[Celtic Cruiser]

Yesterday I had an incident in front of our local Home Depot where my gas line started spewing gasoline from under the gas tank. Thought it was the tank at first as when the engine was running gas was dripping from under the tank and on to the engine. (How do you say Zippo?) Hunted the leak down. It was from the connection at the carburetor. The line had loosened up. Had difficulty getting it back on the nipple as there are a gazillion electric chords in the way. Finally got it pushed up and on, loosened and slid the hose clamp, re-tightened and fixed. But only for a few seconds. Had to do this three times before it looked good to go. Two miles later gas flowing, jeans, wet etc. Stopped, re-clamped two times before finally able to get home without becoming the human fireball.  Anyone else with this problem? Any suggestions on best fix?? 

[Ducati Scotty]

Is this a carbed bike or a UCE with fuel injection?

I can't remember any reported leaks on UCE bikes but many have reported cracking on the hoses.  Replace the hose and clamps.  If it's EFI you should get 5/16" high pressure fuel line.  Take great care with the line at the tank.  If you snap off that little plastic piece you'll need to buy a whole new fuel pump, $300.

Scott

[High On Octane]

A little trick for you...  When replacing rotted fuel line (or any rubber automotive hose) rather than risking breaking a hose fitting by forcefully pulling the hose off, especially on plastic fittings, take a very sharp razor blade or knife and cut a slit down the hose from the end of the hose until it's past the fitting.  The hose will now easily come off with no force at all.  Just be careful not to cut yourself or into the plastic fitting.

Scottie

[Ducati Scotty]

+1.

[mattsz]

And again.

That plastic fuel pump outlet is a scary thing!  I couldn't budge my fuel hose from it, so I cut it to play it safe - a few inches of fuel line is cheaper than a new pump!  And just a little shorter than OEM leaves a safe gap between the hose and the corner of my B5's battery cover...

Also, ditch the cheap hose clamps (whose notches chowdered up my fuel line at both ends - possibly the cause of your leak?):



and replace them with better ones (easier on the fuel line):

[Ducati Scotty]

+1.

[Celtic Cruiser]

This is a 2013 C5 Military with 180 miles on it. The leak is at the end of the fuel line into what I would call the carb, or maybe it's the UCE (sorry, I'm old school) and still learning about this thing (180 miles). Hey, at least I got it home without blowing up. BTW, the tool kit that comes with this bike is pure crap, so that is being taken care of as I raid my tool boxes of extras and then some. Used to carry everything back in the day, but that was a long time ago. Guess I should have known better.
Will be taking it apart, hose et-al today or tomorrow. Seems like the alignment of the electrical bundles are in the wrong place and are pushing up against the fuel line, will see what I can do about that. Will replace hose and clamps as suggested. I find this hard to believe at 180 miles. Anyone know if the dealers assemble the tank and fuel lines when they d-box the bikes from India?

[Ducati Scotty]

UCE is Unit Construction Engine.  This is the new model engine that you have.  It means the engine, transmission, and primary drive/clutch all share the same oil.  These items had separate lubrication systems in the older style engines.

What you refer to as the carb is called the throttle body.  It contains the throttle butterfly, just like a carb, and the fuel injector.

Do not loosen or adjust the throttle stops or anything else on the throttle body that you don't have to.  If you do, you'll need to do a lot to get them back to the right settings.  The only thing you should ever need to touch is the big brass screw on top that's set in a well.  This is the air bypass screw and controls the idle speed.

To make getting the hose off the throttle body easier you can disconnect it from the bike.  Remove the rubber hose from the air cleaner and remove the nuts that hold the manifold to the cylinder.  Take care not to lose the o-ring, it's reusable.  You can remove the wires that connect to it as well.  The fuel line and the throttle cables will still be attached but you should be able to rotate it and get to everything pretty easily.   Attach the throttle body side of the hose first, make sure it's longer than you need.  Then push the line through and get everything where you want it.  Cut to length and CAREFULLY attach it to the fuel pump.  As already mentioned, make sure it doesn't rub against anything like the edge of the battery cover.

The fuel line is already connected out of the box.  The front wheel is off, but that's about all that needs to be put together.  That, and lots of things need to be tightened and/or adjusted, but the bike is mostly assmebled already in the crate.

Scott

[barenekd]

I would shorten the line you have by as inch or so to get it away from the top of the battery cover. I can't remember exactly how much I cut off mine but it sure made me feel better with the hose being away from the gouging edge of the cover Cut some off each end so you have fresh hose there for the clamps.
But if you're going to buy fresh, any auto parts store has it. Be sure to get 5/16" tube. 1/4" won't fit right.
Bare

[ERC]

It's new take it back to the dealer and let him fix it.   ERC

[no bs]

"assmebled"? sounds about right! Yuks a lot.

[Celtic Cruiser]

OK, thanks for the info and tutorial. I would take it back but that is a 200 mile trip (one way). This is New Mexico, unless you live in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, everything else is at least 2 hour away.

[Arizoni]

It was mentioned before but be sure to buy the "High Pressure fuel hose" that's made for a modern fuel injected car.

It costs more but it is designed to take the 40 psi pressure the system uses.

[singhg5]

This is a 2013 C5 Military with 180 miles on it. The leak is at the end of the fuel line into what I would call the carb, or maybe it's the UCE (sorry, I'm old school) and still learning about this thing (180 miles). Will be taking it apart, hose et-al today or tomorrow. Seems like the alignment of the electrical bundles are in the wrong place and are pushing up against the fuel line, will see what I can do about that. Will replace hose and clamps as suggested. I find this hard to believe at 180 miles. Anyone know if the dealers assemble the tank and fuel lines when they d-box the bikes from India?

May be this link for replacing fuel line will be of some help -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4daXUNAiLEs

[Celtic Cruiser]

OK. Put on new fuel line and new clamps as per tips and vid. Good to go. Old line cracked at clamp. Probably jarred loose from all the "Good Vibrations" and I probably pinched it tightening the old "tear-em up" OEM clamp. At any rate, learned a bit.
Have extra fuel line and clamps stored in fuse box bin. Now on to building a better on-board tool selection.
Thanks all