Also a review of the Guglatech fuel filters

No not the filter, the dirt and rubbish the fuel filters must keep out of your bike, you do not need that kind of negativity in your life.

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You would think in this day and age with millions of vehicles and trillion dollar fuel industries it would be stupid to worry that you would still get bad, dirty fuel from fuel stations. Unfortunately in this big world and the need to supply fuel to almost every corner of the globe, even to remote locations, the way fuel is stored and sold means contamination is a real issue.

We were under the impression that fuel should generally be of good, clean quality wherever you buy it and so when we set off on our RTW trip in through Africa we quickly got lessons handed to us about not to assume that clean fuel will be the norm.

One of the worst things is to troubleshoot a stranded bike and one of the items to troubleshoot is whether you got clean fuel. It is far better to try and eliminate that possibility all together and spend the time troubleshooting what really got the motorcycle to give up the ghost.

Our first real issues were in Ethiopia when another overlander warned us to check the fuel as it’s dirty and will clog our fuel filters. On older carburettor bikes it is easy to replace fuel filters and filters cost very little. On new Fuel Injection bikes the filters sometimes also have a fuel regulator built in and those units are expensive and not so easy to source from car part shops.

Our friends Peter and Leonie from AmsterdamtoAnywhere also had issues with dirty fuel and stuff clogging their Fi Honda CRF fuel pump inlet and filters. They were on a 3 year round the world motorcycle odyssey. 

We started using coffee drip filters in a cut off Coke bottle while filling. Low and behold every time we filled up the filters were dirty. It was evident many of the filling stations’ underground tanks were leaking water and corroded. That stuff ended up in our tanks. Soon afterwards one of the BMW Dakar’s fuel-pump quit on us. In the end it cost us 3 weeks of sitting in Addis Ababa and 400 usd to get a 200 usd pump to us.

As we started our new trip in the USA we sourced filters from an Australian company but for some unforeseen reason they never made it to South Africa. In the search for new in-tank filters I stumbled upon Guglatech who just about started to manufacture in-tank filters. Guglielmo Ferrazzani is an Italian dude who had issues with his new KTM on a trip to France. As he is in the industry he started to produce filters for motorcycles.

“First I developed the most advanced fuel pre-pump filter and then the neck filters. We are the only ones who developed and created EFI Total protection.” says Guglielmo.

Guglatech fuel filters – In-tank neck mounted filters

We bought two neck in-tank filters from him which, in addition to just filtering rubbish, also can filter some water contamination. It is a two stage filter. These filters have been in our bikes for the last km ( miles). In that time we had two incidents that we know of where we got water from filling up, and by the brown colour of the inner filter some fuel was not as good/clean.

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We use the neck filler filter that is generic for most aftermarket fuel tanks like Acerbis / IMS / Clark / Safari

Product description from the filters we use:
“INNOVATIVE WELDED FILTER EDGES FOR THE BEST DIRT/WATER SEGREGATION HUGE XL+ SURFACE COMBINED WITH THE HDM3D X-GEN 3D MEDIA The combination HDM3D media and HDM3D X-GEN 3D MEDIA, is unique and exclusive, it derives from the Aviation fuel high flow filter systems, multistage, and it’s the only filter in the WORLD to adopt a dual stage technology.

HDM3D media Acquastop media will pre-filter and separate fuel/water at refueling, the new and innovative HDM3D X-GEN 3D MEDIA with its’ exceptional filtering efficiency. Thanks to its design and the wide adapter opening, refueling is fast, filter is very effective and long lasting.”

Guglatech also offers an Adventure Kit :

“-one Expedition “Adventure” HDM3D filter with water separation, for any kind of fuel, -one 0 micron deep 3D matrix NEXT HBR “funnel filter”, Inserting the “HDM3D” filter into the “Next” filter will create the famous KK dual stage extreme filter, the most advanced fuel filter for vehicle in the world. Working together while refuelling from nasty bottles, jerry cans, suspicious tank stations or highly contaminated fuel, both petrol and diesel, will form the best barrier against any kind of contaminants.”

Guiglielmo mentioned that our filters are not washable but will last for quite a long time. Well if we can double the kilometres we got so far I would say it was a great investment. It all depends on how much dirty fuel we get doing the next 50 000km.

All in all, when prepping a bike for a long trip or even just weekend rides and using your bike as a commuter, the filters will prolong and extend the life of stock inline fuel filters and FI components in modern motorcycles.

There is also a very small noticeable speed difference filling the bikes with and without the filters. It takes marginally longer as I have to lift it out to check if the tank is full. But then we fill the tanks to the max when we can.

If I have to say which is one of the best ‘must haves’ when prepping a motorcycle for trips, it will be an in-tank fuel filter. Leave the rim-tape and other bling and rather invest in something that can potentially avoid costly repairs and keep the stuff your bike gets drunk on as clean as possible.

As for service, our friends Suzie and Kelvin from Avvida had one of the Guglatech filters separate from the ring. It is obviously the bonding between the ring and filter came loose. They contacted Guglatech and they sent new filters to them in Colombia with in days. That kind of service is more than we can say from many other brands of products we use.

PS: We are not sponsored by Guglatech

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Hi All

I have a (new to me) CB500 that I'm currently working on - I bought it last week and immediately got to work on cleaning the carbs since the bike didn't idle, but would run if you got it started and kept the throttle revving (indicated dirty pilot jets to me).

So while I'm waiting on parts and I have the carbs off the bike, I'm trying to think ahead and do what I can now to prevent having to rip the carbs apart every 6 months/year after they get gunked up.  I've found some sand-like substance in the carbs so far that seems to clean off relatively easily, but I think I could prevent having to do that if I were to install some type of filter (I've ordered new 5.5mm fuel lines to replace the old ones on there).

I've read a bit on this forum and elsewhere that inline fuel filters can be a problem for some, in that unless the tank is full, you won't have enough gravity/pressure on the fuel lines to push through the filter and feed enough gas to the carbs.  In some cases, I've read of bikes cutting off after 1-ish gallon of fuel is burned.  I don't want to be left stranded somewhere like that, but I don't want to have to clean my carbs very often either.

If I decide not to install the inline fuel filter, how do I go about replacing or cleaning the petcock filter (aka petcock screen, aka tank filter? or are those different things)?  I haven't found any good resources or guides on disassembling the petcock and cleaning that filter, and I'm a bit new to wrenching, at least enough that I wouldn't want to go in blind.

Can anyone provide advice one way or the other - either make a case for or against inline fuel filter - or otherwise provide a guide on how to remove/replace/clean the stock petcock filter? The stock 500 petcock screen is easy peasy to clean (it doesn't have the sock filter in the tank that later models have).
Actually when you unscrew the sediment bowl you'll probably find the screen doesn't need cleaning, just clean the sediment out of the bottom of the bowl and screw it back on, not too tight! The holes in the screen are smaller than any of the holes in the carbs, but if you're really worried you can also drain the 4 carb float bowls to flush out any fine sediment that's collected in there. -yes I am one of those ppl who have had problems with inline filters, such as very hard re-starting after switching to reserve when I've let it run dry...
John I've had nothing but bad experiences with inline filters. This was decades ago. The worst was that sometimes for weeks there was no problem and then out of the blue problems occurred. That drove me insane because by that time I had completely forgotten about the filters. Here's my solution. Make sure you have the filter the bike came with. Anything thas passes that filter can't be a problem and an extra filter adds nothing. A mechanic that owned a CB500 himself learned me to every three months drain the floatchambers and pour the fuel back in the tank. And - most important - have the fuellines at standard length: 18 and 30 cm for the CB500 models with the old type petcock and 17 and 28 cm for the newer type petcock. This with a standard ⌀ of 5,5 mm and you'll have no chance of any kinks.
I wonder how people that run inlinefilters and say they've no problem can be sure about the fuellevel in their floatchambers. Goodness knows how long back then I had been riding too lean before the problem became manifest. Why risk it?  I'm on both sides of this story, my brother ran his fuel lines below the carbs then through a big filter and back up to the bottom of the carb inlet. He has done it this way since getting his K4 new and never had a problem.
 I ran filters on my F1 and had starvation problems on the Honda sohc world tour, Once in the winter I pulled the fuel line to drain gas into my snow blower and nothing would pass the filter. I could blow air into the gas tank through the hose but fuel would not drain out. Figure that one out.  My sandcast 750 died in the country last fall and I blew into the gas tank, after doing so I could see fuel moving through the clear filters. It took doing that twice to get home, so I removed them and have had no trouble since.
 The K1 I'm doing now had the tank flushed but it got some grit inside, maybe at the paint shop. The grit goes past the screen and petcock and settles in the float bowls. I flushed the tank through coffee filters in a funnel until it ran clean.
 The moral of the story is, if you run filters consider carrying a spare. I think the filter problems have something to do with fuel additives like ethanol and condensing moisture forming a gel.

A mechanic that owned a CB500 himself learned me to every three months drain the floatchambers and pour the fuel back in the tank.
I wonder how people that run inlinefilters and say they've no problem can be sure about the fuellevel in their floatchambers.

Delta, I know we're on different sides on this one -- I have been running inline fuel filters for 20+ years and had a fuel flow issue once -- when the filter did its job and prevented sediment getting to the carbs. Changed the filter -- easier than dropping a 2 or 3 bowl -- and I was back on the road.

But I'm curious -- why would you drain the float bowls and pour it back into the tank, presumably with any and all sediment that may have found it's way there? Why not just dump the 60oz of sediment-enhanced gas? That I just don't get.

I'm sure about the fuel level in my bowls because my bike runs great through the power band, doesn't run hot, and my plugs look how they're supposed to.

Again for the OP -- personal choice, some people run em, some don't, but as others have said a perfectly clean tank, lined if need be, is the first step. 

A mechanic that owned a CB500 himself learned me to every three months drain the floatchambers and pour the fuel back in the tank.
I wonder how people that run inlinefilters and say they've no problem can be sure about the fuellevel in their floatchambers.

But I'm curious -- why would you drain the float bowls and pour it back into the tank, presumably with any and all sediment that may have found it's way there? Why not just dump the 60oz of sediment-enhanced gas? That I just don't get.

If it's just sediment or water it's easy to carefully pour most of the fuel off the top and back in the tank, then discard the last little bit with the debris in it. If there's floating debris simply skim it off the top first. If I found crap suspended in the fuel I would absolutely dump it all, but it just hasn't ever happened...
John Quote

If it's just sediment or water it's easy to carefully pour most of the fuel off the top and back in the tank, then discard the last little bit with the debris in it. If there's floating debris simply skim it off the top first. If I found crap suspended in the fuel I would absolutely dump it all, but it just hasn't ever happened...

Same here. If you do it say every three months, it's not likely you'll find much anyway. Most times I find nothing  at all and that's with the standard petcock fuelfilter only.

A mechanic that owned a CB500 himself learned me to every three months drain the floatchambers and pour the fuel back in the tank.
I wonder how people that run inlinefilters and say they've no problem can be sure about the fuellevel in their floatchambers.

But I'm curious -- why would you drain the float bowls and pour it back into the tank, presumably with any and all sediment that may have found it's way there? Why not just dump the 60oz of sediment-enhanced gas? That I just don't get.

If it's just sediment or water it's easy to carefully pour most of the fuel off the top and back in the tank, then discard the last little bit with the debris in it. If there's floating debris simply skim it off the top first. If I found crap suspended in the fuel I would absolutely dump it all, but it just hasn't ever happened...
John

To each their own, I must say that is very frugal of you though.


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