As a former WERA racer...and hoping to be again someday soon. Here's my question. My friend , who rides the same bike I ride on the track, had his bike start on fire going between 45-65 mph. He said, the bike had lost power on him going down the road. He pulled off, looked the bike over, no leaks...all was well. Started the bike and took off. A mile down the road, people were flashing lights and waving he was on fire. He pulled off, unharmed , then the rear end of the bike started to blaze. Passer by had a fire exting. 05' MV Agusta 1000 I'm thinking that maybe running on two cylinders, dumped unburt fuel into the exhaust....then maybe , it ignited through the heat of the exhaust pipes or the back burn when he chopping the throttle? I don't know and would like your serious opinions. Thanks Jon
Or the ECM had a fault code, started reducing fuel, the heat in the exhaust lit up something combustible. I had a GSXR600 light up under me in 2001 because of a randomly failing cam position sensor. Bike would loose power before the engine would stop. Caused my lower fairing to ignite. I have no idea if it's relevant, but I can tell you that experience. No one that I know had that problem before.
Good luck on that!! We see our fair share at the track and I have not heard a single positive story about how they went above and beyond to help an MV owner.
If it lit up while he was riding on a surface street (not a racetrack) and his warranty is still in effect, they got little wiggle room warranty wise... Either that or ring up the consumer protection folks at the state level.. Most manufacturers are touchy about their products bursting into flames...
MV's have 2 90° quick release fittings for the fuel lines on the bottom of the tank. One of those fittings cracked, broke, or the o-ring on one of them failed. I've seen it happen before. Did he, or the shop, have the tank off recently? Those fittings are fragile, as are the o-rings, and extra care has to be taken when fitting the tank to make sure they're seated properly, and the o-rings need to be lubed as well before re-installing.
I saw a very similar scenario last summer. I was servicing my friend's 2005 F4 when I noticed one of the plastic fittings has developed a hairline crack and under stress it would steadily drip a drop or two of fuel. You're looking at over $120 to replace this with the same troublesome OEM plastic part or you can use an alloy Triumph part number for about $5.
Not sure...one of the first questions I asked. You wouldn't most likely see it leaking with the fuel pump off. He brought it to the shop today. I'm curious what they have to say. Monte....you've seen this before? What was your conclusion?
Might need more than just a dealership looking over, MV, my friend. :up: Should have someone from the upper level look at it. Seems like there are a lot of reasons how it could have happened. Hopefully, the dealer, and the MV distributor, don't just go after curing the symptoms rather than the cause.
