Snorkel Mod

[BiG DoM]

The snorkel is very prone to sucking in water during water crossings - especially at certain speeds when the wake pushed up is at just the right height for the snorkel to SUCK! Definate design flaw. Have made a very cheap mod using second hand vacuum cleaner hose and cable ties.
Pipe can exit at top LHS next to headlight or
bent back under tank. Does not interfere with forks. Only needs pushing into snorkel when needed, otherwise stored above snorkel under tank. Note rubber o-ring or tubing over end to ensure good seal when fitted.

 

[BiG DoM]

hose above snorkel in position for storage when not river crossing.

 

[BiG DoM]

Pic looking into forkwell when tank refitted - hose exits next to headlight.

 

[Greg Masters]

Dom

With all due respect, mate, why bother?

Ride through water that deep and your bike will pretty quickly be shagged anyway. Water in the wheelbearings, drawn in the rear hub, the alternator will be awash etc etc - not to mention the thermal shock when your hot engine is swamped by the cold water. I can just imagine the barrels quickly shrinking around the hotel pistons.

Why not buy a boat - they're designed for water!

Greg

 

[TaffyScouser]

Its not April is it?? Whats the point of this mod. The bike is shagged long before the water hits the top of the tube fitted as a mod??????

 

[charlie batty]

...weii i thought it was a good idea anyway mate...

As it 'appens you'd be surprised how relatively shallow you could swamp the engine (no i haven't done it).... ask Simon Pavey or Nick Plum!...

...s'pose it depend on what speed your makin ...knots?

 

[magee]

Oh well, I thought it was a good idea.

 

[magee]

............and you got a better reception from the us site.

 

[Vern]

Good un I say

Don't listen to this lot Big un, I've had my 1100 well over the cylinder heads during a storm in France, I had my finger on the clutch all ready for the liquid inhalation, but we managed to get through alright. I had the hoover tube all fitted to mine after that, and it's great for peace of mind if nothing else. It perished and broke after a while (couple of years I suppose) and I never got round to replacing it, think I might now after seeing yours.
You keep on inventing things mate, sod what people think. If your bit of hoover tube had touratech written on it, every body would want one. Top man

 

[Mick Fagan]

I think it's a brilliant idea!!!!!!!!!!!

For some time I've been thinking about the water level problems of the air intake system. The 259 series are a lot better than the 80 G/S and it's really water gulping air intake system, but they still prone to getting water in, in extremely heavy rain and especially with a cross head wind.

In spring I'm going on another trip where I'll be needing some protection from water.

I already have a breather on the bevel drive that goes up to where the battery sits.

I was thinking along the lines that you've outlined but now that I've seen your pictures I'll be doing something pretty much the same.

Great lateral thinking.

Mick.

 

[Den]

Mr masters and Mr melton. I think you should be ashamed of yourself slagging off someone with a mod designed to use the gs to the limits of its supposed abilities. Do you own range rovers and use them only for the school run? Whether his bike gets water in the bevel box and bearings is irrelevent, Its his call. Running through the sahara with fine sand billowing all around is silly as well but no one seems to complain about that. Big Dom, you are welcome to drive around my garden pond anytime you wish.... as long as you dont splash water onto my bike!

 

[Zwerver]

Brilliant and simple solution!
Last time I had some deeper crossings, in 1998 in Iceland,
I just prayed the GS wouldn't go too deep...

I think I'll try it for my next years Icelandtrip...

 

[Ian B]

Sucking in water through the snorkel CAN happen, I've seen it for myself.

Anyone who's done the BMW course will remember the pond crossing. It's not stupidly deep, maybe up to the wheel axles, definitely not above the top of the pots. One of the 1150s almost made it through, making an impressive bow wave, then died, not even at the deepest section.

We drag the bike out onto dry land, and JD calmly drains the airbox, whips out the spark plugs and spins the engine over with the starter motor. Sure enough, a nice jet of water squirted out in alternate pulses from both spark plug holes. After that the bike was fine. All in a days work.

We all agreed that making up a snorkel extension would be a simple and effective mod, especially if you can quickly connect and disconnect it. Fit an extension to the breather on the final drive bevel as well and you are sorted. Good work Big Dom.

 

[Zwerver]

Dom

With all due respect, mate, why bother?

Ride through water that deep and your bike will pretty quickly be shagged anyway. Water in the wheelbearings, drawn in the rear hub, the alternator will be awash etc etc - not to mention the thermal shock when your hot engine is swamped by the cold water. I can just imagine the barrels quickly shrinking around the hotel pistons.

Why not buy a boat - they're designed for water!

Greg

A boat isn't as much fun as a gs on the gravel sections between two streams... And a gs can live with some water, as I've tried.
The day on this foto we had to cross 6 or 7 smaller streams,
some deep enough to submerge the cylinders... and the gs survived without much trouble; I had more problems swallowing half a stream when I went in a bit enthousiastic with my helmet open...

 

[Greg Masters]

Mr masters and Mr melton. I think you should be ashamed of yourself slagging off someone with a mod designed to use the gs to the limits of its supposed abilities.

It's clearly a great mod (I didn't say it wasn't and I didn't 'slag off' the mod) if you are intent on riding your GS in water up to its gunwales. But the GS wasn't designed to do this - if it were, the air intake would be higher in the first place!

By contrast, the GS - definitively - was designed (or, at least, nomenclatured) for off-road use. That didn't stop me, however, from washing all the desert sand off my bike at the first opportunity - I want it to last. For that reason, I wouldn't ride it through water so deep that the barrels are submerged. In fact I won't even wash the bike with a bucket of water until it has cooled after a run.

But how other people want to use their bikes is a matter purely for themselves.



Greg

 

[Simon Eassom]

Anyone who's done the BMW course will remember the pond crossing. It's not stupidly deep, maybe up to the wheel axles, definitely not above the top of the pots.

You're talking about Henry's Ford . . . well, try crossing it after two days torrential rain and it comes up a lot higher than the wheel axles. Two "swimmers" in our group and two 650GSs doing remarkable submarine impressions.

 

[Mick Fagan]

Greg, I take it from the description of how you wash your bike, that you only ride in warm rain????

Mick.

 

[Greg Masters]

Yep, the rain in the Sahara was a comfortable 30 degrees!



Greg

 

[The Mechanic]

Snorkel Snorkel for DUCKS

You deseve the praise some of us are giving you!
Excellent modification, I live in Derbyshire where every other house has some sort of 4x4 contraption sitting on the driveway waiting for the weekend of terror when the lanes, quarries and (going to get) wasted land, get turned into wannabe Pari-Dakar heroes playgrounds. Simon Snorkel lives on all of these Land Rovers etc.
Whats wrong with a few subtle and in your case well executed perfections to what is undoubtedly almost as capable off-road as anything else on two-wheels. My old ex. comerfords Bultaco Sherpa 325 (trials bike) couldn't wade as deep as an un-modded GS. As for 'thermal shock' what does one do when its p*ss*ng down and the motorway is throwing gallons of the UK's finest H20 at you cherished possesion (bike included)?
If you could persuade Mosses to sit on your front mudguard with abit of prior notice he could part the waters for you and you might just see the f--c--ng great submerged boulder that 'll have you off in a trice (of course you'll avoid it co's the waters been parted) I think thats referred to as impact shock! But then that would stop some of us adventurous types from modding our bikes.
I see you haven't made an alternative to the 'hardpiece' (fork protector) yet, but feel sure you've more mods to share with us.
If you fitted some type of shroud to the inlet extension this would deflect any wayward large splashes of water. I'm serious yours is an excellent idea.

 

[The Mechanic]

Snorkel

Oooooh, ooooooh, am I mistaken or is that a Maxton suspension unit your wearing, is it good; and how much better than the std. one?