A couple of days ago I had a problem with rubber special motorcycle fuel line I ordered a year or so ago. The other day, while the bike was sitting in a parking lot, the line split. The re was no cutting off the split end and reattaching the line--it split no matter what I did. I had lost all but about 1/2 gallon of gas. I finally managed to use twigs to block of the fuel line and petcock inlet. I made it home and was able to get real automotive 5/16 gas line although OEM would be better. Lesson: just because it says "motorcycle" beside the product's name does not mean that the product is good. Check fuel lines as much as possible. I am mighty happy that that my GS500f did not go up in flame.
Rubber degrades in the presence of petrol, doesn't it? Or maybe it's the presence of ethanol.
Quote from: Kookas on October 18, 2018, 12:16:07 PM
Or maybe it's the presence of ethanol.
Yep - Ethanol will degrade fuel lines.. Add to that while it is dregrading all the little particulates are going to be making their way into your carb and equally causing potential issues.
Pretty sure you can get fuel line that has some sort of additional liner in it to prevent this from happening, but here we don't get Ethanol blending at all, so haven't seen this type of fuel hose here.
Pretty sure the Haynes manual has a 5 year recommendation on replacing fuel lines too.
The OEM lines are expensive but worth it. The ease of using the correct sizing cannot be overestimated, that is without even factoring in the peace of mind of knowing they are not going to split. And removing and reattaching them is a breeze. 0.02c
Quote from: Kiwingenuity on October 18, 2018, 07:33:59 PM
Quote from: Kookas on October 18, 2018, 12:16:07 PM
Or maybe it's the presence of ethanol.
Yep - Ethanol will degrade fuel lines.. Add to that while it is dregrading all the little particulates are going to be making their way into your carb and equally causing potential issues.
Pretty sure you can get fuel line that has some sort of additional liner in it to prevent this from happening, but here we don't get Ethanol blending at all, so haven't seen this type of fuel hose here.
Pretty sure the Haynes manual has a 5 year recommendation on replacing fuel lines too.
Nitrile is what you need. I bought some nitrile SAE hoses to replace my OEMs after they sheared at the tank from old age. It was pretty hard to find lines that have the right wall thickness without being too small or too big - I managed to find some with more-or-less identical measurements to OEM.
In the us i'd recommend the motion Pro hose along with the factory one. The motion Pro stuff is still super flexible after 5 years and it us thin walled so easy to fit over the petcocks. They are pricey but less than OEM.
For the rest of the world it's now too expensive to order anything from the us now due to shipping costs.