Hi Guys Here is the problem every time I open the petrol cap its full of water. I've bought all new seals but its not cured the problem. There looks like a drain hole but I don't know if it is. Is this a common problem with this bike. The bike is a 1998 955i speed triple. Thanks
Hi philboy, If your speeds anything like my 99 Tiger then you need to clean out drain at the bottom of the tank. On the Tiger theres two rubber pipes ones the overflow and the others the drain, its an aluminium fitting on the tank that gets oxidised up and needs a small drill to clean it out...although hand held. If its the same take care taking the tube off as half of the fitting came away with tube on the Tigger
Hi Pete I'm off for a few days so I'll take a look at the drain and see if its blocked and I'll certainly be careful if I need to take the tube off. Thanks
PeteH is right,it is a common problem on all of the bikes. I believe some use wire ,like a thick guitar string to do the same job, depends how bad the blockage is.
As Pete said....i've just had the tank off mine and with help of a neighbour drilled the hole, well he did, quite a bit a water came out, still runs shite under 3k
Exactly same happened to my speed trip. Every time I went to fill up water poured into tank. The hole is a drain. Don't know where it leads but poking a bit of single core cable down it seems to have cured the problem
Any chance that one of you took a photo of this blocked up hole? I have the same problem and wonder if it's contributed to a couple of engine cut-outs recently while I had a low fuel level. If not, I'd take some myself and post them up once I know what/where I should be looking. I actually found this thread while looking for info on draining the coolant. Unfortunately all the links I have found are almost 10 years old and the pages no longer exist (404 not found). I need to get it done today before freezing temperatures immobilise the poor thing.
Just had a look through photos I took during the last service I made and wonder if this is the culprit?
My 2012 Speed R has this problem too so glad to see it's a common issue. I'll try unlocking it to see if that helps. Interestingly, as Gus mentioned it runs really badly below 3k and mostly when the fuel is lower. Is there any way of getting the water out of the tank? I imagine it always floats on top so my only thought is to siphon the top of the fuel off while the tank is mostly full. Any other suggestions?
Water is heavier that petrol and sinks to the bottom of the tank, it also mixes with a layer of fuel above that too, possibly causing some rough running as its fed into the engine giving very lean fuel mix. Best remedy is to remove and drain the tank into a clean container then refill with clean fuel, you may be able to syphon some off the top of the contaminated stuff from the container but be carefull.
That would further explain the rough running. I'll try drain the tank and see if that helps. Thank you.
Try adding some Metholated spirits, it's hygoscopic, it absorbs/attaches to water , which will aid cleaning out the last of any residual water in the tank carburettors/injection and help get you running better sooner.
If you do find that the petrol is contaminated with water and you decide to try to save some by syphoning it off, I personally wouldn’t use it in the bike again. Lawn mower, strimmer, chain saw, but not the bike.
