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Fuel Line Damage - WARNING

100K views 206 replies 130 participants last post by  SmokeyGold04 
#1 ·
I'm passing on this info. to make others aware of a potential serious failure mode. It only takes about 5 minutes to investigate and could save your a$$.

I smelled raw gas on Friday morning just after I got off the freeway on my way to work. I assumed it was from the old beater pickup in front of me at the light... didn't give it a second thought. Went to go for a spin at lunch, put her into neutral, turned on the key, and my left leg got soaked with gas. Upon further inspection I found that the high-pressure fuel line (approx 60 psi) had worn through due to abrasion on the connector attached to the frame on top of the rear cylinder, under the fuse block (see photo). It unnerved me a bit; I had a bad visual of my bike going up in flames while I was riding! :eek: Fortunately that didn't happen.

The best part is that I had it fixed that day. Glad I got the extended warranty! I called the dealer, they drove out to my work, picked up my bike, took the bike and me to the service department and replaced the fuel lines immediately. The whole repair took about 30 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised they had the parts in stock. Apparently, HD had them buy a bulk lot of V-rod parts and these fuel lines were included.

The new fuel lines are shaped much nicer, they are low against the cylinder head and there's plenty of room between them and the connector. In the photo, I was pushing them down to get a good view of the damage. FYI, My bike is a 2002, ser. no. ending in 801910, so it's one of the earlier ones. Perhaps they realized this problem and changed the shape of the hoses. BTW, these hoses are about $22.00 ea. Has anyone else had this or similar problem?
 

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#102 ·
Luxlamf, Do you know what kind of pipe that is (size etc) and where I can get it from. The dealer replaced both the lines last June. The wear is starting again. I just want to fix it once and for all...thanks jf
 
#105 ·
'04 B Model - Checked mine this weekend - Mesh worn completely through on the left line. This looks like a constant wear point and will have to be one of the maintenance items....

Temp fix was to tape a piece of heavy plasic over the hole. Will have to look for something thicker that wraps around the line and capable of being zip tied.

Hey MoCo, nice job of engineering. Next time take a closer look at your 3D modeling......

HoldHard
 
#107 ·
Don't know if this is BS but.......... I took my v-rod in for service and to repair the fuel line damage and a few other issues. My fuel line has worn thru the outer cover.

My service manager called corporate and this is what they said to him....replace it if customer wants but there is no way rubbing will EVER cause this line to leak or rupture. It is heavily reinforced inside and only cutting it will cause it to leak or rupture.
 
#108 ·
Besides Bikerdave, has anyone else had this hose start leaking, rupture, or spray fuel at the point of contact with the coil because of wear? One incident should be enough to bring it to Harley's attention as a safety issue but I would like more ammo before I meet with my service manager again.
 
#109 ·
JF4246 said:
Luxlamf, Do you know what kind of pipe that is (size etc) and where I can get it from. The dealer replaced both the lines last June. The wear is starting again. I just want to fix it once and for all...thanks jf

I finally figured out what kind of tubing I have (once again found it in garage) and its available in the Electrical section of most hardware stores. This stuff is great, no need for ties or anything, it fits very snug. Heres its official purpose (I am using type "B" & 1/2"):


Type NM

A general purpose nonmetallic liquidtight conduit offers excellent protection to wiring from Abrasion, Sunlight, Mild Acids, Alkaline and Oils. Often used for air conditioning hook-ups and other outdoor applications.


Construction Type B:

NM is of the helically wound Integral Type B construction. It contains a spiral of rigid PVC reinforcement embedded within the flexible PVC wall.


Fittings:

Suitable for use with nonmetallic fittings marked for FNMC-B or with standard metal liquidtight fittings.


Working Temperatures:

-20C to 80C Dry, 60C Wet, 70C Oil

UL- Listed File #E79308 Conforms to Underwriters Laboratories Standard
-ANSI/UL 1660 type B
-The 3/8 through 1-1/4 inch trade sizes are listed and marked for Direct Burial and in poured Concrete.

CSA- Certified File #LL18858 Conforms to CSA 22.2 No. 227.2 type B


Applications:

Both types LNM-P and NM are intended for installation in accordance with Article 351, part B of the NEC� (ANSI/NFPA-70) for Flexible Liquidtight Nonmetallic Conduit.

-For containment of 600 volt and lower potential circuits.
-Listed and Marked for Outdoor use.
-Installations in hazardous (classified) Locations:

Class I Div. 2 Article 501-4 (b)
Class II Div. 1 and 2 Article 502-4 (a)(2) and (b)(2)
Class III Div. 1 and 2 Article 503-3 (a) and (b)

-Electric Signs and Outline Lighting over 1000 volts Article 600-31 (a)
-Wiring methods for pools and spas article 680

Conforms to the requirements of Section 17.8 of the Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery.


Standard Colors:

Machine tool Gray and Black
 
#112 ·
Adding to the list of things to look at. Thanks. :thumb:
 
#114 ·
Thank you and Al Gore for the internet

I just checked my 02 with 3100 miles and discovered that the same problem exists. The fabric was worn thru so I added a rubber hose over the lines in this area. I know to recheck this at the end of season. I just got my Vrod 4 weeks ago and I am liking this bike very much.

Rhelmy

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

"life isn't the same without professional hockey"
 
#118 ·
i liked my h-d too, but didn't like the probs, and now i have a modern engine with double the power of my h-d wich was double the price of my honda, and the engine of h-d has been the same for more than 40 years, except for the v-rod, but that in fact is a german engine, so not realy h-d.
And shure: there is the choice, and i sold mine, but to be honoust: i got a fairly good price, one of the advantages of selling a h-d.
i didn't even had to spend all of the money to get a brand new fireblade with 172 horses.
In the 1800's, August Otto invented the internal combustion engine. He was German. All other engnes are now plagiarist machinery? Pin headed thinking. You may suffer from LJSPTS-lobotomized juvenile symptomatic pathjological thinking syndrome
 
#120 ·
Greetings,

I've been offline for awhile so am just getting back into reading posts on the forum... then I see this response from corporate :blahblah: ... it kinda bothers me :mad:

ihringert said:
...corporate said, there is no way rubbing will EVER cause this line to leak or rupture. It is heavily reinforced inside and only cutting it will cause it to leak or rupture.
OK, they are entitled to their opinion, but I had it happen, so all the posturing, CYA, or whatever does not change the reality of my situation.

The fuel line abraded through, gas was spraying out! Santa Barbara H-D (California) has a record of warranty replacement of the fuel lines. Perhaps I should have kept the old ones. To further add to my story, I made no alterations or changes to the lines or their locations, never even considered them unitl the failure occured. So that a fuel line could not possibly EVER fail is, in fact, untrue. :bs:

Regardless of the MOCO's opinion, I'm happy to see that there have been no other failures and that the readers are being proactive. I'm glad to be able to help out my fellow v-rodders!

Gotta run... it's too nice outside to be sitting at my computer. Ride On!

Bikerdave
Carpinteria, CA
 
#121 ·
guitar7man said:
Anyone with 04's seen this issue? I'll have to check mine out and I'll let ya know.
My '04 didn't have any wear, but it had a pinhole a few weeks ago in that same line for no visible reason. Mine WAS a fire hazard at the time because it was pi$$ing fuel ALL over the place. At idle it wasn't leaking, but once the pressure started to build up in the line....it went all over the place. I too thought it was someone else leaking the gas. The dealer had never seen the problem before.....and it was replaced under warranty. They thought it may have just been a defective fuel line.
 
#122 ·
bikerdave said:
Greetings,

I've been offline for awhile so am just getting back into reading posts on the forum... then I see this response from corporate :blahblah: ... it kinda bothers me :mad:


OK, they are entitled to their opinion, but I had it happen, so all the posturing, CYA, or whatever does not change the reality of my situation.

The fuel line abraded through, gas was spraying out! Santa Barbara H-D (California) has a record of warranty replacement of the fuel lines. Perhaps I should have kept the old ones. To further add to my story, I made no alterations or changes to the lines or their locations, never even considered them unitl the failure occured. So that a fuel line could not possibly EVER fail is, in fact, untrue. :bs:

Regardless of the MOCO's opinion, I'm happy to see that there have been no other failures and that the readers are being proactive. I'm glad to be able to help out my fellow v-rodders!

Gotta run... it's too nice outside to be sitting at my computer. Ride On!

Bikerdave
Carpinteria, CA
That is exactly what our local shop manager told me corporate told him and it wouldn't be covered under warranty. I took the bike in for other warranty work at the time and told them to fix the worn fuel line while they had it (under warranty of course). What they ended up doing was putting 4 of those plastic ties around the hose and told me this was the best they could do. Needless to say, I was slightly pissed after that. What did all my complaining get me.....I still have those 4 plastic ties as protection against wear.
 
#123 ·
Mine is a 2004 and I just brought it in today for this problem. I'll have to see what they say when I go pick it up on Sat. Caught it just in time.
 
#124 ·
JF4246 said:
Fixed the lines with metal tape and hose tape over that. Zip tied them to help hold them away from the plastic piece they rub on.

I checked mine and had the same size hole in the sheath. I thought about duct taping a piece of heat shrink but discarded the idea once I thought of the heat. The metal tape is a much better idea. It will do a good job of sheilding the repair on the sheath from the heat from the cover. I also repositioned the lines so they are one on top of the other sitting in the little channel in the cover.

As you can see from my post count I haven't been around long but I am sure I'm in the right place. Thanks guys! :cheers:

Mark
 
#127 ·
Since I am going to do a IAC install shortly, I will fix this problem that has started on my bike while I am in there. I am thinking about using the plastic electrical conduit along the ares that have the "rub" Its much harder than the cloth insulator the factory used orginally so it should prevent further problems.

Regards
 
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