Red hot header pipe

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Badart

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Not mopar related, but you guys know what you are doing. I have started my bike every couple of weeks over the winter to avoid a dead battery and to keep the fuel from gunking up the injector and pump. I have been busy and haven't done it for about a month. This morning I started it, fired right up and let it run a couple of minutes and I noticed the idle never dropped and looked down and the header pipe was red hot. It's a BMW G650 (big single with fuel injection). I assume it's running really lean. I'm guessing a partially clogged injector or pump is not giving enough pressure. DAMN Ethanol!!!!

I am thinking about putting in injector cleaner or mystery oil and start it the next few mornings for a few seconds to let it work it's way through the system. Any advice?
 

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I will check out the link, but there is about 18" of snow on the ground right now and ice all over the roads. Trust me, I would love to go for a ride. Lol
Don't be a pussy whats a little ice and snow just throw a leg over it and ride. Just kidding Lol. I would drain the tank and find a station that sells real gas(non ethanol) and add sea foam and try running it see if it will clean out.:violent1:
 
Lean gunked up. Down here in FL, we can buy non-ethonal, still, in select places. Sometimes you can fill the old cars, without the 5 gallon cans hassle, depends on the owner. Downside- it costs more. Up-side= more milage. Buddy just bought a new $10000 outboard boat engine. I was there to ask ?'s too. He made sure that we understood. Costs more, better on everything, and makes more power. He said; run a full tank of eth in your lawnmower, time it running out of gas. Then run a tank of marine and see how much longer it lasts. Break-even, and saved working on it.
 
You can haul cans to a marina; but pay a lot more(government- dock spillage, etc). It's about a buck more than eth, at a regular station.
 
Well I went out this evening and started it up again and everything is normal. I could smell it running rich while cold, just like normal and the idle rpm dropped within 30 seconds and no red hot header pipe. This motor is liquid cooled with a fan and I have let it idle for 10-20 minutes at a time with no issues. Whatever was causing the problem has passed.

As far as the article goes, I don't agree with many of those guys who say it's perfectly normal and I have never had a bike do that when it is tuned properly. I am going to go pick up some ethanol free gas tomorrow and run it through it. Thanks guys
 
You can haul cans to a marina; but pay a lot more(government- dock spillage, etc). It's about a buck more than eth, at a regular station.

We have a few places around here that sell ethanol free gas and I usually try to buy there, but I think on my last tank of the year I got gas with corn in it. :banghead: I usually buy the ethanol free stuff for my mower, wheeler and snow blower, because I hate cleaning carbs every year.
 
I feel like once it starts getting gummed up nothing helps but a good cleaning.

I've had real good luck with stabil. Put it in when the seasons over run it to get it going all through the fuel system. gas is good to go months later when the time comes to ride.
 
Sounds to me as though something was retarding the timing. With the newer fuel injected bikes I would tihnk that the ignition rotor would not have a mechanical advance, but if it did, some condensate may have turned to rust and temporarily kept the engine timing back. It's also possible that the IAC valve got a little sticky from sitting and the computer kept pulling timing out to try to lower the idle. I find it very hard to believe that it would idle at all if it was lean enough to turn the pipe red hot.

That said always add Stabil to your fuel tank and ride it around a bit before storing for the winter to get the Stabil in the fuel lines and small orfices. Gas in small quantities goes bad much faster than in a 15 or 20 gallon tank. On something that's carbuerated, turn off the fuel tap and run the carb dry and keep the tank full. Keeping the tank full with Stabil in the fuel will keep rust from forming in the tank. Also, throw the battery on a trickle charger (1 amp) once a month.

Nice bike BTW! A buddy of mine is picking up a '12 KLR 650 this coming Tuesday.
 
a friend told me that if you buy a 5 gal beer/wine making glass jug and fill it with gas, if you let it sit awhile- the ethanol will seperate and you can just syphon out the crap and have good straight gas. Havent tried this yet, but it sounds feasible. He said it didnt sit long- just a week or 2, maybe 3. Cant remember.
I will ask the list to see if others tried that. I will prob get alot of snake oil comments, but we will see lol.
 
I feel like once it starts getting gummed up nothing helps but a good cleaning.

I've had real good luck with stabil. Put it in when the seasons over run it to get it going all through the fuel system. gas is good to go months later when the time comes to ride.

I run stabil in my other motors during the winter, but for some reason I never put any in the bike. Every time that I put away we would have a sunny day and I would take it out. Then one day it snowed.

Sounds to me as though something was retarding the timing. With the newer fuel injected bikes I would tihnk that the ignition rotor would not have a mechanical advance, but if it did, some condensate may have turned to rust and temporarily kept the engine timing back. It's also possible that the IAC valve got a little sticky from sitting and the computer kept pulling timing out to try to lower the idle. I find it very hard to believe that it would idle at all if it was lean enough to turn the pipe red hot.

That said always add Stabil to your fuel tank and ride it around a bit before storing for the winter to get the Stabil in the fuel lines and small orfices. Gas in small quantities goes bad much faster than in a 15 or 20 gallon tank. On something that's carbuerated, turn off the fuel tap and run the carb dry and keep the tank full. Keeping the tank full with Stabil in the fuel will keep rust from forming in the tank. Also, throw the battery on a trickle charger (1 amp) once a month.

Nice bike BTW! A buddy of mine is picking up a '12 KLR 650 this coming Tuesday.

Thanks Joe. I figured you would chime in. There is an idle control valve on this bike that I have had an issue with in the past. The rod on the actuator had actually cam unthreaded and was causing starting and stalling issues. I fixed that and cleaned it good and have had no problems since. I'm still thinking it's a fuel issue, but we will see when I start it in a couple of days. I think the bike just needs a good flogging. :toothy7:
 
a friend told me that if you buy a 5 gal beer/wine making glass jug and fill it with gas, if you let it sit awhile- the ethanol will seperate and you can just syphon out the crap and have good straight gas. Havent tried this yet, but it sounds feasible. He said it didnt sit long- just a week or 2, maybe 3. Cant remember.
I will ask the list to see if others tried that. I will prob get alot of snake oil comments, but we will see lol.

We have a petrol company here that sells 89 octane without ethanol and they also sell race gas right at the pump.
 
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