Riding in the rain?

[Fabian]

I use silicone to seal the magneto wires where they exit engine case, which prevents the worst of the splash water getting into the magneto housing, and i also use a smear of silicone on the magneto gasket and magneto cover.

In my opinion the biggest problem comes from moisture evaporating and forming a humid environment in the magneto housing, which is a perfect environment for rust formation, which in turn causes earthing issues.

 

[rrdant1]

I ride in the rain when I have no other choice. Since it last rained a week and a half ago my engine hasn't wanted to start. I thought it was a carb problem and thoroughly cleaned it inside and out without success. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner but when I removed the left side cover I saw obvious water damage. My son had a spare part and a good gasket and it started right up. I'm definitely going to get some RTV on it before the next rain.

 

[butre]

I rode out in the rain today with no problems. I've got RTV on my magneto side cover and loads of silicone sealant on my CDI. the bike performs reasonably well in the rain, I think there's just normally so little contact patch that water can't possibly make the grip any worse.

 

[HeadSmess]

water has this amazing ability to get IN to sealed containers, but never out...

im personally against rtv and sealing that particular spot, rather just drilling a hole or two in the bottom so water can freely drain.

never had to resort to it myself. left outside, used as commuters with no choice about the rain... nope. water never seemed to be an issue.

yup. clean water, as long as no large drops get past everything and foul the plug, will increaze zee power. water, being incompressible, raises compression, while the evaporation helps cool the unburnt mixture, when it does burn it tends to create steam and boil away, and any water that happens to split and then recombine helps clean things...

gritty water, on the other hand, resembles valve grinding paste to some degree.


one day, just as an experiment, ill try and cross a local creek with it running... never had any reason to attempt it before!

i wanna diesel HT

 

[Fabian]

water has this amazing ability to get IN to sealed containers, but never out...

I agree.

i wanna diesel HT

We all want a Happy Time diesel - - - no electrics to worry about and significantly greater torque.

 

[battery]

you would think that with 10% ethenol in the fuel here in the us you would be able to put a couple percent water in your gas. but it always seems to seperate. could it be that the ethenol already has its max amount of moisture in it? I wonder if I can have an atomizer and water tank before the carb to have a water injection, dosing the fuel ar mixture with a small amount of atomized water only when the carb has enough suction? which I think would not only cool the engine, increase compression, and burn into a hydrogen and oxygen in the cylender.

 

[battery]

or possibly a water/air cooled head to where the water would drip into the head and vaporize before getting into the intake so you would have an H/O2/steam mixture entering the engine.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

I think it was headsmess posted in the past about an idea for hydrogen peroxide along similar lines.. to increase burn rate like nitro, rather than produce steam power though.

I didn't know that about the ethanol in U.S. fuel... I wonder why they do that? Is it just to save the (poor) oil companies a few dollars?
I can't help but wonder if that's BAD for your engine... (natural born worrier)

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

water has this amazing ability to get IN to sealed containers, but never out...

im personally against rtv and sealing that particular spot, rather just drilling a hole or two in the bottom so water can freely drain.

never had to resort to it myself. left outside, used as commuters with no choice about the rain... nope. water never seemed to be an issue.

I can do both though, can't I? Or would I need to regularly remove the magneto cover (break the seal) to inspect, to check for condensation actually on the coil? Can I put a gasket in there as a reusable seal, to allow regular inspection?

yup. clean water, as long as no large drops get past everything and foul the plug, will increaze zee power. water, being incompressible, raises compression, while the evaporation helps cool the unburnt mixture, when it does burn it tends to create steam and boil away, and any water that happens to split and then recombine helps clean things...

gritty water, on the other hand, resembles valve grinding paste to some degree.


one day, just as an experiment, ill try and cross a local creek with it running... never had any reason to attempt it before!

i wanna diesel HT

What happened about the hydrogen peroxide? IIRC and it really was you who posted about that idea...

 

[battery]

yes it is bad for an engine not desighned to deal with ethenol. it drys out rubber and seals. I think they do it to boost the corn companies as lobbying polititions is a HUGE thing here in the us. they want a peice of the pie. even though the corn industry is huge here. and it cost quite a bit to make the ethenol from what I understand. but ethenol boosts the octane of gasoline. but on the down side it takes longer to burn. so I imagine that would not be good for a 2 stroke. however engines that run on alcohol soley, run very cool. so possibly it helps with the engine temps?