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What is a vapour lock

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:15 am
by cobbadiggabuddyblooo
Must be the full moon ..mmmmm bringing out the polterguists :lol: had 75km up on a full tank of juice.Went for a short 15km ride.Bike was sitting in the sun for 15minutes (approx 30degrees) on concrete by a tin shed with no smell of fuel then off I went again. About 500metres down the road(emptying the bowls in the carbs I'd imagine) POP FART BANG,down to one cylinder just like starved of fuel so on to prime and then reserve and off we go again. I get home 15minutes later but just the last 1km I switched the fuel tap back from reserve to the main ON position and continued home with no problem. I looked inside and still 3/4 of a tank of fuel. So off we go and still all is fine... and just about ot finish this tank with continual stops and starts..
Could I have lost this fuel in the hose and vapour replacing the pressure from the heat????

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:16 am
by cobbadiggabuddyblooo
bike temp approx 70

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:23 pm
by fung
i also have had the "mysterious" main tank (not empty) seem empty, switch to reserve, ride on, switch back with main still useable.
sorry, didn't log ambients or take much notice i suppose.
hmmmmmmm.......
please try and duplicate your experiment Dr Cobba.
perhaps we may ascertain the cause with more data to correlate.
spock out.

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:08 pm
by Mincehead
Possibly a bit of water finding it`s way through the fuel system Cobba, maybe a small amount of unknown crud got dislodged somewhere too. It is possible to get water and crud from the pumps at service stations, especially if the ferkers have let their tanks get low.
Drain the FCR`s float bowls (14 mm alloy hex head in the centre of the float bowl), check the fuel tank breather for partial blockages too while you`re at it, some MIG torch wire 0.6 or 0.8 mm does a fine job of doing that. :wink:

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 11:48 pm
by davamb
And you might want to consider running a tank or half tank of petrol/ethanol mix every couple of months. Any water residue in the tank will disolve in the ethanol.

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 2:51 am
by cobbadiggabuddyblooo
:twisted: AAAAAHHHH WATER FACTOR 5 it can not take it captain :lol: :lol: :lol: I just changed the fuel cap from the spare lockable cap from previous dramas as it was starting to get a bit sticky and took the screw cap off the trackbike and placed it onboard. I noticed the other day when I filled up some fluid after unscrewing the cap,sitting on the plate and wasn't sure if it was water from a bad seal or just fuel splashing up and sitting there...
Odds on thats the culprit I'd say... Thanks mincehead I'll shout you a pint of haggis whenever I get over there to burn a few speed cameras in my sporrin :wink:

Re: What is a vapour lock

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 3:11 am
by cobbadiggabuddyblooo
:shock: Wow bit rough when the Stella wearing beautiful half of MY FACE RACING suggests the vapour lock maybe between my ears :lol: :lol: :lol: