leaky fuel line/tube

Yea thats what Im going to try now. Any particular size i need.

Make sure you get fuel resistant hose.

1/4" for tank to filter

3/16" (or 5/32" -7/32" or whatever next smaller size they carry) for filter to carb

Actually with proper fitting fuel lines, good zip ties are perfectly acceptable and hold more round than small hose clamps - and they won't tear the hose up. I fail to see why they should be compared to something so cheezy as JB Weld....the zip ties (or wire) shouldn't be depended on for leak stopping, just added mechanical pressure.

Lastly you should also get a good fuel valve. The supplied one will break eventually.
 
i hit my local auto store for hose clamps. they wanted $12 for a pack of 10 and i only need 2.

so i used a peice of copper wire and twisted it around the hose.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s7/icyuodd/IMG_0816.jpg
hasn't leaked a drop since.
there ya have it, real cheap hose clamps and ya probably won't have to leave the house to get. :)

Now the copper wire will end up cutting it's self into your fuel lines. And sometimes clamps actually cause rubber hoses to kink up and leak. But if you have the correct size line on your bike and get the propper sized clamps it should solve the problem.
 
Make sure you get fuel resistant hose.

1/4" for tank to filter

3/16" (or 5/32" -7/32" or whatever next smaller size they carry) for filter to carb

Actually with proper fitting fuel lines, good zip ties are perfectly acceptable and hold more round than small hose clamps - and they won't tear the hose up. I fail to see why they should be compared to something so cheezy as JB Weld....the zip ties (or wire) shouldn't be depended on for leak stopping, just added mechanical pressure.

Lastly you should also get a good fuel valve. The supplied one will break eventually.


You and I agree- JB Weld is far cheesier.

For me...and maybe it's just me, I'm not saying zip ties won't work. Obviously they do. It's just that there is inexpensive hardware made specifically for the purpose. What works for you, works for you and given the advances you have made for MBers, I do not want to imply a lack of quality on your part. Clearly you know what you are doing. I just like using the hardware made for the purpose for that purpose.

One slight advantage is that I can take off the hoses and replace them while reusing the hardware...but I suppose that's not a huge advantage. Zip ties are great. I use them, but not on my hoses. Others do. Perhaps I was too harsh, but as a lawyer, I suffer from the terminal belief that I have never, and will never be wrong about anything. ;)

One last thing. You are right about the hose sizes. However now I just use 1/4" and I heat up the ends with a heat gun on low to get them over the larger barbs. they shrink back when they cool and can be taken on and off while fiting well thereafter....but be careful with that heat gun around gas.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No issues.

One thing, IMHO, 1/4" is way too huge for the HT carbs I've messed with. There is no kind of clamp that would work properly with 1/4" hose on that small (non-tapered) single barb inlet. That's why I said to use a smaller hose after the fuel filter (which is 1/4") and does require heat/manuevering to get it on.
 
Whoops- I meant I only use 3/16ths- no need to heat the 1/4, obviously.

There you go- my first and only mistake of the day.
 

Attachments

  • engine_fuel.JPG
    engine_fuel.JPG
    27.8 KB · Views: 182
Now the copper wire will end up cutting it's self into your fuel lines. And sometimes clamps actually cause rubber hoses to kink up and leak. But if you have the correct size line on your bike and get the propper sized clamps it should solve the problem.

unless your pulling on the fuel line all the time(and i do mean pulling for all your worth), or the fuel line is so old its falling apart, a simple copper twist tie won't cut into the line.
just use a heavy guage.
 
This is my last post on this subject (famous last words). Go to a decent hardware store. Not Lowes, not Home Depot, not Menards- I shop these places, but not for the hardware bits and pieces. Try Ace, HWI, Service Star, True Value- even better, any hole in the wall that has every little thing you never knew they made. How do you know you have found the place? It smells like moth balls and it stocks Mason jars.

For under $3, you can get 4 of any one of the first three pictured below. Sized right, all work well. I have used all 3. The clamps in the 4th picture are a bit harder to find and might cost $5-$6 for 4, but are the best. Not necessary, but very nice.

BTW- we all need at least 4 right? 'Cause we are all running a decent fuel filter (screen filters only mean that your carb will get blocked by smaller stuff).
 

Attachments

  • clamps 1.JPG
    clamps 1.JPG
    44.4 KB · Views: 158
  • clamps 2.JPG
    clamps 2.JPG
    31.5 KB · Views: 187
  • clamps 3.JPG
    clamps 3.JPG
    14.3 KB · Views: 142
  • clamps 4.JPG
    clamps 4.JPG
    24.4 KB · Views: 169
Last edited by a moderator:
i went to my fav. auto stores up here in canada and the only ones i found in the correct size was a pack of 10.

i have better things to spend $12 on.
even if the copper where to cut through the hose after a year, i could fix and replace my fuel line 24 times for $12 (fuel line-$1 a foot)
 
Back
Top