leaky hose, front of engine

[ErixNT700v]

Hi all. Looking at the motor from the front of the bike, you can see I have a hose with a dry, crusty coating on it, as per the photo. Is this an oil line, or coolant line?
Wondering what this might be, and ease or difficulty of replacement. Thanks.

 

[rc_heli_nut]

That's a coolant hose, check the clamp at the top it may need tightening.

 

[Hondafan]

That line goes down to the water jacket at the oil filter. Have you checked your coolant level at the coolant tank......it may be low?

 

[Woodaddict]

looks like slowly leaking, collecting with road grime. might need a very small hand tool to tighten clamp higher. they have small hex nuts, maybe with a straight slot for stubby screwdriver. take pockets out of each side of tank, you might be able to wrench without taking big fairing apart

 

[Brillot2000]

I have seen this before on other vehicles over the years. The simplest issue would be the hose has a pinhole leak that only happens when the hose gets hot.

The other possibility is that your radiator started leaking. The factory installed one fails and requires replacement with the superseded part number. If that is case, you should replace all the old hoses at that time. That’s what I did when I had to replace the leaking radiator

The hose that you shown goes to the back of the thermostat housing circled in green. The radiator failure is generally in the area circled in blue.

I not trying to scare you. However this is mostly the cause of your issues. Replacing all the hoses will prevent you having to back in there to the work all over again weeks or months later.

 

[okient]

i am getting ready now to replace the defective factory radiator. 2010 25k mi

 

[ErixNT700v]

Thank you for the replies. I did check the coolant level last summer, because on HOT summer days, especially at stop lights, I can watch the temp slowly climb, until it triggers the fan to come on, at which point the temp goes back down, and the fan turns off. The coolant was down only slightly, (I added like an ounce or two). So, perhaps the hose and the fan activation are related in some way?

 

[Phil Tarman]

Sounds like the temperature and fan operation were normal last summer. That's the way they're supposed to work.

 

[Hondafan]

That hose touches the frame and engine in a couple of places. Maybe it chafed and has a pin hole leak. Anything is possible, but it seems unlikely that a leak at the thermostat housing, would would run all the way down the hose and not drip anywhere else.