Fuel fliters

[VW_NUT]

Ok, so we are making good progress on the Bandit resotration. (Pics will be up soon)

We cleaned up a rusty tank with KBC Coatings & I'd like to add a fuel filter as some insurance to keep crap out of the carbs.

Someone here mentioned that some fuel filters can cause rough running due to the fuel only being gravity fed.

Anyone have any advice on what to run for a fuel filter?  I know some of you are running an inline filter.  Does it work alright?

Thanks!

[magicGoose]

I just installed a Russell filter. Aluminum body, scintered bronze cleanable filter element, about $20. Looks like the same technology as the Pingel for about half the price. I haven't run it for long, but I don't seem to be having any issues with it so far. An added benefit to using the cleanable screw-apart filters is that if you suspect a flow problem, you can just screw it apart and remove the filter element.
Steve

[VW_NUT]

where do you get these from?

[Banditmax]

Yeah i had one which really didn't flow enough. Bike kept dyeing when being used at WOT for over 30 seconds completely baffling until i removed the element from it and found it worked fine.

[andrewsw]

I had the same problem. It would die at high revs after the fuel level dropped too low. I think the best advice is to coat the tank and then keep it clean.

Mine was made for cars, has a nice glass body so you can visually inspect it, a pretty good sized plastic, cleanable element, but it just didn't flow enough. I pulled the filter element out of it, but left the filter body in place. Because of the way the fuel flows, it does act as a sediment trap, so that's a help.

[gsxr400 racer]

i run pingel, dont use the clear little cheap plastic ones. On a side note these bikes act funny with when the fuel gets low so much so that i raised my tank up in the front. This goes for the b4 and the gk73a

[Banditmax]

They only get funny when fuel is low if you have a fuel filter restricting the flow i think.

[gsxr400 racer]

driill a bigger vent hole

[Thief400]

don't add one, just keep the tank clean and full at all times. Talk to ather bike owner, they know where the clean fuel is in your town. There's only a couple of places here that I will full up at unless I reaaly need to

[gsxr400 racer]

there is one under the gas cap also the over flow tube on the bottom of the tank is one that some times rust inside the tank and and gets crimped off

[magicGoose]

where do you get these from?

I got the filter from my local independent bike shop, they were in the Motovan catalog, I do't know if that's just a Canadian supplier, maybe it doesn't help you.

Jay, you mention how your bike acts funny when the fuel is low. Before I installed the filter, with a bog stock bike, when my fuel level started getting low, but way before reserve should have been needed, the bike would lose power and start acting like it needed reserve, when I switched to reserve, the problem went away. I assumed the petcock was getting tired, and I'm planning on replacing it, but I believe you have said you run a Pingle petcock, so are you saying you still have this problem with a pingel, or have I misunderstood you?

Steve

[gsxr400 racer]

No i dont have the fuel flow problem with the pingle what i do have a problem with is i need fuel cell foam in my tank to take up the sloshing and this may also aid in the other problem that once my fuel gets so low when im on a long right handed carousel i have fuel issues because of the placement if the fuel tap ideally two would be good like old bsa's or triumphs

[Thief400]

where do you get these from?

I got the filter from my local independent bike shop, they were in the Motovan catalog, I do't know if that's just a Canadian supplier, maybe it doesn't help you.

Jay, you mention how your bike acts funny when the fuel is low. Before I installed the filter, with a bog stock bike, when my fuel level started getting low, but way before reserve should have been needed, the bike would lose power and start acting like it needed reserve, when I switched to reserve, the problem went away. I assumed the petcock was getting tired, and I'm planning on replacing it, but I believe you have said you run a Pingle petcock, so are you saying you still have this problem with a pingel, or have I misunderstood you?

Steve

Motovan is a Canadian only supplier. What makes you think that you should not have been close to going on reserve?? Does is not make logical sense that if switching the bike to reserve and the problem goes away YOUR LOW ON FUEL !!!!!!! Obviously you don't know the inner workings of a fuel pick up, Petcocks DON'T get tired!!  Not in that way anyways. They are simply 2 pipes of different heights in the bottom of the fuel tank and a valve that switches between the 2. When the bike start to run out of gas on the higher of the 2 pipe you switch it over the the lower of the 2 pipes and proceed on your way. With a 400 I would find a gas station soon as you have about 3.8 l of fuel left. On a stock Bandit you can run anywhere between 160 to 240km before hitting reserve and this all depends on the kind of riding your doing

[Garyola]

i run pingel, dont use the clear little cheap plastic ones. On a side note these bikes act funny with when the fuel gets low so much so that i raised my tank up in the front. This goes for the b4 and the gk73a

They do have fuel flow issues. I took Jay's advice and put a good Pingel filter on my bike. Then took out the whole petcock and cut the plastic tubes/filters down to little nubs. Any crap in the tank is picked up by the Pingel filter and can be cleaned out after every track session.
I don't have a fuel delivery problem any longer.

G

[Thief400]

i run pingel, dont use the clear little cheap plastic ones. On a side note these bikes act funny with when the fuel gets low so much so that i raised my tank up in the front. This goes for the b4 and the gk73a

They do have fuel flow issues. I took Jay's advice and put a good Pingel filter on my bike. Then took out the whole petcock and cut the plastic tubes/filters down to little nubs. Any crap in the tank is picked up by the Pingel filter and can be cleaned out after every track session.
I don't have a fuel delivery problem any longer.

G

The issues your talking about can be contributed to the fine plastic mesh on the petcock tubes getting plugged up. Nothing a good old fashioned scrubbing with an old tooth brush doesnt cure. In fact when I worked at a bike shop during summer holiday many many years ago that use to be part of a spring tune up, clean out the petcock so there were no fuel flow issues.