Clarke tank on WR400 boiling Gas?!?!

[skadamo]

My friend has a 98 wr400 with a Clarke high capacity tank...I think it is a 4 gal. Last weekend we were riding some single track and hitting some jumps. His bike stalled on a landing and he heard this hissing noise. He opened his tank and all this preasure released. He looked inside and the gas was moving like water before it starts boiling. ? sure enough the tank was supper hot. There was < 1 gal left in the tank...he has never gotten that low before.

Anyone seen this happen before?

How dangerous is this?

[Joe_P]

Don't know how dangerous this is ?. I know my friend who put a large Clarke tank an his XR650 lined the bottom/underside of the tank with reflective tape to keep this from happening.

[MN_Kevin]

He opened his tank and all this preasure released.

>> have your friend remove the one way valve in the vent line.

[SXP]

He looked inside and the gas was moving like water before it starts boiling. ?

The clogged vent line notwithstanding, when my bike is idling (with a Clarke clear tank) the gas looks like it's on a slow boil. It's just the engine vibration transferring thru to the tank/gas.

[skadamo]

he clogged vent line notwithstanding, when my bike is idling (with a Clarke clear tank) the gas looks like it's on a slow boil. It's just the engine vibration transferring thru to the tank/gas.

...The bike was off. Tank was very hot.

I guess the oneway valve would lead to more preasure which would increase heat. I'll tell him.

Reflective tape sounds like a good thing too...

Thanks all!

[unkle_george]

Granted hot gas between your legs doesn't sound like much fun, but I've seen gas boil and evaporate with out igniting.

It takes fumes and spark to get fire. Exellent idea to change the one way valve to let the fumes out.

?

[Rich_Rohrich]

We use Thermotec aluminized heat barrier on the undersides of the tanks on all our race bikes.

It's inexpensive and easy to install. You can find it at most speed shops, and at the usual online speed shops like Summit or Jegs.

http://www.thermotec.com/products/full/13500/13500.html

Besides being dangerous, boiling off the low end components of your fuel will make jetting really inconsistent, and flatten out throttle response. This is an especially big problem for guys running pump fuel due to the large temperature span of the fuel components. Once those low ends are gone pump fuel is really difficult to get jetted right.