Just wondered if bike engines need a special antifreeze due to being all aluminium construction? If not, any suggestions where I might find cheap, small quantities? (Halfords only seem to sell it in 5L containers at around £13 for the priviledge! - whole cooling system is only around 3L capacity!)

Andy.

As far as I'm aware though it's not like brake fluid where the opened container only has a specific life expectancy, so buying a fair bit isn't a bad idea.

AFAIR most bikes (certainly my ST) require a 50%/50% mix so 5L will only do 3 fills of the coolant system.... Not so many especially as, if the engine hasn't been run for a while, you might want to change the coolant a few times in the first year....

I have halfords antifreeze. The big branch near me does 3 sizes in 2 different types. the recommend 33% to 50% concentration so a 1 litre bottle might be enough. It says on the pack wheather it's OK in an alloy engine.

I would suggest you go to a motorcycle shop, car accessory shops are alright as long as there is some-one who rides a bike working there.
Corrosion Inhibited Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze 50-50
Tony

I don't see why you can't just use the stuff from Halfords. There are plenty of all-alloy car engines so I don't think you need to go to a bike shop. As mentioned, you should read the container as there are a couple of different grades of anti-freeze at Halfords and you want the one which specifically mentions alloy engines.

I'm using ethylene glycol 33% in my all alloy Rover V8.

Cheers,
Craig.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I'll try to get the correct anti-freeze tomorrow. The moment when the engine (hopefully!) fires up grows ever more imminent.