Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Today Thanksgiving Day turned out to be just that. From cloudy to a warm sunny day and a ride beckoned me. Grab my Go Pro and Nikon an set off on the 31 VF. Enjoying the Back roads both paved and Gravel with the beauty of fall colours .
Got some nice video and Photo's along the way.
My Last stop was on a small bridge,out comes the Go Pro ,set up and Kick the ol gal over..nothing..again..nothing..again( Float stuck ) then whooosh as the flames shot out the carb..Then Panic set in as a fire was now underway..quickly off the bike ,shut gas off and tried to put out the flames.The gas line melted causing more flames..Frantically trying to put out the fire was proving useless and visions of my Ariel going up in a ball of fire was real.
I reached in and yanked all the wires out and started to throw gravel/dirt onto the bike in a last ditch attempt to save it.
Finally The flames were put out ..relief set in and as I looked at the damage I realized someone was looking out for me..I was lucky, the HT lead burnt away and the Gen wires are history. The Paint plus everything else was good..Then I looked down at my Left hand and noticed blood, No cuts there then I looked at my Right Hand and it revealed all. The side of my hand was burnt away. My knuckles also burnt raw and my finger tips burnt as well on 2 with a bad burn on the middle,My wrist had a very slight burn.Guess I made it worse by grabbing all the gravel..Phone home for assistance then the pain set in.O My
So today I had a great ride , got some great video and Photo's.Had Thanksgiving Supper( in pain ) into town to get medication. then watched the Toronto Blue Jays win a Must win Game and My VF is still safe..Next purchase will be a small fire extinguisher to carry with me on the next ride.
A Thankful day indeed.

Wow, that's some day Ian . When your prized possession is about to disappear before your eyes you don't feel pain, till later! :d
Fire extinguisher, I'd never properly thought about carrying one of them, maybe I should.

Steve

Yep.I warn people not to use plastic fuel lines,use correct rubber fuel tube.Even when the fuel tap is turned off,when the line melts a considerable volume of fuel runs out of the float bowl/chamber on any Amal.Soldered copper tube is also prone to developing leaks,and the solder melts at quite low temp in a fire.Use the correct rubber fuel tube,not clear plastic,and have a flame trap gauze or proper air filter on the intake.Regards John.

Bad luck Ian. That plastic piping is a menace, I hope the burns to your hand heal well. On the plus side you now have something to do during the long winter that will soon be with you.

Wow Ian, too bad about the burns and hope it heals well.

Still 20C and good riding this weekend as well so not thinking about winter too much but it will come eventually. We had a lovely Thanksgiving out at Campbell Lake where the family went camping this weekend.

Frank

john.whiting wrote:Yep.I warn people not to use plastic fuel lines,use correct rubber fuel tube.Even when the fuel tap is turned off,when the line melts a considerable volume of fuel runs out of the float bowl/chamber on any Amal.Soldered copper tube is also prone to developing leaks,and the solder melts at quite low temp in a fire.Use the correct rubber fuel tube,not clear plastic,and have a flame trap gauze or proper air filter on the intake.Regards John.

Hi John
Is the Flame trap gauze a velocity stack with the wire mesh ? I have these seen on e Bay.Always though it was just a filter.
Something to look at buying or finding a K&N filter that will work. I have one on my VHA
The fuel line I used was indeed fuel line made for Bikes and snowmobiles .
looks like I need to re investigate this.

I had a look at the carb and the clearance to the oil tank. The flame trap is 1 1/4 long and the clearance I have is 1".
Not much room to even fit and air cleaner/ A 90 degree rubber hose might work then fit a K&N filter if I can find the correct size.
The other option is to fit a 626 Carb with filter.
Guess I'll keep trying to figure it out

I managed to get the wiring done and played again with the carb. With a 636 I still can't fit a filter. The only way I can fit a flame trap is to remove the generator and bring the carb up against the flange..In 32 they raise the intake track upwards making things simpler.At This time I have a 1/2" spacer to move the carb back so float bowl removal is simple.This also helps position the Bowl better but I can only go so far as it hits the Gen body.
At this time a small fire extinguisher looks like a good choice

Ian
Do you think the carb had flooded prior to the backfire hence the difficulty to start?
From your description there appears to have been a significant amount of fuel / fuel vapour in that area which was then ignited by the backfire...enough to keep burning long enough to melt the fuel pipe.
It might be a good time for us all to think about what 'we' would do if something similar happened.

alan.moore wrote:Ian

It might be a good time for us all to think about what 'we' would do if something similar happened.

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