We all know that even a simple air-cooled engine utilizes various liquids such as engine oil, fluid, and fuel. When it comes to water-cooled engines, coolant is added to the mix, making it even more difficult to keep the liquid flowing. In this section, let's focus on "shutting out liquids," which is essential for smooth and reliable maintenance.
The strategy is to collapse the hose and shut it off.
This type of fluid stopper is designed and sold to stop rubber brake hoses and fuel system rubber hoses. No matter what situation you use it in, you have to check the condition of the hose. Especially in the case of rubber brake hoses, the deterioration and hardening caused by years of use can cause them to become crushed by external forces. In other words, the point where the stopper is used to stop the flow of liquid may remain crushed and not return to the ring-shaped cross-section. Such rubber hoses need to be replaced with new parts or with better quality parts. It is also a clear fact that there are many users who continue to use parts that are past their sell-by date.
In today's world, where people want to go back to OEM, the demand for brake hoses with the same design and dimensions as when the motorcycle was new is much higher than expected, and yet Teflon high-performance hoses are still the mainstay of the aftermarket. It is up to the user to choose the hose that best suits his or her preference for the touch of the brake lever. Brake hoses covered with stylish stainless steel mesh or flame-retardant fibers often use Teflon material for the inner hose. Do not use this type of fluid stopper with those hoses, because if they are crushed, the Teflon hose will have a complete crushing habit and often will not recover.
Laundry clasp type stopper
Whether it's stainless steel or Kevlar fiber mesh brake hose, the hose end has a banjo or adapter fitting attached to it. The fluid stopper is designed to shut out the brake fluid in anticipation of such fittings. This type of stopper is commonly known as a "clothespin type," and has a hemispherical stopper rubber attached to the "pinching part" of the clothespin, which blocks the hole in the banjo to prevent the brake fluid from flowing out. Not only old motorcycles, but many modern large tourer motorcycles and large scooters use automobile-type metal pipes = flaring pipes for their brake lines. For such flaring pipes, there is a type that has one side of the clothespin that is split in two, and while hooked to the flaring nut, the rubber plug is pressed against the end of the metal pipe. For high-performance brake hoses, aluminum adapters are used, but there is also a type of stopper where the conical rubber is inserted directly into the hose end.
Easy to use direct plug-in fuel system
There are various types of stoppers for fuel system rubber hoses, and there was a time when fluid stoppers were included in the lineup of OEM manufacturers' special tools and manufacturer-specified maintenance products. There are fuel tube stoppers for various thicknesses (inner diameters), but simply using a thin rubber cone or a cone-shaped wooden stopper will improve maintenance efficiency as much as possible. Anyway, the important thing is not to let leaks affect you (or bother you) so much that you can't concentrate on the work you should be doing. To prevent this from happening, make sure to set up your work in advance and work in the best possible environment.
Two or three birds with one stone are more ideal than a single stand-alone model.
This is the reality of being able to cover several types of hose stoppers with just one small tool rather than a mess of connected single stand-alone size tools. The stand-alone type gets caught on other tools in the toolbox and is difficult to remove. On the other hand, stick stoppers are compact. It would be nice to have an idea tool that updates this kind of tool, but it's a shame that there are surprisingly none.
- Point 1: When disconnecting a hose for liquid, should all the liquid be drained before working on it? Or do you want to do it in parts? Consider this carefully before starting work.
- Point 2: Do you need to shut it off from the outside? Do you disconnect the hose and then shut off the fluid flow? Understand that work setup is inextricably linked to maintenance efficiency.
Carburetor settings are an unavoidable part of the process of increasing engine power and torque by installing bore upgrade parts. If the carburetor setting is not done properly, the engine performance will not only be a waste of money but in the worst-case scenario, the engine may be damaged.
When setting up the carburetor, one of the setup tasks is to remove the carburetor and carburetor components. In many cases, the "fuel hose" must be removed in order to perform such work quickly. The condition of the fuel hose itself is important, but the length of the hose is also extremely important. If the distance from the fuel tank to the carburetor body is short, it is possible to use a shorter hose to match the distance. However, it is ideal to have a certain amount of room in the fuel hose for ease of operation later on.
If you want to pull out a fuel hose with room to maneuver, you can turn off the fuel cock lever (lever ON is fine for a negative pressure cock), then "fold" the fuel hose in two and tie it with a band to prevent it from folding back. This will shut off any residual fuel in the hose, and minimize the amount of fuel that leaks out when the hose is pulled out.
When you want to simplify your work environment, you can insert a stopper into the hose end. If you don't have a stopper at hand and still want to do something about it, you can make a stopgap by inserting something like first aid. For example, if it's a fuel hose, you can insert an M6 or M8 bolt, or even a cone-shaped ballpoint pen cap to get out of trouble.
In order to avoid such harrowing work, keeping a stopper that can prevent the flow of liquid by crushing the rubber hose from the outside or a plug-in stopper in your toolbox will definitely improve maintenance. In addition to hand tools, we should also be proactive in owning such frequently used special tools.
