Z1100R First Ride Problem

[Lewes2019]

Bike arrived earlier via https://specialisedmotorcycletransport.com/ who were excellent & highly recommended.

Spent a while enjoying looking at it, then popped out for a ride. Bike was running well and pulling cleanly, no problems at all for the 35 miles, including restarting from a 15 minute coffee stop.

Got to a fuel station and filled it up with Tesco Momentum 99 (as I always put that in my K1300R). The bike didn’t like it, started OK, but immediate slight misfire under load. Home 1 mile later; - went inside for a few minutes, came out to a small pool of petrol on the drive. Dripping off frame on left hand side, apparently from the rear breather pipe. Turned the fuel off and gave the leaked fuel a few minutes to evaporate. The bike didn’t want to start, but did eventually with some throttle. Parked in the garage and no further leak.

Any ideas, please?

Thanks gents - Jon

[Al]

Jon just speaking for myself; if i filled the tank right up i would always turn the tap to off (ON) when i parked it. I would try not to fill the tank to the top if it was going to get parked 'hot' or if possible not on the side stand if full and hot. Did you hear it venting from the fuel filler cap?
I spent some time getting 'hairs' in my fill-ups. I think they were from the PFS tanks or hoses and are really hard to see but they played havoc with the float valves and held them open on numerous occasions and made them selves know as small leaks. Solution was to run the engine with the fuel turned off (ON) until the float bowls emptied. I got used to this at the end of each journey before it was parked up. Although i dont use it on the road anymore i still do this now as it became a matter of habit! Turning on the fuel again was sufficient to flush these 'hairs' / fibres through the float valves and allow them to seal.
If its got CV carbs there is no overflow on the carbs. Its a small nipple on the bottom of the airbox. If it got to the stage of flooding there, then it would have flooded number 1 cyl and possibly number 2 also which would make it hard to start as you found. There is nothing about Tesco Momentum 99 which it wont like, more likely it was already flooding as you rode it home. Most likely it will clear itself with some use and a few miles.

AL

[neilbarrett]

ive never put Tesco fuel in me bikes was told yrs back its cheep petrol for a reason ,it has tiny particals of crap in it that can get through a lot of fuel filters,other scenario is you've filled the tank up and its washed crap of the side of the tank walls ?

[zed1015]

Sounds like the float valve not seating , maybe due to contaminants in the fuel.
Have to say that my Zeds run like crap on Tesco Momentum and I avoid it like the plague.

[Tonka]

Hi Jon, as per my email to you I agree with the above. Especially using Tesco fuel. As stated, until you put the cheap Tesco fuel in her it was ok. I also always drain the carbs by letting the engine run and always turn the fuel off after a run.

[chrisu]

I put Tesco fuel in all my bikes and cars and never had a problem. I think it’s incorrect to say there’s a generic problem with Tesco fuel but each to their own.

[moizeau]

So the two differences between running and not are 'filling up' and 'tesco fuel'. I would go with the first. Squirting fuel in the tank has dislodged some crap that was already in there which has then fouled the carbs. Take the petrol tap off and see if the strainer is clean.

[Robw]

I had an interesting chat with a friend about fuel at different garages, as he is a delivery driver. The fuel at all the stations is the same as he lines up with tesco, bp etc and fuels up at the same pumps in the refineries. Same as the higher grades fuel, the refineries produce the different grades, but there is a limited amount of refeneries and fuel types. Tesco and the like are cheaper, due to the quantity they buy and can off set price through the retail side of the business. Fuel quality, is generally down to the garages, ability to store the fuel and the checks they carry out. Such as water in the fuel and amount of sediment in the tanks.

[CAT3]

I had an interesting chat with a friend about fuel at different garages, as he is a delivery driver. The fuel at all the stations is the same as he lines up with tesco, bp etc and fuels up at the same pumps in the refineries. Same as the higher grades fuel, the refineries produce the different grades, but there is a limited amount of refeneries and fuel types. Tesco and the like are cheaper, due to the quantity they buy and can off set price through the retail side of the business. Fuel quality, is generally down to the garages, ability to store the fuel and the checks they carry out. Such as water in the fuel and amount of sediment in the tanks.

This has been my opinion for years. There an oil terminal near me & I've seen all manner of tankers going in there to fill up with petrol over the years, Conoco, BP, Tesco, Morrisons, etc. There is no way a company makes petrol & has different pipes for each of the different tankers to fill up at. Companies like BP, Shell, etc want you all to believe that petrol from the likes of Tesco & Morrisons is inferior to their own brand for obvious reasons !!
You wait & see what happens to them when in 2040 we are all driving about in electric vehicles !
Also, now petrol car sales are going up again because we are being told diesel engines are not as good as we were told they were. You watch now, petrol prices will start rising again & soon it will be more expensive that diesel !!!

Going back to the original question, I would suspect that the bike has been stood for a while & when it was filled up some shit already in the tank has become dislodged & stuck the float valve open causing the leak. This has then dislodged again & the leak has stopped.
You really need to remove the fuel tap strainer & check for crud. Also, it would be worth removing the fuel tank & rinsing it out with some petrol to see if anything comes out.

[rpeters]

Does it have a standard fuel tap or Pingle type?

[Lewes2019]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I’m returning to this world – the last time I got involved in all this sort of issue was my old and much-missed XJR1300.

It seems to me that the facing favourite is that it’s been stood for a while and filling it right up has dislodged some muck from within the tank. It’s got a Pingel tap. The question is of course whether riding it will clear that muck or whether it needs the carbs cleaning – which is way beyond what I want to attempt. If it is the latter, I’ll need to find someone in East Sussex or maybe south Kent who can do this for me.

[neilbarrett]

get a inline fuel filter fitted

[Lewes2019]

Took the bike to Wilton House (Salisbury) Biker Breakfast yesterday.

The bike had been parked up with the Pingel fuel tap off and was reluctant to start, but it did eventually.

Filled up just outside Salisbury and although it started on the button, as usual it was grumpy & spluttery for the first mile. Parked up at the meet point to wait for a friend. He showed up 5 mins later, I’d forgotten to turn the petrol tap off, so while he checked the bike out (he hadn’t seen it before), we noticed it was dripping fuel. Got to Wilton, switched the fuel off, and an hour later it started on the button.
100-odd miles each way, when moving, the bike was running really well.

This fuel dripping can’t be right though. Any ideas, other than simply switching the tap off every time I park it?

[z1bman]

you need to empty the fuel tank to see if the fuel is contaminated . give the tank a good shake before emptying the fuel into a container. when its settled look for any crap at the bottom of the container

[Lewes2019]

Thanks. Checking the tank seems like a good idea. What about the leak, any advice there? Jon