in spec.  But it also seems anything is possible (including some dealers lying about what work they are doing and/or saying something slightly out of spec is in spec).

Not sure we are on the same page. ??

Coolant expands when heated, and then contracts when again cooled. So a full radiator, with the coolant cold, absolutely will cause the coolant to expand when it is heated (the engine is running) and the pressure caused by this will force the radiator cap open (to the first stage on modern vehicles) and purge the [now] excess fluid. On all modern vehicles, there is an overflow bottle to catch this 'overflow' and hold it until the coolant in the engine and radiator again cool down (sometime after the bike is shut off). When the coolant cools and shrinks, it creates a vacuum and the radiator cap will again allow a 'leak' to the first stage, which is connected to the bottom of the overflow bottle, thereby drawing the original purged fluid back into the radiator.

I was merely  responding to your statement "it really can't suck air into the radiator from an empty reservoir bottle." which is incorrect. If the coolant shrinks, creates a vacuum but there is no fluid in the overflow bottle (for whatever reason) then the cooling system cannot help but suck air into the top of the radiator. That is all I was responding to, the statement quoted above that you made  in a previous post. If there were quantifiers in your post, I either did not see them or did / do not understand them. ??

Brian

i don't know how to explain it simpler than I did...
FULL radiator... NO Leaks, EMPTY bottle....
coolant expands, flows to bottle..(radiator still full of liquid...expanded, but still full)
Bottle is now containing the coolant that was pushed there... the bottle has a return line at it's BOTTOM... coolant is retained,sitting over the return lines hole in the bottle, sealing it from external air, temporarily, in this bottle...(radiator is still full....), everything begins to cool, and the coolant in bottle gets sucked back to radiator neck (via a junction in the thermo housing), once again filling it completely full..with the now cooling rapidly, and contracting ( the opposite of expanding) juice.... if the radiator is FULL, it can't suck air in... just can't, as it is FULL.
Full make the radiator 'happy', and at that point, its done its job..

in truth, the catch bottle is a safety measure, only to prevent issues in the event of a "leakage, where fluid is dumped from the system, externally..." like a 'massive coolant dump into the bottle, from extreme overheat, where so much coolant is spewed that it dumps out the overflow of the bottle itself... 
If a failure occurs in a hose, or other flow path, where coolant is lost 'externally', even having juice in the bottle really won't help in every instance..., because the system would try to suck air from that failed part, instead of the bottle... depending on the location and severity of the failure..
we have seen this firsthand, with the 'chewing gum' seal on the C10 thermostat housing split line..   coolant bottle has juice in it, but radiator is a cup or more low... and nobody can figure where the coolant went to...or why it didn't suck fluid from the bottle... because it puked out of that ring seal, and evaporated, and during the 'cooling vacuum stage' just sucked in air from the housing... till it all contracted, and re sealed... invisibly...
It was a dilemma that was pondered for 20 years on that bike, until Guy and I found it, and it was pondered profusely by both of us for quite a while, to close that issue.

from da book...
"The system is pressurized by the radiator cap to suppress boiling and the resultant air bubbles which can cause engine overheating. As the engine warms up, the coolant in the radiator and the water jacket expands. The excess coolant flows through the radiator cap and hose to the reserve tank to be stored there temporarily. Conversely, as the engine cools down, the coolant in the radiator and the water jacket contracts, and the stored coolant flows back to the radiator from the reserve tank.
The radiator cap has two valves. One is a pressure valve which holds the pressure in the system when the engine is running. When the pressure exceeds 93 ∼ 123 kPa (0.95 ∼ 1.25 kgf/cm², 13 ∼ 18 psi), the pressure valve opens and releases the pressure to the reserve tank. As soon as pressure escapes, the valve closes, and keeps the pressure at 93 ∼ 123 kPa (0.95 ∼ 1.25 kgf/cm², 13 ∼ 18 psi).
When the engine cools down, another small valve (vacuum valve) in the cap opens. As the coolant cools, the coolant contracts to form a vacuum in the system. The vacuum valve opens and allows the coolant from the reserve tank to enter the radiator."

Bike is cold and there is still coolant in the bottle.
Looks like the overflow was from the radiator cap, but I could be wrong.
Maybe a pinched overflow hose?

Bike is cold and there is still coolant in the bottle.
Looks like the overflow was from the radiator cap, but I could be wrong.
Maybe a pinched overflow hose?

 was the radiator full, cold, and cap removed to verify?
just asking,
I can't comment on the overflow tube 'pinch', not having it in front of me, but during the 'overheat' you talked about, the pressure generated during the release of the radiator cap venting process, would easily forced liquid thru the hose, and into the tank; or worst case, if really clamped down, blown the hose right off the nipple.

   the mystery continues...

Well, this is circular and I am not going around a third time.

Anyway, I do not believe this is Brent's problem so now I will wait for either the outright answer or more information from Brent.

Brian

i don't know how to explain it simpler than I did...

<snip>

Is it still running hot. Usually with air in the cooling system it will eventually after a few cooling cycles bleed itself off. The danger being an air lock can cause overheating and a blown headgasket before the air is dissipated.

I haven't ridden her, and she goes back to the dealer in the morning.

Bike made it to the dealer fine this morning in mostly freeway traffic. Hovered between 3 and 4 bars on the temp scale, and I believe there is one more bar where the H is but I could be wrong. It was a good sign to see it piddle some coolant on the ground when I arrived which means there is still coolant in the radiator. Service manager should be calling me in about two hours. I hope to have him pay the labor to take the tupperware off, but I plan to pay for a radiator flush since it was due and it was my mistake not to request it while he was in there.

Bike made it to the dealer fine this morning in mostly freeway traffic. Hovered between 3 and 4 bars on the temp scale, and I believe there is one more bar where the H is but I could be wrong. It was a good sign to see it piddle some coolant on the ground when I arrived which means there is still coolant in the radiator. Service manager should be calling me in about two hours. I hope to have him pay the labor to take the tupperware off, but I plan to pay for a radiator flush since it was due and it was my mistake not to request it while he was in there.

I would have discussed this all before leaving when you dropped the bike off... but...
you brought it in for service, and paid... it didn't leak prior....
now it leaks....
you had to RETURN again, to have them correct the problem they are responsible for originally... and likely had to enlist someone to pick you up at dropoff, then, again, travel back to pick up bike, with someone dropping you off again...
This is all time and money out of your pocket so far, and frankly a polite, but firm, discussion on this should have been a priority, so as you pay NOTHING, for their correction of the problem...before leaving it with them and awaiting a phone call; even if it was a simple loose hose clamp, that was leaking... they should give you the coolant flush and fill without charge, as an apology for their carelessness...
they have to pull plastic anyway, to make the correction, and completely inspect to make sure there wasn't more than one point of leakage...
Don't feel guilty for not telling them to flush and change coolant before, that's not
the cause of the leak, nor should you consider it reasonable to pay them because of that choice.
I wish you the best on the outcome tho, and if this dealership has any sense of self worth, they would swallow the cost for that coolant flush/fill.

if this dealership has any sense of self worth

Now that's funny..

Bike made it to the dealer fine this morning in mostly freeway traffic. Hovered between 3 and 4 bars on the temp scale, and I believe there is one more bar where the H is but I could be wrong. It was a good sign to see it piddle some coolant on the ground when I arrived which means there is still coolant in the radiator. Service manager should be calling me in about two hours. I hope to have him pay the labor to take the tupperware off, but I plan to pay for a radiator flush since it was due and it was my mistake not to request it while he was in there.

Were both fans running? I had a fan that was running but not at full speed. Both fans needed to be operating properly to keep temperature where it needs to be when stopping and slow speed operation. Highway speeds should maintain proper temps without having fans operating.

Both fans are running normally. Turns out there was something on the radiator overflow tap that pierced the hose and caused a leak. They filed it down and replaced the hose.

I elected to have them do a flush while the bike was there and I pick it up this afternoon.

I elected to have them do a flush while the bike was there and I pick it up this afternoon.

I am with MOB- you shouldn't have to pay anything, even with the flush/replace.  But it is nice to know it is something simple.

They are only charging me $75-80 for the flush so minimal labor and parts for something I should have asked them to do in the first place. Granted, they should have brought it up as well.

Picking it up, they said it did not need a flush as they basically performed one when repairing the hose. No charge!

Contra Costa Powersports in Concord. Very happy customer.

Picking it up, they said it did not need a flush as they basically performed one when repairing the hose. No charge!

Just the way it should be.