S4 burned and crashed

[Fearless Biker]

It probably started with a fuel leak but there was no sign of a problem when I lovingly cleaned my S4 last Saturday morning. That afternoon it caught fire while I was riding it. The fire was around the engine and on my legs. The front brake locked up, I guess the fluid in the pipe expanded with the heat. I then lost control and threw it down the road.
I just wondered if anyone else has had or heard of anything similar?

[SunEye]

:eek: OMG :eek:
I can see from the pic that the bike is far from ok :( but more importantly are you ok? Any burns or injury from your get off?

I can definitely say that I've never had that happen to me and I'm quite glad of that cos it sounds like a very scary thing to have happen.

[He11cat]

Speechless ... I'm glad your ok.
I've only ever had a wiring loom burn up while riding .
On an ER5 I brought 10 mins before :(
Smelt burning then saw smoke coming up
From under my tank .
Scared me ****less as was on a bridge.
Never got off a bike so fast in my life .
But luckily did not go right up in flames !
Your poor chap :( :(

[pegboy]

Flippen eck, hope your ok, can say I have ever seen that before

[neilo]

Oh wow! Hope you're okay.
Now that's one hot monster!!

[Dukedesmo]

:eyepopping: yikes that's bad, glad you got away OK.

[Akita Boy]

Blimey! Glad you walked away (mostly) Ok

[Fearless Biker]

Glad it wasnt on a bridge like yours He11cat, I had to roll on the grass to put my legs out and foolishly I wasnt wearing a parachute. I bet you had a few words with the seller!
I walked away feeling lucky and unharmed but the fire chief called an ambulance and bizarrly unbeknown to me I had quite bad burns. I am now bed bound with elevated legs until the grafts take so that gives me plenty of time to look at bike stuff on the net etc. Been thinking of a replacement so may have to put another post about that.

[slob]

Wow, I think that may be a first on here. Stop trying to live up to your forum name. Glad you're mostly okay.

[Stafford]

So much for water cooling, glad you're OK.

[Nickj]

That's impressive but not in a good way!

Hope the legs mend quickly

[Dirty]

Wow sorry to hear about that. I know how you are feeling re the burns. I was hospitalised with a severe foot burn earlier this year(not bike related, silly kitchen incident!). I was lucky though and just avoided having a skin graft. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

[Mr Gazza]

:Jeez..! Thats horrendous.

I would be very interested to find out what the cause was, but it doesn't look like there will be much left to investgate...I would be tempted to get Ducati involved if it were mine.

Yeah..Know how you feel Dirty. I'm not much of a cook and I once took the instructions too literaly when I was warming up a tin of soup, it said "stand in boiling water for 5 minutes". :chuckle:

Hope you mend quickly Fearless, and by the way the early shape is the best..

Cheers

Gazza

[Fearless Biker]

Thanks for all the kind comments and tips from y'all.

Wondered about telling Ducati but then thought I would probably get a lecture about dealer only servicing and return home to a horses head in my bed:chuckle:

I would love to know for sure exactly what happened but dont think that is possible. The recovery guys drove past it three times because then phoned me because it wasnt recognisable as a bike. Even the wheels had melted! I had a bizarre conversation with my insurers who were insisting on me getting repair quotes ffs

Sorry to hear about your foot burn Dirty, OUCH!!!!! Next time I'm asked to help in the kitchen I might use your experience as an excuse to go out on my bike instead, cos its safer :chuckle: I hope you are healed up now.

[gary tompkins]

OMG that sounds like a lucky escape

Hope the burns heal soon

[Dirty]

Yeah it's all good now. Wasn't as severe as yours sounds. Was just my foot and the hospitalisation was mainly due to infection rather than severity (and incompetent treatment at my local hospital!). It did hurt like nothing else though at the time. Apparently that's a good sign. They were umming and ahing about a skin graft but I said I wasn't bothered as I'd long given up hope of a career as a foot model anyway. That and apparently they take the skin off your bum. I'd have been kicking my own arse for the rest of my life! It put me off cooking spaghetti for a while but I did get some nice gruesome pictures. Oh and 1 bit of advice. Beware of tramadol. Lovely stuff but best kick it as soon as you don't need it anymore!

[jonzi]

... but I did get some nice gruesome pictures....

Thread needs more pics....

my race bike was leaking petrol over the engine one day, scared the crap out of me, thankfully not a lot and I noticed it before it went up in flames.

I am sorry for your loss.

[jerry]

Thank god u are ok ,,,reminds me of a 670 Triton i built in 1976 it had the 5 gallon fibreglass tank , the magneto had a fault , a blow back thru the monobloc carbs set the tank on fier which split ,, i was in a jet station and had just paid for a full tank ,,,the whole place went up in flames and 8 fire engines came to put out the blaze ..... I was mortified and at 18years old my ego was shattered

[Marsh...]

Bloody ell fearless, amazing, scary! glad your okies though, never heard of that problem happening before, mine has a small petrol stain on the frame but no obvious leaks but will keep an eye on it and pass the details of your story to the next owner.

Good luck with all the shenanigans that the insurance demons will throw your way. And you make a speedy recovery.

Regards Marsh

[stormlet]

Flippin 'eck, that's really scary stuff!

Glad that you aren't too badly injured, though and I hope you make a good recovery.

[Dirty]

Thread needs more pics....


Can do but not of my foot. People might be eating!

This is the aftermath of a track day off at Paddock hill last Wednesday. Wasn't me, I wasn't even riding. Was a chap in the next garage. To be honest it fades in comparison to Fearless Bikers incident but still...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2nhgto6.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/15oxbmt.jpg

It was so intense it melted to top section of the swing arm.

http://s17.postimg.org/coela9xwf/170720133162.jpg

Kudos to the guy, it was a fast off but he was back on a track bike in the next session. I think the CBR was his daily road bike, he said it wasn't expensive but a huge pain in the ass that he'd broken it.

[DrD]

Flippin 'eck, that's really scary stuff!
Glad that you aren't too badly injured, though and I hope you make a good recovery.
Echo that - safe recovery mate.
It made me double check a few things this morning before the ride out to the Buell&Italian Bike do on the 20 year old M900

[Fearless Biker]

Thanks for burns advice Dirty, think you have told me more than the doctors so far!

For those of you interested in working out the cause, I have attached a pic of "the body"

Thanks again for the kind and encouraging words, ride safe y'all :biggrin:

[Fearless Biker]

Thank god u are ok ,,,reminds me of a 670 Triton i built in 1976 it had the 5 gallon fibreglass tank , the magneto had a fault , a blow back thru the monobloc carbs set the tank on fier which split ,, i was in a jet station and had just paid for a full tank ,,,the whole place went up in flames and 8 fire engines came to put out the blaze ..... I was mortified and at 18years old my ego was shattered

Now, if your going to have a fire.... That is doing it in style!

[jerry]

Now, if your going to have a fire.... That is doing it in style!

Certainly an eye opener but not something I want to repeat,, took 3 years to get an insurance settlement which was the really bad news ...but I was working so i went out following week and bought a Chopped BSA A10 ......aaarrrrgh!!!!I was so dumb in those days .

Might be worth everone checking the fuel lines that run round the motors on S4 etc they do degrade ....

[BigOz]

I hope you have a quick recovery and find a nice new bike. Must have been a horrible experience.

[Funkatronic]

wow thats terrible,glad you are okish

im not sure how your s4 fuel line hoses attach to the tank/fuel pump, but that we be the first things i would suspect. have had a fuel line hose coupler pop out from the fuel pump on the tank because cos the catch was damaged on the s2r800,

the bike spluttered and stalled stalled, i pulled over and i realised my thighs and the engine were covered in fuel , fortunately it didn't ignite so i jumped off the bike and killed the igntion.

I have had of similar leaks from the OEM connectors on the 748/916/996/998 as these these become brittle over time and the o rings persish. the 749/999 use the same connector as the s2r and i have seen the catches/o-rings fail too and cause a leak.

[J.P]

Jesus I hope you heal quickly and it sounds like you've been very lucky.

[Fearless Biker]

Gosh Funkatronic, with petrol on the engine and your legs, that sounds likely to be what happened. You were lucky!

Where was your race bike leaking from Jonzi? You were lucky too.

I feel lucky to have escaped as lightly as I did. Agree with jerry and DrD and will make fuel pipes a regular pre ride check as well as the usual tyres etc.

I knew all the time the cause wasnt really the ex with a plasticine doll and a lighter:chuckle:

[damien666]

i've noticed on mine where the fuel lines come out of the bottom of the tank, that they have rubbed on the rear suspension shocker arm/pivot. Will be putting something around these to prevent it getting worse.

[mintyhit]

Jesus titty-f**king-christ!

Just to echo what else has been said on here, glad you are ok mate! Never seen anything like that before.

[Sirc]

You have handled the whole thing in a very grounded manner Fearless! Than Goodness you got away in time - Hope you heal quick.