Topic: Fuel filters - the good and the bad?

[mick750F]

   The 5.5mm line was available from Honda as recently as last summer. I'd be willing to guess that it still is.

Mike

[Zane]

.....I have yet to find clear tubing that won't harden within 5 years........

Yikes!  "....5 years."  More like about 5 weeks for me up here in Canadaland.  It makes me crazy that I paid what I did, per foot of that crap.  Thanks goodness it was at least small enough (O.D.) to fit into the 400F's little black, curved fuel tube sheath.

[medic09]

   The 5.5mm line was available from Honda as recently as last summer. I'd be willing to guess that it still is.

Mike

I just got some Honda 5.5mm line when I rebuilt my carbs this winter; so it's still available.  What the dealer had in stock was 6.5mm line, but the order for the 5.5mm arrived within about a week.

[eldar]

Well I ran without a filter of any kind for a while. Tank never had one since I got the bike. My petcock is a very simple design. It is a ball valve and has 2 holes, one of which hasa tube about 3 inches long. That is the normal feed, the hole without the tube is reserve. I got new clear blue line and it works fine. It might harden but Fuel line is cheap. I spent  a few cents maybe a buck or so. Big deal. I also got an inline filter which has been working fine and has not slowed me done. maybe I have not taken my bike to top speed but then I have things to live for that are more important than going 100+. However I can still take it to 85 with no problems at all. If you use an in-line filter all you have to do is make sure it will flow enough thats all.

I say filter everything you can. I might just see about that in-tank filter but I will also run my inline. You can never have too much filtration as long as your engine is not being starved.

[keiths]

While we are talking about filters and sediment, I was wondering if anyone else has seen this problem. I ran an in-line filter all last year and at the end of the season my float bowls were filled with black sediment. Does anyone have a guess as to what the sediment is from? My tank has been lined, I've replaced all the petcock parts and added clear blue fuel lines. The only thing I hadn't replaced until now was the gas cap gasket. I've got a new one for this season.

[eldar]

do you put in any fuel additives?  Is it really fine? cause if it is very fine, it will slip thru most fuel filters and cake on the bottom.

[keiths]

I have used stabil and yes it is as fine as dust and very black.

[eldar]

Ok something like that is probably not going to be filtered except by a pleated paper filter. What type of tank lining was used? I doubt it is stabil doing it.

[TwoTired]

While we are talking about filters and sediment, I was wondering if anyone else has seen this problem. I ran an in-line filter all last year and at the end of the season my float bowls were filled with black sediment. Does anyone have a guess as to what the sediment is from? My tank has been lined, I've replaced all the petcock parts and added clear blue fuel lines. The only thing I hadn't replaced until now was the gas cap gasket. I've got a new one for this season.

It may well be just that; dust.  The carburetor bowls are vented to the atmosphere.  Honda put long tubes on these vents and routed them back between the engine and swing arm on many bikes.  There was never any kind of filter on these tubes, that I am aware of.  However, dust would have to travel a long way UP the tube to enter the fuel bowl.  These vent lines don't usually exchange a lot of air, just equalize atmosphereic pressure changes.  I've seen some bikes that eliminated these vent tubes and left the nipples bare, and it would seem an easy path for dust to enter into the carb that way.  If you've been operating the bike in dusty areas, in might explain your sediment issues.

If you still have those tubes, check to see if they are clear.  Insects have been known to nest in the open ends, bringing dirt and debris in the process.

Cheers,

[keiths]

It's not from my liner. My liner is Red Kote (Soluble in MEK and clear red).

[eldar]

Well it would be hard to say. It could be dust brought up the line but that would be kinda odd. I guess it would be experiment time. Do you fill at the same station all the time? If so try another station. or at least a different grade of gas for a while. Clean your bowls before you do this!

Maybe your gas cap is leaking dust into your fuel?

[keiths]

I don't think its from road dust or insects. My vent lines are clear and I do mostly highway miles. I use a local garage so it might have been in the gas but I have filled my spare gas cans at the same station and have not seen any problems in my mower, weedwacker or snowblower.
I'm not talking about a small amount of dust but quite a bit and about the same amount in each bowl. I'd say it might be from my floats but the petcock bowl also had some in it but not as much.

[eldar]

Well it is coming from the tank, that much is certain. so it is either dust getting in somehow or the gas or the tank liner. Those are the only 3 possibilities that exist

[BobbyR]

Well it is coming from the tank, that much is certain. so it is either dust getting in somehow or the gas or the tank liner. Those are the only 3 possibilities that exist

With gas prices up the way they have been, stations have been pumping to the bottom of the tanks and who knows what is down the bottom. As you can see the in tank screen only blocks particles of a certain size. Hondaman has spoken about deposits left behind when the fuel has MBTE in it.

[mrbreeze]

I think it is the secondary crap that gets through the sock filter in the tank.It don't happen overnight but eventually it makes a bed in the float bowl.

[Raul CB750K1]

Well it is coming from the tank, that much is certain. so it is either dust getting in somehow or the gas or the tank liner. Those are the only 3 possibilities that exist

It could simply be some kind of particles "included" in the gas. Gas is not such a pure chemical; it is stored in underground tanks that doesn't get cleaned every day. No biggie, if they can go through the filters then they are no issue, at least that's what I think. Or it could also be that the stabil had removed some crap already attached to the carb walls and it has gone to sediment on the float bowl, who knows...

[grumburg]

   The 5.5mm line was available from Honda as recently as last summer. I'd be willing to guess that it still is.

Mike

-Could not find 5.5 mm hose at the bike dealer, but found an exact match at the Honda Power Equipment dealer. Paid $1.10 a foot. Was in a bag with Honda part #, but I didn't write it down.

[mick750F]

   The 5.5mm line was available from Honda as recently as last summer. I'd be willing to guess that it still is.

Mike

-Could not find 5.5 mm hose at the bike dealer, but found an exact match at the Honda Power Equipment dealer. Paid $1.10 a foot. Was in a bag with Honda part #, but I didn't write it down.

   Hey grumbie I'm curious. Did they bother to look it up? Did they say it wasn't available or did they refuse to order it?

Mike

[grumburg]

They just said they couldn't get it. Never looked it up.

[mick750F]

  Ah ha! So they refused to order it.

Mike

[BobbyR]

That happens so often it is not funny. They don't want to be bothered with vintage bike, or they just don't want to be borhered.

[grumburg]

That is why I buy from a dealer 30 miles away. The one 2 miles from my house doesn't give a s@*t unless its a $20k BMW.

[mick750F]

That happens so often it is not funny. They don't want to be bothered with vintage bike, or they just don't want to be borhered.

   All too true. The Honda dealer closest to me is about 20 minutes away. They've managed to piss me off so badly that I wouldn't buy so much as a washer from them...not that they'd order it. One of the punks behind the counter was actually scoffing at the thought of putting money into "an old bike like that". Another guy there told me that they can't get the parts for old Hondas anymore because Honda sold them all. What a bunch of jackasses...

Mike

[BobbyR]

Better than that, I was in a Honda Dealer in Sarasota FL. The counter guys were trying to goof on me in a way they figure I would not catch on. I am from NY so we know when we are being goofed on and we piss of easy. So I tell the guys are they here to make money or piss people off. The owner comes over and tells me that he actually owns and rides a 750F and loves it. But, "we don't make money from guys with old bikes, we make money from guys buying new bikes and pimping them up to look like Harleys". I went down the road to a small shop called Randy's and scored a bunch of NOS parts at a good price and some good advice also.

[eldar]

I have fair luck at my local honda shop with parts. However something like this should be asked a different way.  Ask what sizes of fuel line they have instead of telling them what you need.  You might get a better answer that way.