Jump to content

Fuel line insulation.

By MojaveMutt,
in WR400F/426F/450F

 Share

Recommended Posts

Apprentice

wrpunisher

Posted
Posted

I'm thinking I need to do some kind of insulation on mine. I'm pretty sure I had gas boiling earlier this summer, after a long, slow, 1st gear clutch punishing climb up some nasty singletrack. Resting at the top, I thought I was just overheating but after awhile realized the noise was coming from the head tube. I pulled the breather hose out and it was fuming and spitting. My fuel level was a lot lower than before the climb.

I've had the IMS tank for almost two years, but had just put a Big Gun exhaust system on, and the header pipe runs higher - much closer to the petcock and fuel line. This was also the first ride with a heat shield on the header, that I put on to keep my pants from melting on the pipe. It worked for that, but may have also redirected more heat towards the tank.

So I'm still not sure what happened and why. I think it's the petcock heating up from the header, but it hasn't happened again. I'm definetely keeping an eye on it, and should probably experiment with some insulation.

------------------

Chris

99WR400F

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Enthusiast

overthebars_again

Posted
Posted

Hey Glenn,

I just tore my bike apart after the gonzo ride we went on. I have a Ty Davis tank which has a reserve pet cock on the header side. During the ride I told you about, I smelt gas fumes and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Well it ends up that the fuel line coming from the reserve petcock had a hole burned into it and was weeping gas. Moral of the story I guess is to properly route your fuel line. I feel like a bone head but at the same time I'm really glad my bike didn't turn into a torch.

Marc

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Dan_Lorenze

Posted
Posted

Marc, For gods sake Dont tell Glenn the truth about the ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not pretty!!!!!!!! Anytime a search and rescue Chopper gets involved with your ride it's NOT a good thing!!!!! Im still stoned from your gas fumes. That was the toughest ride of my life!!!! Not one to be proud of, but I loved the challenge. Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Enthusiast

overthebars_again

Posted
Posted

Dan, thanks again for getting me through hell. When we get to Laughlin, the drinks are on me brother. All in all, that was one of the most interesting rides that I've ever been on. All the drama, we all got along really well, the foul language, meeting cool people from Austria that gave us two free Pizzas. And to top it off, the Pizza Parlor owner giving us a ride that took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get back to our trucks. Look at all the cool people we met on that ride. All except for the grouchy rancher that needs to be on Prozac, and the Fire Captain that told us to get the F... off the mountain. This is a story that I'll be telling my grandkids one day. I wouldn't have missed that ride for anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Proficient

MojaveMutt

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Dan,

When i here stuff like these guys have been stuck on the trail overnight before, riding with them is like joining the army and lets ride from lucerne to laughlin in august i feel compelled to do a backround check on you before a submit to a ride! Marc's got me skeered! I'm perfectly capable of getting myself killed on my own, i've almost done it on several occassions!See ya soon.

Marc, it's hardrockharold@aol.com, Tel 760 240 2684

Glenn

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Dan_Lorenze

Posted
Posted

Glenn, You should really go riding with us. You already ride in the same area as us. The group of guys that I ride with are the best people ever!!! You see, we explore alot, and that's the reason that we have got some amazing rides because we constantly look for new trails. It's true that I've spent a few nights out on the trail but most of the time it's because we're so tired that we would rather get off the bikes and sleep than try to find our way out.(Were talking after riding 15 hours). If you're up for the challenge we would love to have you ride to Laughlin with us. You wont be spending the night on the trail.

The ride that Marc is talking about lasted 20 hours. We brought LOTS of water, just not gallons of it, after trying to get out of a valley we ran out of steam (and water) we called the fire dept and they said that they would send a chopper to give us water (as a courtesy) and get permission from a local to pass through his property. Riding at night with only one bike out of six with lights we fought our way out riding through hills with almost unmakeable terrain, honeslty I though we would never make it out. Hours later we made it to the private ranch where we were met by the most honery man you would ever meet (Im so serious). With Marc's face covered in fresh blood from a fall he told us to go to hell and go back and find another way out. We finally wore him down and he let us pass though his gate. We rode in complete darkness 10 miles to a shopping center and arrived at 12:00am. A local gave Marc and another buddy of mine a ride to get the trucks 100 miles away. Hours later we left for home.

Lessons I've learned from this ride:

Bring lots of water (more than the biggest Camelbak will hold)

I need to put my headlight back on the WR even though it wont look as cool as a YZ.

I need to sleep the night before even if I have a new girlfriend that im totally stoaked on!!

I need to bring coolant, my radiator sounded like a fine tuned kazoo after battling god awful hills at low speeds.

I need to put my goggles in my backpack when it gets dark instead of on my helmet so I wont loose my new Smith Warp goggles next time.

I need to stop using the lords name in vane!! It's just not right, after all he got us out of there......

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Enthusiast

overthebars_again

Posted
Posted

Glenn,

You must come out and at least give it a shot. These guys are all expert riders ('cept me) and have been riding in these parts for 20 - 30 years. Granted, sometimes things don't go as planned, but that's what I like about it. It's always interesting and these people are THE best bunch of guys I've ever had the pleasure to spend time with. Dan would give you the shirt off his back, change a flat tire for you, pick your bike up for you when you're too tired to do it yourself and even start it for you 'cause the 426 doesn't like your leg anymore. And he will do this with out any complaints and a smile on his face.

The biggest thing is to be prepared. My lack of conditioning really puts me at a disadvantage as you do need to be in decent shape to deal with the heat and long hours in the saddle. We're not talking fire roads here my friend, these rides work your butt off. There has never been a time when I felt we were riding something that was dangerous or that was really over my head. Each ride continues to challenge me and I hope that this will make me a better rider for it.

So don't be skeered dude. Show up for a ride one of these days and I think you'll be totally stoked as I was.

Marc

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Proficient

MojaveMutt

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Dan and Marc,

I have every intention of going riding with you guys. I'll do Laughlin too if you do it another time in cool weather. I hate real hot weather. Know what i did today? Me and my son went surfing at San Onofre, 220 miles round trip, beat the heck out of 100 degree weather here in the Mojave.

Listen fella's, i too am a big time desert and Eastern Sierra explorer i like to find new stuff as well. Me and my buddies do it all the time. I raced Dist 37 desert as an expert for many years and am a member of the 100's motorcycle club and so are all my riding partners.So when i say im skeered it's just a joke, but i hate to get stuck down in canyons etc. I just turned fifty last month, and i've had a lot of crash related injuries. If i have to do alot of pushing, pulling, and dragging bikes i experience a bunch of physical discomfort.

Any way, sure i'll go for a ride with you but it wont be on the next Laughlin trip because of the heat. Please invite me when you guys have something planned.

I'm curious, Mark says he's not street legal.

How will you go to Lauglin without a plate? Do you do the Mojave road or another route?

I'll see you all soon.

Glenn

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Dan_Lorenze

Posted
Posted

Glenn, Im not an expert by no means, you'll probably spank all of us ? As far as the route to Laughlin, we do travel in the area of the Mojave trail, but we go way off of it too. It' 99% off road, funny, Marc road his YZ426 all the way to the Flamingo casino!! (Im still laughing) he's sooo lucky that we got there at sunset, we've pulled in there at night at least half of the time. Marc's got Huge gonads. Glenn, You're 50? Perfect. Out leader is 62, my dad is 57 and the rest of us are in our 30's and 40's. I want you and Ron in Socal to go. Im also gonna drag PMaust down here to join us on a Laughlin run. See Ya

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Reply with:

ThumperTalk

Register a new account Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...
Terms of Use
Copyright
Privacy Policy