Topic: Fuel hose

[jonda500]

Tried to go shopping this morning after not riding for over a week but, alas, fuel pissed out all around all of the float bowls - not out the overflow tubes! After investigating I found it is the fuel lines leaking where they attach to the T pieces between carbs 1&2 and 3&4. They seem loose and swollen even though the ends that connect to the petcock are nice and firm and tight. I have had the carbs off at least 5 times since they were reconditioned by harisuluv in 2012, but have never disturbed the fuel line connections. I have had the tank off dozens of times, but the fuel line is just as tight as the first time at the petcock!
Where can I buy good quality fuel line that wont swell up and will last up to 40+ years like on my 1st CB500?
I guess I'll have to remove the carbs yet again to replace the fuel lines
John

Edit: Thinking about it the fuel lines on my 1st 500 probably did get replaced by one of the PO's. It has slightly thinner lines that have never swelled up and still have the original wire clamps on them.

[Stev-o]

I buy 3/16" fuel line at the local auto parts store. [5mm in your world Jon]

[firebane]

4into1 has the oem line for fuel and overflow.

[disco]

Hi Jonda,
I've had a good run with the grey 5mm fuel hose from Yamiya. It stays flexible and doesn't shrink or harden like some. It's $9.75 AUD plus shipping for a 1m length.

[Stev-o]

4into1 has the oem line for fuel and overflow.

Jon's in Oz, shipping charge from CA is most likely a deal killer.

[eigenvector]

Depends on where you are - or your local gas supply.

I run Tygon line for all my bikes and even that gets hard and crusty from the ethanol fuel.  Still, I find it's the best option for something that will last for a long long time and it's available pretty much everywhere.

Steve is it really 3/16"?

[HondaMan]

Honda sells the "real stuff" today. I use the 5.5mm for the larger bikes. The 500 had the 5.0mm size (they sell that, too), and the stuff they sell today withstands the ethanol. It costs about $3 per foot.

[jonda500]

After ringing around (both motorcycle and auto parts stores) and checking ebay.com.au (found nothing even close there!), I bought some (two feet) genuine honda fuel line with the 4 wire clips included off ebay.com for AU$35. That's double what the local motorcycle centre would have charged but as it's quite hard to change I wanted the real stuff (oem honda) - which I believe can last for decades and while it may go hard, it certainly shouldn't go soft, swell up and start to leak!!
John 

[Deltarider]

Jonda, the correct ⌀ is 5,5 mm (standard) and that is already difficult enough to slide over the nipples of the T-joints, so I wouldn't go smaller. With standard length of 18 and 30 cm (17 and 28 for the later model petcock) there's guaranteed no kinking and you'll have an excellent fuel flow provided there are no 'extra' inline fuelfilters.

[jonda500]

My local motorcycle superstore (the only local Honda dealer) only had 5mm fuel line and didn't offer to order me any correct sized fuel line (I don't think they even looked it up ), so that's why I coughed up $15 for shipping from US for the correct oem stuff - well that and the 4 oem wire clamps that I didn't have!
John
Thank for all your inputs guys, I value having all the different options/opinions!

[Stev-o]

Considering how far it's going, $15 is a reasonable shipping charge. 

[Deltarider]

the 4 oem wire clamps that I didn't have

That reminds me... I need two of those clamps myself. Already had a few occasions the fuel tube came loose from the petcock. A motorcyclist who rode behind me alarmed me that he smelled gas.. The fuel was gushing down and I hadn't noticed it yet. You can forget about those two on the other end near the T-joint as it is practically impossible they ever become loose there.

[ekpent]

 Never need them again if you use the 3/16 " gas line that Steve suggested. I bought a huge roll at a hardware store closeout a couple years ago.

[jonda500]

After reading about ppl changing the fuel lines without pulling out the carbs I decided to investigate further - I pulled one of the fuel lines off thinking I could flip them and put the loose ends at the petcock with clamps. But, after removing one, it didn't seem like it was loose enough to have been leaking as it was so hard to get off...
I connected a fuel supply to the other one, and.......no leak!? Then I spend a loooong time teasing the 1st one back on by poking at it with various implements to induce it to twist on while pushing and twisting it from behind the hole it passes through and hooked up fuel to it and.... also no leak despite damaging it and not quite getting it all the way back on!
So I thought the extra pressure of a full tank would make it leak, put the tank back on hooked everything back up and turned the fuel on. After 15 minutes..... still no leaking?
I have concluded that I was mistaken and it was actually the T joints between the carbs leaking. The weather was particularly hot and dry in the week and a half that I didn't use it, so I guess the o rings on the T's dried out and shrunk but after a good drenching slowly swelled back up to not leaking status... (I've never had this problem with my unrestored carbs!)

Lesson I learned is to ride my bike often, at least every week, preferably every day!
John

[Deltarider]

The weather was particularly hot and dry in the week and a half that I didn't use it, so I guess the o rings on the T's dried out and shrunk but after a good drenching slowly swelled back up to not leaking status...

That's what's happened. They shrink unbelievably. Nobody should panick after a hibernation. First give it time. BTW, that's why I keep the system 'wet' and say every 2 months I drain the carbs to have them refilled right after.

[markreimer]

+1 for getting OEM Honda lines. I used 'off the roll' generic fuel line for a few years and always had problems with the lines getting hard, loose, leaking, etc. Even with clamps around the nipples, it was always a problem. I bought 10 feet of the real Honda stuff from 4into1 along with some little HD fuel line clips and have never had a leak or fuel line issue since. This stuff is really nice.


http://4into1.com/genuine-honda-black-fuel-line-5-5mm-by-the-foot/

http://4into1.com/heavy-duty-fuel-line-clip-5-16/

[HondaMan]

After reading about ppl changing the fuel lines without pulling out the carbs I decided to investigate further - I pulled one of the fuel lines off thinking I could flip them and put the loose ends at the petcock with clamps. But, after removing one, it didn't seem like it was loose enough to have been leaking as it was so hard to get off...
I connected a fuel supply to the other one, and.......no leak!? Then I spend a loooong time teasing the 1st one back on by poking at it with various implements to induce it to twist on while pushing and twisting it from behind the hole it passes through and hooked up fuel to it and.... also no leak despite damaging it and not quite getting it all the way back on!
So I thought the extra pressure of a full tank would make it leak, put the tank back on hooked everything back up and turned the fuel on. After 15 minutes..... still no leaking?
I have concluded that I was mistaken and it was actually the T joints between the carbs leaking. The weather was particularly hot and dry in the week and a half that I didn't use it, so I guess the o rings on the T's dried out and shrunk but after a good drenching slowly swelled back up to not leaking status... (I've never had this problem with my unrestored carbs!)

Lesson I learned is to ride my bike often, at least every week, preferably every day!
John

Many "carb kits" today are sending out too-thin O-rings for the fuel tees, I have discovered...the minimum OEM size on, for example, the 750 'round top' carbs' tees was 1.9 cross-section, but the latest 3 Keyster kits I have seen (some contained these) had 1.6mm cross-section O-rings. While these assemble very easily, they leak, too. I use 2.0 cross-section instead, easily obtained. The other carbs are similar.