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TECHNICAL MOTOBRICK WRENCHING In Remembrance of Inge K. => The Motobrick Workshop => Topic started by: andwew on June 15, 2015, 12:58:32 AM
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Gentlemen-
With great sadness i must let you know that my bike exploded today:
https://instagram.com/p/37o2C8kzyA/
http://imgur.com/a/zp1EI
I loved my bike and took care of it pretty well. I'm confused as to what happened and I'm not sure I'll ever know what happened.
I was cruising around as usual when I pulled up to a light. I felt the engine was a little hotter than usual and when I looked down I saw some orange flames dancing around my crotch. I jumped ship and then watched the bike go up in crazy flames from a distance.
It was brutal to say the least. I never ever suspected anything like this could possibly happen.
Fuel line leak?
Doesn't seem likely as I look over my bike before every ride.
I bought those Osidetiger fuel injectors a while back. But installed them in October and put several thousand miles on my bike since then.
I checked my oil before every ride. It was good.
I guess I'll never know. All the evidence was burned. I loved that bike.
:musicboohoo:
I guess i must retire from this forum now as my bike is dead. Stay safe out there everyone and make sure your bike doesn't explode.
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Holy crap. Good to know you got off of it in time. Sorry to hear of the loss of your K though
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Andrew,
Sorry to hear about your bike. At least you're safe...most important thing. Grieve a couple of days and then go shopping!! (if finances permit). Life is like this - no guarantees, not fair but rich with opportunities. If you loved this K you will also love another.
Go for it!!
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Andrew sorry about the loss of the bike. Glad you are okay. It has happened at at least one other rider of a Kbike that I know.
4 plus gallons of gasoline, and a pressurized fuel system just below and in front of ones' legs is a source of risk. These bikes are all old! Replace the fuel lines with the proper lines and clamps. Must be for fuel injection due to the pressure. NOT a gravity feed carburetor system.
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Sound advice and now you've got me thinking! Thanks Elipten.
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yikes. That looked like a really nice bike, sorry to see that. Hopefully you will get another.
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Sure would like to know what caused that to happen . . . glad you're OK.
PS -- I never thought of this before, but firefighters are ATGATT.
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sorry to hear of any great bike being consumed,no smell of gas prior?
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Holy shit....glad you're ok and it is a tragedy about your bike.
Hope to see you back here before long. Could've happened to any bike...I saw a new-looking Yamaha on th shoulder last year doing exactly what yours was doing except more violently if you can imagine that.
The good news is that yours was most likely paid for.
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Holy Crap
:eek:
Next thing I'm buying for my bike is a mini foam fire extinguisher to keep in my top box.
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Geez, wow! Yeah, who knows what the cause might have been... too bad, I, like just about everyone else would like to know what caused THAT.
Glad you're okay!
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Fuel leak of some type
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Ouch! I am saddened to see the attached link and your nice ride up in flames. I am pleased you're okay Andrew.
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Most importantly you are ok and able to find another.
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Greetings and condolences Andwew,
Like everyone else, I am glad that you were not physically hurt.
The emotional trauma must have been very difficult to deal with. Being forced to stand by as a beloved ride burns and unable to do anything must have been heartbreaking.
I understand that this would leave one searching for answers as to a cause.
I am no fire investigation expert, but will hazard a guess based from research and experience of working on mine and friends K's.
True these bikes are getting old, yet similar things have happened in the past when age wasn't a real factor. From memory, previous causes for K fires were:
1) Electrical. An electrical short can cause a small fire that quickly burns through the fuel lines. This seems to have been the most common cause of fires in these older K's, at least from what I've read.
2)Faulty quick dis-connect fuel line hardware.
3) The fuel pressure regulators location on most of the K's I've seen is a large contributing factor to the hot tank syndrome(where the fuel gets very hot when tank is below 1/2.)
The regulator sits in a very hot area. This heat can cause the fuel lines to deteriorate more quickly at the regulator.
Visually checking these is impossible from the left side. You can see them from the right side but they can look perfect until you touch or pull them to check. This is why I relocated mine.
These would be my 3 best guesses. Notice that all three are things that, most likely, you wouldn't be able to see any problem through visual inspection. Point I'm making is, don't beat yourself up.
Hope this helps,
Freelancer
P.S. Ebay has some very good deals on K75's right now.
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I can pretty much tell you what happened in one guess - your fuel lines were 30 years old! That is a bad outcome and I'm glad you are OK.
Even if you look your bike over each time you ride, keep in mind that there are a bunch of fuel hoses running from tank to fuel pressure regulator that are NOT visible from the outside! What you do is go in there every few years and change 'em. If you wander over to the Vanagon forums (or many other elderly car forums), you will see many posts with photos of fires and the common wisdom is that job #1 on a new old van is to change the fuel lines. On that vehicle, just like on our K bikes, the old hardened cracked fuel hoses are asked to hold high pressure fuel while perched directly above the hot engine, spark plugs and exhaust system. Think about it...
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Definitely a reason I am glad I have comprehensive insurance. Not much more, and worth every penny. Also covers mods (with accessory coverage).
Definitely a good idea to do new fuel lines on any older vehicle. I did them on my cage in the winter when I replaced the fuel tank. 30 years works a number even on good lines, in mild climates.
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Any chance you were ambushed by a Mustang or a Spitfire? Check the carcass for 50cal holes!
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Mine was simular, but it went out, mine was the sensor attached to the raditor on the l/h side(when seated)
I was going along at about 80ish and lost all power, i switched the ignition off and on, got power back but the horn was blaring, so i pulled over and noticed the front wheel was quite bright(`twas dark) jumped off to see a fire behind the rad, switched all off but the starter motor relay had welded, the fire went out, the brigade arrived and gave me a spanner to disconnect the battery
Sold on evilbay for about £350
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Any chance you were ambushed by a Mustang or a Spitfire? Check the carcass for 50cal holes!
Shouldn't have been on the 1944 recognition silhouettes and getting a positive ID on the Bayerische Motoren Werke logo in a 200 knot dive is tricky.
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Bummer - I guess I'd better check my fuel lines...
Sorry for your loss.
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So sorry for your loss - I dunno what I'd do if Chile Red went up like that, other than cry a river of tears.
Definitely a hedsup to us all, will be checking/replacing the fuel lines before firing up again.
Anyone know how one tests the fuel pressure regulator? Will check the Lieberry...
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Thanks for your condolences everyone! In hindsight I'm glad I simply walked away. Good news is that my insurance is covering the bike in its entirety and then some.
At some point I'll probably get a newer bike :dunno
Check your fuel lines! And make sure you all have good insurance!
Ride on, my friends :riding:
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Not to harp on the fuel lines point too much, but maybe it ought to be a sticky...I've gone and looked at two cheap K's locally that had "minor" engine fires. Both were a total write-off though some parts on either end of the bike were still good!
There is absolutely no way to tell if one of these high pressure fuel hoses are still good and there is no reason to wonder. Replace them. When they fail, it's an instant fuel sprinkler which might take your bike and could take your life, not to mention who or what else they might light on fire. Remember that the K is a rather early fuel injected bike - these hoses are well past their prime. Ancient carbureted motorcycles get away with running old hoses since there is zero fuel pressure. Our bikes are quite different.
Reuse the original good quality stainless German hose clamps, the kind with rolled edges and stamped threads, or use Oetiker non-reusable pinch clamps. The hardware store "slotted" plain edge hose clamps are a great way to make your nice new hoses leak.
Other inexpensive items to address while you're under the tank are the fuel pressure regulator vacuum hose, crankcase vent hose and fuel injector seals.
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+1