Bike was on fire...

[GibboN]

Hey guys,

So I pulled up into work yesterday morning and smelled the smoke first. Ducked my head down and found a fire going under the fuel tank!
Hit the kill switch, jumped off, ran to a hose and put her out.

Took the tank off after work and this is the majority of what I've found.
Pretty sure the fuel pump was the source of the fire.
Some damage to the cable insulation immediately below the fuel pump but the electrics all work normally.

What would you say if I elected to replace the fuel pump and for good measure the fuel filter and got new hoses to the tank but since the electrics seem fine wrap them up in tape and a new insulation pipe instead of looking at replacing the wire?

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[banner001]

if everything electrical is still working, just inspect the cables to make sure they are not down to the bare metal wire and wrap it back up.

get a new fuel pump and you should be good to go.

remember to keep an eye on it to make sure that the fuel pump has not failed because of some other pre-existing problem.

[cargo]

I'd want to be 100% certain sure of the exact cause of the fire.

[Smousley1995]

From the photo it looks like it's burned through all the insulation so you'd have to separate each individual wire and tape it up. As long as you do that and make sure no two wires are touching then I'd say its safe to do so.

If the fuel pump started it I'd say it just expired as the only external cause would be it receiving too much power and if that was the case then other things would be broken so I don't think there is a pre-existing problem but as banner said I'd keep an eye on it.

[CaNsA]

I'd want to be 100% certain sure of the exact cause of the fire.

This.

[GibboN]

After mulling it over I'm putting it in the shop again. Cost of replacing the pump isn't too bad but it's the uncertainty that puts me off.
Will give it to the shop to check. Worth paying to get the peace of mind I need- count myself lucky it happened outside work and not on an expressway or something...

Thanks guys.

[KwakKwak]

First time I stripped and cleaned my carbs and replaced all fuel lines and filter, after starting the bike I checked everything carefully for leaks, and found a very slight leak from the float bowl drain on one of the carbs, everytime I mess with the carbs now I run her and do a leak check, you don't have a pinhole leak to the underside of the tank by any chance??????

[GibboN]

I was worried about that at first but when I looked the tank didn't have any fire damage and the fire was relatively easy to put out after I hit the kill switch.
No petrol/oil on the floor after leaving it to stand all day after the fire either. I'm pretty sure it was the fuel pump.

I'm lucky really- if the tank had a hole in it I think I may have had a more serious encounter...