Hello from Thornton, PA

[Dan Filetti]

Hello my name is Dan, and I'm a motorcycle enthusiast.  I have been riding a motorcycle for, counting the mini-bike/ dirt-bike years, 32 years now.  I have been riding a street bike for 23.  I have owned about 10 street bikes, with the first being a Yamaha Maxim 550.  Other bikes of note: BMW K75, Honda CB500, 85 FJ1100, Honda CBR1000F, Honda Shadow 1100, and I currently ride a Suzy GSX-R750 and a Kawa Ninja 250.  I have attended 1 east coast spring rally, (on the CBR) met a load of good people, have told myself I'd like to go back, but not yet made it happen.  I will though.  I was/ ~am a member of the Yahoo list, since about 2000 or so, IIRC.  I love to ride, but am not found of riding in cold temps below 60 degress or so, and I'm your basic pansy in the rain, or even on wet roads.  My next bike will likely be a KTM 950, but not for ~ a while yet.

My FJ died an untimely death, due to a poorly designed "L" fitting in the fuel line coming off of the petcock.  The fitting worked its way loose while I was riding and the bike continued to run on the fuel in the float bowls.  The still-attached vacuum line kept the petcock happily pumping the gas onto the hot motor.  I came to a stop at a stop sign, began to accelerate away and the back tire slipped a bit.  -"Must be oil on the road" i thought -when in fact it was my own fuel I had just slipped on.  The bike stalled a hundred yards later, out of fuel, finally having exhausted the fuel in the float bowls.  A woman drove by me and asked if I needed help -I answered that I did not my house was .5 miles away and it was down hill.  (what I should have said was "I think I have a bent rod, can you help me straighten it out?" but I didn't )  

As I looked down at the bike under me, blinking, as it had always been so very realiable, and I knoew I had enough gas when I notice the smell of gas for the first time (and waaaaay too late).  An instant later, I and the bike were completely engulfed in an 8 foot fire ball, or so says the lady who had just passed me -who saw it in her rear view mirror.   She stopped and got out of her car expecting to find me dead.  In the meantime I abandoned ship, somehow, like a cat jumping straight back and landed on my feet behind the bike.  I watched in amazement and horror as my now-burning FJ fell over and crunched to the ground.  The woman called 911 and it took 15 minutes for the fire truck to arrive.  In that time the bike met it's maker -never to be run again.  When the tank burned through, flames shot high into the air (30' +/-)  In fact, the fire got hot enough to melt the aluminum clutch cover into the clutch housing (I saw this after they had gotten the fire out.)  There was nothing left besides metal, the bike was unrecognizable.  My beloved FJ was unceremoniously dragged onto a tow trailer and trucked off, never to be seen again.  

I was given a little less than I had paid for the bike 5 years earlier by the insurance company...

I post this, as I sometimes do, to let everyone know that the early FJ's simply press-fit those rigid aluminum "L" fittings into the petcock.  They can, and do come loose.  Wrap a twist-tie around it to ensure they do not.

Doing this simple thing may well save you from suffering the fate I did, or worse.  

My $0.02

Dan

[gradice]

Sorry bout the Effy Dan, but glad you're OK Brother... Bikes can be replaced, you can't!!!!!

[Dan Filetti]

To be clear, the FJ Icarus-episode happened ~ 6 years ago.  Just chanting my mantra -as I tend to do from time to time...

Dan