Fire burns

This weekend's painful lesson...

Yesterday I went out to the garage since it was shaping up to be a beautiful day of riding, and a puddle of gas is under my baby. It looked like gas was leaking out of the number 1 carbs drain screw, I tighten it up, straighten the bike up and she seems to be able to control her bladder. She fired right up and I took her out for a ride and the engine ran smooth so I figured I was good. I ran my gf home then get back here and pulled back into my garage and I dismount to find gas dripping down the side. I unbolted the rear of the tank and lifted it up and started to poke around to see if I could tell where the gas was flowing from when something sparked the gas that was dripping and I had a fireball. I ripped the burning tank off of the bike and threw it out into the parking lot. I quickly got the fire smothered out around the bike but the tank was a massive fireball. My neighbors were coming out so I yelled at one of them to watch it and be ready to call 911 while I ran inside, got my fire extinguisher and put the fire out. It was ugly. Street traffic on the main road near me had slowed to a crawl while people watched and someone must have called 911 because the fire trucks pulled into my apt. complex about 2 minutes later. The tank is toast, and the siding on the garages is melted, but thankfully no one got hurt, and the garages didn't burn down. I can't wait to see what kind of letter I get from my apt. manager this week.

 

Echh, man, that sucks. Glad you & most of the bike are ok - that could easily have been much much worse.

 

Must have been a pin hole in the tank or leaking petcock. Glad your ok and you didn't get burned.

This is a good reminder to everyone to check your tanks and fuel lines out so this doesn't happen to you. I guess if you see a fuel leak its best to put the bike outside and unhook the battery before doing anything incase of a spark like that.

 

Waiting to see the ad on CL:

"1981 XJ650 Maxim. $3000. This bike is HOT!!!"

Seriously, glad you're okay. That could have ended a heck of a lot worse.

 

Glad your ok, you have any idea what caused the spark?

 

Gas may have just hit a hot spot on the engine & ignited. Glad you are okay. That could have been a bomb.

 

A spark can be just static electricity on a low humidity day.
There's several sources for a gas leak, and it leaks onto carbs that could backflash, plug wires, a generator, a starter, and then hot exhaust.

Good to hear you didn't get burned.

 

Jon, believe me, brother, I feel your pain!! Good to know that you are ok and no one is hurt!!

 

Hey guys, thank you for all the well wishes. I got a new tank from a member in Arizona and put it on last night. I also tore down the carbs again while I was fixing the tank to check them out. I noticed that two of the float bowl screws had come out on one of the carbs so I am guessing that caused my problem. I bought new screws and everything seemed fine last night, took her for a ride and she ran as rough as she did before , she is my work in progress.