A matter of fuel. 4/23/2006
A few posts ago, I wrote about having 4 bikes at home, and none of them being able to start.
On the day, which was a bright sunny Sunday, I was supposed to have gone for a ride, to honour Franco. Franco passed away 2 years ago, whilst riding in Thailand. And it has become a tradition for the club I ride with to visit his grave on a Sunday, nearest to the anniversary of his death. So I really had to go for this ride, since, according to Finno, I was the only person who knew exactly where Franco was resting in the cemetary.
I decided to take the ZZR-250, because of the fact that we would be riding in a convoy, and having a light motorcycle that didn’t overheat at slow speeds would be a plus. I started her up…and she didn’t want to. The battery was a little weak, and wouldn’t pump out enough juice to crank her over. So I pulled my gear on anyway, and did a racing start. And she did start. And she started, so I shot off. As I approached the traffic lights just outside on the main road, she spluttered and died. I thought it might have been her wanting the reserve tank, so I switched the petcock over, and thumbed the starter. And she refused to start. She would crank, but not fire.
Since I was on the top of a steep hill, I thought I would roll her down, and bump her into gear. Which is what I did. As we rolled down the hill, I matched the road speed with the gears, and let the clutch out. And she simply spluttered until I ran out of momentum. I cursed and sweared at this.
I called ES, and he said he would come and pick me up. After a while, he turned up, and we pushed the bike over to his shop, which was nearby. He looked at the bike, and popped open the fuel cap, and looked at the almost full fuel tank. He thumbed the starter, which was a little weak by now. He scratched his head a moment, and asked me if I parked the bike outside last night. I said yes, and he asked one of his boys to pull the tank and fairings off.
When the bodywork came off the ZZR, he called me over, and showed me the cause of my trouble. A fuel filter which didn’t contain fuel at all, but was full of rainwater.
- Posted in : On the road
- Author : thesnark
Comments»
How did you determine it was water and not gas? I recommend against taste testing.
James : We knew it was water because ES, who is a confirmed alcoholic, gagged at the smell of it.
LOL… water in the fuel tank… poor Kawa… trying to burn water!
I hear Hydrogen is going to be the next big feul… so maybe this ZZR is just trying to get a head start?
hahaha, teruk.
btw, UPDATE my link