Mouse
Registered user
After reading a thread in the 1200 section I've been thinking about water crossings, and the need to protect the engine against sucking in water through the rather oddly placed air intake (I believe it's in roughly the same place on all recent GSs - above one of the cylinders).
I did a bit of searching and found that some people were expressing worries about other potential problems that could arise from partially immersing a running bike in water.
So to sum up - have I missed anything here - the potential problems from riding through water:
1 - The big one - water being drawn into the airbox and thus into the engine, causing hydraulic lock.
2 - The catalytic converter could be damaged by contact with cold water.
3 - Water getting into the electrics, especially the spark plug caps.
4 - Someone expressed worry about the effects on the engine if a hot cylinder is suddenly hit by a load of cold water ... would the thermal effects (for example contraction of cylinder barrel around a moving piston) really cause problems?
5 - Water ingress down the exhaust pipe, damaging catalytic converter even more, possibly entering engine?
6 - Long term damage caused by water in wheel bearings, swingarm pivots etc.
7 - Goldfish shoals nibbling at your toes.
So my question is twofold - How many of these concerns are valid? Am I just asking for a world of pain in riding my bike through water, even if I take precautions against water entering the air intake?
Secondly, what are the requirements for a decent snorkel design? Would it be possible to make one that is permanently attached, or should it only be employed for the watery bits? Presumably the diamater of the tube used is important, as it has to allow the same amount of air to flow as the standard intake - are there other factors?
This is all a bit academic at the moment, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts
I did a bit of searching and found that some people were expressing worries about other potential problems that could arise from partially immersing a running bike in water.
So to sum up - have I missed anything here - the potential problems from riding through water:
1 - The big one - water being drawn into the airbox and thus into the engine, causing hydraulic lock.
2 - The catalytic converter could be damaged by contact with cold water.
3 - Water getting into the electrics, especially the spark plug caps.
4 - Someone expressed worry about the effects on the engine if a hot cylinder is suddenly hit by a load of cold water ... would the thermal effects (for example contraction of cylinder barrel around a moving piston) really cause problems?
5 - Water ingress down the exhaust pipe, damaging catalytic converter even more, possibly entering engine?
6 - Long term damage caused by water in wheel bearings, swingarm pivots etc.
7 - Goldfish shoals nibbling at your toes.
So my question is twofold - How many of these concerns are valid? Am I just asking for a world of pain in riding my bike through water, even if I take precautions against water entering the air intake?
Secondly, what are the requirements for a decent snorkel design? Would it be possible to make one that is permanently attached, or should it only be employed for the watery bits? Presumably the diamater of the tube used is important, as it has to allow the same amount of air to flow as the standard intake - are there other factors?
This is all a bit academic at the moment, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts
