Conducting A Motorcycle Coolant Level Inspection

To check the coolant levels on your motorcycle, place your bike on a flat surface and level it so that your motorcycle is perpendicular to the ground. You want to do this at a time when the engine is cold or has been siting at room or atmospheric temperature.

Note: I am demonstrating this on a 2009, Kawasaki KLR 650 Motorcycle. The process of checking the coolant levels on your motorcycle may differ.

Then, move to the front of your bike and look under the right shroud of your motorcycle.

There, you will see a black reserve tank cover with long vertical stripes. On the left side of the tank cover is a small clear opening and two markers indicating where the “Full” and “Low” coolant levels are located.

As long as the liquid seen through the transparent opening is between the “Full” and “Low” level lines, you are fine. If, however, the amount of coolant is insufficient, remove your bike’s right shroud by unscrewing the bolts and add more coolant into the reserve tank.

As you can see in the photos above and below that this particular bike has just the right amount of coolant, so nothing more needs to be done here.