Topic: Yet another fuel line question 550k1

[turin39789]

My fuel line is original I believe, and due to be replaced.  My current petcock weeps gas out of the top of the hose on the forward fitting, and when I track down a new petcock I want to replace the line as well.  I've looked online and can't find 5.5 in bulk.  I went to the honda dealership(a relatively new one, less than 10 years old I believe) and they didn't have any.  I want plain old ugly black rubber tubes, nothing clear or purple or etc.  I can get standard sizes anywhere, and the honda dealer did have 5.0mm and 6.0mm. 

What's my best bet?  - Also, should I add in line fuel filters and where?

[lostinthe202]

This stuff is pretty handy 'cause you can see if your fuel is flowing.  They carry it in 3/16 or 1/4 ID.

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=296

Inline fuel filters are always a good idea if you have an older tank that may have crap floating around in it.   Or if you do get black fuel line, they provide that window to tell if gas is flowing if you get clear ones.  the only thing is that if you use inline filters, be careful to make the fuel line's the correct length.  There is not a lot of extra room in there and it's easy to make them too long and they end up crimping.

Good Luck!

[TwoTired]

Here is the engineering breakdown for the fuel tubing.

The pet cock nipple has a .236 O.D. (6mm) shaft and a .270 (6.8mm) dia. barb.
5.5mm I.D. tubing is .218 I.D and will fit firmly on the shaft and the barb will hold it firmly on, even when wet.  Hose clamps are insurance, but not necessity.

1/4 I.D. tubing is .250 and will only self seal on the barb portion of the nipple.  Slides off easily (particularly when wet) and hose clamps are mandatory.

3/16 tubing is .1875.  While this will seal well without clamps, getting this onto the fuel tees between the carbs is going to requires some major dedication and will power.  I would also worry about embrittlement of the over-stressed (stretched) tubing as it ages.  Meaning, removal after a year or two of use will likely be very difficult and prone to cracking.

If Honda will not order the proper size tubing for you, I would try Kawasaki or Yamaha parts outlets for 5.5M fuel tubing.
Otherwise, I would opt for the 5mm size (.197 I.D.)  This would be a little easier to install on the CB550 carb T between the carbs than 3/16 tubing.
6MM tubing is the same I.D. as the petcock nipple shaft and will require a hose clamp for good retention.

Also, if your in-tank petcock fuel filter is still intact, an inline filter is redundant, unnecessary, adds routing complexity, and fuel flow issues to the gravity feed fuel systems, and must be replaced periodically if it is doing any "filtering" at all.

Cheers,

[turin39789]

Here is the engineering breakdown for the fuel tubing.

The pet cock nipple has a .236 O.D. (6mm) shaft and a .270 (6.8mm) dia. barb.
5.5mm I.D. tubing is .218 I.D and will fit firmly on the shaft and the barb will hold it firmly on, even when wet.  Hose clamps are insurance, but not necessity.

1/4 I.D. tubing is .250 and will only self seal on the barb portion of the nipple.  Slides off easily (particularly when wet) and hose clamps are mandatory.

3/16 tubing is .1875.  While this will seal well without clamps, getting this onto the fuel tees between the carbs is going to requires some major dedication and will power.  I would also worry about embrittlement of the over-stressed (stretched) tubing as it ages.  Meaning, removal after a year or two of use will likely be very difficult and prone to cracking.

If Honda will not order the proper size tubing for you, I would try Kawasaki or Yamaha parts outlets for 5.5M fuel tubing.
Otherwise, I would opt for the 5mm size (.197 I.D.)  This would be a little easier to install on the CB550 carb T between the carbs than 3/16 tubing.
6MM tubing is the same I.D. as the petcock nipple shaft and will require a hose clamp for good retention.

Also, if your in-tank petcock fuel filter is still intact, an inline filter is redundant, unnecessary, adds routing complexity, and fuel flow issues to the gravity feed fuel systems, and must be replaced periodically if it is doing any "filtering" at all.

Cheers,

You're the man, for the 100th time. 

I had the parts guy take me into the back of the shop to look at their rack of bulk hose.  I've seen the chart on fuel hose parts numbers in the manual, but haven't figured out how to actually order the hose by part number.  Is this a situation where I'm going to have to convince them it's worthwhile to research how to order the hose for me, or is there a handy part number I can give them for bulk hose.  All I have are the stock numbers for short sections that are much more expensive than the going rate for bulk hose.

I'm still fighting to track down a good oem petcock and filter set, so I don't need the hose today, but the sooner the better.  Then again I tried to start my bike this morning, I think it's out of gas but it was left out in the cold and I grabbed the throttle and it almost sounds like something plastic got brittle and broke inside the handgrip mech.  Then I was kickstarting, and my knee hit the apparently cold and somewhat already cracked sidecover and shattered it into 10 pieces.  One day it will all come together.  One day.

[TwoTired]

Honda Bulk fuel hose number:
95001-55008-40M

This should be for a roll 8 Meters in length.

Cheers,

[SteveD CB500F]

I've been asking the same questions about 5.5 vs 6mm fuel line.  Jeff at Z1 Enterprises has some nice stuff - but I wanted standard black.

My local independant mechanic gave me 3 feet of 6mm fuel line to try and it's fine (I was rebuilding a K2 750 at the time). Now I need to get several metres of it to build my "overhead" fuel supply.

[turin39789]

Honda Bulk fuel hose number:
95001-55008-40M

This should be for a roll 8 Meters in length.

Cheers,

Called the local honda store, tole them I wanted to see if they could order a part number and gave them that, but he was just confused.  It's actually a suzuki/honda store, but they have a pure honda shop a half hour away, I sent an email to them explaining that it was for hose and asking the honda store to try looking it up.  Will see.

[rlarkin70]

I was able to get the black 5.5mm Honda fuel tubing from my local Honda dealer. I didn't have a part number, and at first he didn't think they carried it. But then he called down to the service department, and they knew just what I was asking for. He walked down and cut off a couple feet for me. I think it was $3/foot. So maybe try the service people.

-Ron