Best oem radiator upgrade from another quad

[gixxerbob]

Hi everyone, i have searched but not found much info on a radiator upgrade for my 250r. I am going to be starting my cr500 hybrid soon and every part i have for the quad is aftermarket except the radiator. I have dumped thousands of dollars into the quad already and dont want to spend 500$ on a radiator and rock guard if i can get an oem one off of another quad that will do just as good of a job. Since the cr500 had small radiators to begin with i figured id go overboard like i have with eveything else. I was wondering whats the best radiator for the job and bang for the buck. I will also have to move the lower mounts of the radiator foward to get it as far as possible from the pipe and it would be nice if the radiator outlet wasnt on the lower right corner (directly infront of the pipe causing clearance issues). id like to run a fan but finding a cr500 stator that can power lights is hard enough as it is, none the less power a fan too (depending on how much energy it takes to run the fan). I'll have to look into fitting some year cr250 stator to a 1985 cr500 motor (the short rod year :devil: ) pics comming mid december.

[MANIAK 88R]

You might look into a z400 radiator. I'll take some measurements but they seem to be close on outside dimentions. The z radiator is thicker and has an oem fan. I'd call ricky stator to discuss lighting / fan options. You might have to add a battery.

[CorvetteZ06]

Originally posted by MANIAK 88R
You might look into a z400 radiator. I'll take some measurements but they seem to be close on outside dimentions. The z radiator is thicker and has an oem fan. I'd call ricky stator to discuss lighting / fan options. You might have to add a battery.

Let us know about the measurements you take:cool:

[MANIAK 88R]

Ok, so the Z radiator is still in the bike but here's what I came up with.

15.5" wide x 9.5" tall That is flange to flange with the core slightly smaller. The thickness is @ 4.5" including the fan which is center mounted.
The core thickness is @ 1/2" to 3/4" thick.

The water inlet, outlet and water neck are all in the correct locations.

The only issue I see is the the water outlet, (lower right side), comes out of the bottom of the radiator and angles back at 90 deg. This may put the lower hose fairly close to the exhaust pipe.

The z radiator has a very clean integrally mounted overflow can and it looks like you could use either R shrouds or Z shrouds. The Z's mount to the radiator and the R's to the frame.

It looks like it would be easy to fab up some conversion brackets to utilize the factory mounting holes for the R. Or you could use the R's shroud mounting holes and bolt the radiator in.

IMO, the radiator from a Z would be at least comparable to an oem radiator from an R for cooling capacity(without using the fan).

Before I saw this thread, the thought of using an oem radiator from another machine never crossed my mind. Now that I actually compared the two radiators together, this is definately worth looking in to.

For an R owner with a 24 year old radiator that is damaged and a budget that can't justify a $400 PWR, this is something to look at. I just did a quick search on ebay and looks like a complete set up w/fan and overflow can be had for @ $100 - $200. Or the radiator by itself for under $100.

I think I might find out what is needed to charge a battery with an R's ignition system. It would be nice at night to be able to turn the lights on without the engine running, and then also be able to use a fan on the radiator.

Just my $.02 worth, MJ

[gixxerbob]

thanks for the reply, i just found out that i can use just about any year cr250 stator/flywheel which leaves me many more options for powering lights and a fan. While at the same time i wonder if a crf450 stator is the same, or even a crf450x (electric start/battery) could be adapted to the cr500. my motor is a 1985 so id have to imagine that any atv radiator would be an upgrade from 2 small radiators but still looking for something with a left side outlet and all i have managed to find was an afco radiator that is guaranteed to fit.

[jcs003]

you can turn it into a left side outlet. i have already did it and it works great.

[jcs003]

2

[gixxerbob]

Duh, why didnt i think of that,maybe cause i only have a mig welder. The nice thing is that i can probably have it tig welded for cheap and since i wouldnt have to move the radiator mounts i can just buy a nice direct fit aftermarket radiator when i please and use this for now.