So...I thought the coolant issue was resolved. Severly mistaken!!

Got home yesterday and found coolant stains all over the righthand side of the engine and some residue on my boot. Decided to drain the coolant and replace with clean water to see what happens.

Got the sidecover off and decided to take the expansion tank off. I tried blowing air through the overflow pipe on the top of the expansion bottle and nothing... not letting air through. Traced the pipe to the where it
disappeared between the frame and the Givi crash bar. Tried pulling...stuck. Got sniff in the nose and decided to undo the bottom bracket of the crash bar.

Now this is what gets me rather hot under the collar...overflow pipe squashed inbetween the frame and the lower bracket, effectively cutting off the overflow completely.

Now that is why when the radiator pushes warm water into the expansion tank, it has nowhere to go and pushes the main cap/plug out.

Bright side - head gasket is fine and how much will a replacement overflow pipe really set me back. Got the bike with the crash bars, so the previous owner was obviously oblivious. Wondering about why the bike was sold at 16000 km's then...

Anyway...all's well that ends well

Cheers,

Dean