Overflow tank cap off. Big mess?

[CoreySRX]

So I was riding yesterday up towards Copper Harbor and my sled kept losing coolant and the yellow dummy light would come on. Especially after a long, hard pull. I kept adding to finish the ride. Didn’t bring my Allen wrench to pop cowl off so I was holding it up and pouring it in tank through Diet Coke bottle. Real Sh!t Show.
So I get home today and tear her down and I find the overflow cap off the tank. I put it back on and topped off coolant. Ran it hard on the stand and didn’t lose any coolant but smokin to beat the band from under handlebars which was also happening towards the end yesterday.
Would this cause that much coolant loss?? Is it collecting by my manifold and burning off now? Mind you I was riding my Apex hard. And I finished the gallon jug I bought topping it off so I went through all that.

 

[gitrdun]

Any idea why you were low on coolant in the first place? Was your cap off earlier already or did you take it off to add? What I know about my overflow tank on my Apex is that it always shows about 1/4 inch in the bottom, and if I ever add any thinking it should be a little higher, it spits it out the overflow real fast, and I am back down to 1/4 inch. So I would say if you have the cap off there is a good chance you will lose a bunch.

 

[CoreySRX]

I’m assuming it was off prior to me heading out. I did some testing on a bumpy lake before I headed out Thursday. Maybe it popped off then.
I rode 100 miles last week and did not have the coolant issue. I’m just not sure if there is another hose on the bottom of the motor in back that I can’t see that may be leaking?
This is what I saw when I popped the cowl.