Inline filters

[DiverRay]

OMG!!!!!! A fuel line thread??? For REAL?????

Hey, we got tired of oil and tire threads......

[ViperRon]

Well since this is getting expansive I'll go ahead and put my 2 cents in. There are 2 types of systems on bikes those with the OCTY and without and may or may not have the same problems. I have a 1980 no OCTY and have experienced issues with fuel line routing and they can be enhanced by filters and the hose routing. The main issue is in getting air bubbles in the line and them not clearing. The issues I have had are that you may loose power at high speed because of lack of fuel flow to the carbs. This typically happens when the fuel tank is at lower levels. You can also get misses and what seems to be hesitation problems. The bubbles in fuel lines especially when a filter is installed can cause a perk like flow to carbs and just clearing it does not cure it. If you have a condition where these bubbles in the line exist and do not quickly clear on their own . They can reform after running the bike and it cooling off. One other issue is bend in the line where you have an extreme bend. When the bike is cool everything works fine and then when the bike is hot the fuel line gets soft crimps and cuts off fuel flow. These conditions that can be easily overlooked and you can spend many hours troubleshooting electronic and carb problems that do not exist. They can come and go today you fixed it tomorrow its back again.

[BA80]

Ron, that seems a little over anal-ized. I also have deleted the octy because it is a completely useless, troublesome part. The only thing is was ever good for was to equalize levels in both sides of the tank and that was only when it was working.

Kinks can be easily avoided by running the right petcock to the 2 left carbs under the airbox or pods and vice versa. The inlet T's should be pointing down and the fuel lines should be going up to connect on both ends. 2 T's connecting the lines at the lowest point, creating an H connection, will equalize the tank.

Voilà... no bubbles! After all, air does float really well.

BTW.......air bubbles mean absolutely nothing in the fuel lines in most cases. The fuel is forced by gravity and.............gravity works.

[ViperRon]

True we want to be working with gravity Greg the difference is the air bubbles in a fuel line are actually gas vapor that can expand to pressurize and easily change the dynamics to a syphon situation instead of gravity. Its just like the situation of vapor lock caused by gas cap vent being partially clogged. Guys who have worked with these bikes just know to look for the problems but a new person unfamiliar may install a filter and now have a problem when he had none before. If you have black lines you can not see the effects but in a clear line you can watch it happen gas will flow and stop and then flow again causing gas levels in the carb bowl to change. The intent was so a novice would not spend time on a simple issue.