The other weekend we had an MT-01 meet at Devil's Bridge in the Dales. I headed up there with Nikk and Bally, we stopped for a bite half way then continued. 3 Minutes later I was at the side of the road with my pants and the bike soaked in 15 litres of petrol! I believe the only thing that saved me from being a ball of flames is we'd stopped for about 3/4 hour so the engine had cooled, without that I would literally have been toast. We managed to make a repair and still had a good day but my paintwork is completely trashed.
Before I wrote about this I wanted to understand why my fuel return hose failed, which I managed to do this weekend. It was a combination of me being too concerned with the esthetics and re-using old parts. Years ago I'd moved the fuel pressure regulator because I'd removed the cover, but I didn't want an ugly fuel pipe sticking out the side so I made a steel section with a short hose. I then re-used an old Jubilee clip I'd had hanging round in my tool box for years.
For the last MOT I replaced the short piece of hose, as it was leaking very slightly, with thicker fuel line but still stuck with the old clip. To make sure it didn't leak I REALLY tightened it.
Over-tightening the clip caused 2 tags on the inside of the clip to dig into the pipe, the thicker hose and vibration from the engine did the rest. It broke away completely, I was too busy trying to catch up so didn't notice till the engine stalled due to an empty tank!
It didn't really sink in until later how close I was to death through stupidity. I've just bought 10 new clips for £4.00!! This is doubly stupid as I'm an engineer working in an industry where I'm always banging on about safety.
Max
That could have been nasty glad you and the bike are ok i want to see the bike in the flesh before you burn it
I think its a case of the BALLY curse I can remember him turning up at an MT meet just after his luggage bags had court fire on the back of his MT-01 just saying lol
so are you going to do a winter respray
Ash
Bally curse, that explains everything
and yes I'll be spending the winter stripping it down and respraying the frame etc. Already done a proper replacement fuel hose that's longer and free to flex and doesn't rub on anything!
In the rebuild I'm also making a few comfort changes, it was hell for long motorway spells (200 miles), I'll be lowering the footrests and raising the handle bars a tad, also I need to have the seat modded or grow a fat arse
Hey mate , nasty experience. You've prompted me to check mine. Would appreciate if you could keep us posted on the comfort changes you are doing. I find mine is a bit painful for long hours in the saddle. Great set up for sports riding but definitely not touring. But then again I'm 61 now so the joints don't flex like they used to. How these young blokes contort themselves onto an R1 and tour is beyond me. Cheers Steve
Re. the seat, I have been using an Air Hawk air filled cushion for some time. When you find the correct inflation, all rear end pains disappear.
Then there is the remaining problem of sitting on the "Gentlemans Sausage" after a while. Careful choice of underwear helps a lot here.
