Spontaneous combustion and a flaming Paso

[higgy]

You really only have one choice......welding
anything else won't last. This is a common issue with all Paso's

Clean it out so there is no gas smell at all...soap and water.
Then a competent welder can remove the front support,fix the cracks and weld on a support plate and the old support,shortened too accommadate the support plate thickness he puts on.

Should not bother the the finish of the tank since it is on the underside.
Also check the rear of the tank at the middle of the tank mounting plate.

most likely if the underside support is cracked you have one there also.

any good paint should be OK in both spots as the don't really show.


Before welding, once the gas is gone...No odor,may take multiply washings

Your welder can fill the tank with low pressure Argon..No more than 1 or 2 PSI
and weld it up safely.

Too much argon pressure will expand your tank quickly to a point beyond repair for most. It can be done but requires a lot of skill


Once your tank is fixed. Make sure your front fairing stay is not loose and that all the body panels assemble without stress, any tweaking of the body works will crack it again

[randtcastell]

Thank you Higgy for your weld-up advice: I took it and the tank is now w/o leaks. A competent welder did as you suggested— removed the steel tube stay and rewelded it back on, repairing the cracks in the sheetmetal at the same time. A very nice fix that did no damage to the paint. I replaced all the fuel lines as well as per your suggestion with the proper SAE30r9 nitrile lines from Motion Pro, and the Malossi Pod filter replacements are the red, self extinguishing type. The Del'Orto PHMs weren't leaking so I've left them as is, just replacing the throttle cables with Motion Pro items: I did not realize that they could've been obtained from Malossi as well for less, shipped from Belgium even. Thank you again for your help and advice. I'd be somewhat lost without the expertise of this community.

Best Wishes, Randy.

[Andrew2]

Your lucky that guy with the fire extingusher was around Randy or it could have ended like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct6QSoejOuc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0mrsXpnDGM

Cheers
Andrew

[randtcastell]

Jeez, that's awful! I actually got quite emotional watching that. So very sad. Poor guy. Thanks, it really hit home: I must get that small fire extinguisher from aerostitch and ad it to my kit. Thanks Andrew.

[higgy]

guy is an idiot

clutch fell out ? water on an oil fire and there goes a rare bike

a 10 dollar extinguisher could have put it out

or sand or dirt anything but water

Randy...glad it worked out for you..... why we are here

[randtcastell]

http://www.aerostich.com/hawk-fire-extinguishers.html

Just order two for me, one for wifey-poo. Getting smarter and wiser here...

[higgy]

Baking soda puts out most fires quickly

[randtcastell]

That's cool about the baking soda, I'm gonna get a few boxes to keep in a couple places at my studio/shop. What's the chemistry involved? I cycled the engine on the Paso today several times in 5 second starter bursts spaced 10- 15 minutes apart to circulate the oil a bit before I started her up for the first time since September. Choke on, twist the grip and she started right up. Glorious. I forgot how loud it was. It all makes sense now. What a wonderful noise.

There were no leaks at the connections of the new fuel hoses, and the Dell'Ortos stayed dry on the outside and wet on the inside. A ride would've been nice after all that time and the bit of work, but with new throttle and choke cables installed it wouldn't keep an idle and the carbs need to be balanced. So the ride will have wait 'till next Saturday. The damage to the wiring loom was superficial as it appeared and it seems like no function/instrument/sensor is compromised, but I will be more certain about the oil temp sensor and fuel gauge after a fill up and a long ride. With a fire extinguisher.

[higgy]

NaHCO3 ----- Heat----------> NaOH + CO2(gas)

[JWilliam]

After I have laid the Paso up over winter, when it is spring time and first start up I will strip off all the body work and only have the tank on. Then I prime the fuel system and run the engine for 5-10 minutes keeping a lookout for fuel leaks from the hoses. Guess what, the last 2 years there have been fuel leaks! I have a fire extinguisher ready - fortunately it has not been needed but I think if I had gone for a ride straight away then I would have had some trouble. Once I have tightened up the hoses then the fuel system has been OK for the rest of the year.