Bike stops in muddy conditions?!

[Hammarbom_354]

Hello we have a left hand vmc with a zabel 27 engine. We have mounted in the frame the new style willemsen airbox. The problem is when you ride in track conditions where there is alot of mud and water laying on the track. We get alot of water through into the airfilter and the bike begins to run bad and eventually stops if we continue riding. It doesnt help if you try to rew the engine because it gets to wet.

Anyone else has this problem with their newer bikes? This one is from 2006. We are figuring to put plastic infront of the netting in the airbox around it with about 10mm distance between. Do you think this will help or will it not get enough air then.

Cheers Teo

[Dave Tye]

Hi Teo,

With a correctly oiled and fitted filter with grease around the contact points water and mud should not get through unless the bike is in really extreme conditions. Is it possible there is an entry point beyond the filter or the filter is not fitting correctly in the airbox?

Cheers

Dave

[Frank]

Hello we have a left hand vmc with a zabel 27 engine. We have mounted in the frame the new style willemsen airbox. The problem is when you ride in track conditions where there is alot of mud and water laying on the track. We get alot of water through into the airfilter and the bike begins to run bad and eventually stops if we continue riding. It doesnt help if you try to rew the engine because it gets to wet.

Anyone else has this problem with their newer bikes? This one is from 2006. We are figuring to put plastic infront of the netting in the airbox around it with about 10mm distance between. Do you think this will help or will it not get enough air then.

Cheers Teo

You can check if the Willemsen air box is tight.
There are threaded bushings on the outside to assemble some plastic water absorbers.
Plastic like on the front plate to avoid direct water impact.
Hope it helps

[Hammarbom_354]

I have found out now that the frame is not as watertight as the netting itself on the airbox so now we will seal it with silicone.
But I think we have found the main reason for the problems. We have made the intake hole too far down in the front of the airbox so that there is not enough contact surface between filter and airbox at that point. Also it is now so low that when water is floating on the bottom off the airbox it is floating over the edge and into the intake.

Very stupid mistake but hopefully it will solve the problem when we adjust the intake hole.

[Dave Tye]

It is good news you have found the problem, I hope nothing too messy got sucked in to the Engine.

Good luck for the rest of the season

Dave