Hey have any of you used the mikuni vac pump for your 950. I've read loads about the facet and DR beans kits but can't find much about this. What's the word in the OC KTM 950 Fuel Pump Kit Change your stock fuel pump for a vacuum fuel pump! Many riders find that the electronic fuel pump that comes stock with the KTM 950 Adventure and Super Enduro is one of the bikes biggest design flaws. One of the main reasons people buy KTM is that when an adventurer takes his bike off the road he must have complete confidence that it will carry him to when he is going. A fuel pump failing in the bush can be catastrphoic, leaving you stranded. The stock fuel pump can fail anywhere between 5000km and 50 000km, and can do so without warning. The vacuum fuel pump was originally used on snowmobiles where failure of the machine on could have the direst of consiquences. It uses the vacuum created by the intake manifold to flow fuel. This design, due to its simplicity, is extremely reliable. Not only do they very rarely fail due to wear, but when they do, you can fix them with a pocket knife and a kit the size of a match box. The best part is the entire kit only costs 84.99$. Thats 130$ cheaper than the stock electronic fuel kit in Canada! Do yourself a favor, don't wait until your fuel pump dies on the road! Call us for more information 1-(250)-434-6479 <CENTER>Price Fuel Pump conversion Kit: $84.99 Mikuni repair kit: $14.99</CENTER>
It's been done many times on 950's. Use the adv search engine and the terms 'mikuni fuel pump and you'll find many examples. I haven't used one on a 950 but used one successfully on my KTM 660 rally bike (for that matter ALL KTM rally bikes for a long time).
I've had one on my 950 for about 5 years and about 40,000 miles. Absolutely no problema. Just back from a 600 mile loop in centro baja. I would nver go back to electric pump, the Mikuni is bombproof in my experience. i almost got killed in a construction zone on I5 when the electric pump crapped out. Nowhere to go when I lost propulsion, had to make room for the Kenworth coming down on my behind!
Are you running the above pump, I've had one for a few yrs on the 950 and have added a fuel cutoff solenoid but am having syphoning into the carbs still. I have the pump behind the airbox and the cutoff where the elec pump used to be. Next step is to move the cutoff up near the carbs. Maybe too much fuel sitting in lines, don't know. Doesn't do it if I turn the main tank tap off at all...
Just a note on the flapendecetomy.. I've done it to my bike for some other reason (thought that I had fueling issues because of it), and while it didn't solve my original issue, it introduced a new one: When my bike tips over - which it does quite often (I tend to fell off a lot), I lose a lot of fuel. I was on a rally the last year, and I droped the bike about a dozen times a day, and as more tired I got, it took more and more time to lift the bike.. Long story short, I've lost almost half a tank of fuel because the bike was laying on it's side. So if I had too choose again, I wouldn't do the flapendectomy. To be ontopic: IMO if one chooses to use a vac pump, then it's necessary to turn off the main petcock if the bike is sitting for a longer period of time (overnight for example), if the fuel level in the tanks are higher than lets say.. half, or the fuel will pass by the needles in the carb, and eventualy flood the cyls..
Yes, I have same pump. I put it in stock location, no extra shutoff valve. I think maybe I put the diaphragm vent hose up, but I can't remember its been years since I've even looked at the thing. I do know you have to have large ID ports on the intake manifold barbs so as to get a good signal down the hose. The pump works on the pulsations from the intake manifold, not straight vacuum. I had the carb/cyl flooding issue with stock and vacc pumps when tanks were full. Easy simple solution for me is to "turn thy gas switch to off" when I have burned less than 50 miles on a tankload. Is really no different than any of my other bikes where I have been turning off the gas forever, but the collective mindset here seems to be that with this bike you're not supposed to have to do that. Before cannisterectomy it was so bad on hot days the bike was unrideable. I have also done the flap trim and that seems to be better for me and part of the overall solution. As for the problema with the solenoid shutoff my advice is to look at your hookup, it may be in backwards. Many check valves work only one way, and the other way (backwards) will have a low cracking pressure. Also look for dirt, and check that the little screens on the inside/tank side of both tank petcocks are screwed in place, they tend to fall out over time. The downdraft Mikunis are one of the quirks of the bike, I don't unnerstan why these carbs won't stay shut when virtually every other bike I've owned that is gravity-fed does not "pass gas", even with petcock open. Maybe its time for me to upgrade to 39FCR's! Off to La Paz/ La Ventana tomorrow, hoy! This bike was MADE for blasting all over baja!
Thanks guys, I think this vac pump seems to be well worth the few minor drabacks. As my stock pump is around 12k, (not my fault, I just bought the bike 2 months ago with 10K on it) I think its time to replace it with the vac
You might want to check Dr. Bean's kit: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=823347 Cheap, and the best way to go IMO.
Only thing I found with the vacuum pump is you have to shut the fuel taps off when parked for a while and if you run out of gas it takes a bit of cranking to get gas to the carbs.
Might have a reason for syphoning fuel pointed out by a mechanic that has fitted heaps of vac pumps to bikes including running alcohol through them. It depends somewhat on the mounting location of the pump and wether there is an internal vacuum check valve in it. The main point here is that the syphoning is happening through the vacuum line straight into the cylinder not passing the needles in the carbs. This has never made sense considering the floats should closed the needle onto the seat and stop the fuel flow. His usual setup is to use two cheap black plastic pumps off a lawn mower together. The incoming fuel line is T'd into both pumps then T'd together outgoing to the carbs. This will give plenty of flow and a second pump running in the event of a failure of one. Alternately is a vacuum operated tap to close off the vacuum line to the pump.
I've been gathering a shopping list of things to do this mod. I hear the below valve is a reliable way to stop the siphoning and save fuel during a tipover... Pingel in-line vaccum fuel valve Does anyone have any experience with this particular one?
I don't know about that particular valve, but I can save you something close to $110. Go to your nearby mower shop and pick up a plastic shut-off valve. When your bike takes a dump close the valve. I've yet to find this insufficient protection from gas all over the ground.
With the vacume pump fitment to the lc8 do you pick up from one of the intake bells or run a tee fitting and pick up from both for the pump?
I have the raid design vacuum pump kit. Stock pump left me stranded in the desert for 8 hours after a crash on the Palmdale to Barstow leg of Barstow to LV. It cured the flooding issue I had in whoops. Only issue I have had is hydrolock when I traveled with my bike in the back of my truck and forgot to shut off the fuel valves. So after sitting in the desert for 8 hours. I fixed the stock pump with the doctor beans kit and mounted it back in the stock location as a back up.
