Let me say from the start, first line of this blog post…
TACO MOTO is AWESOME!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When I saw this video I knew I had to get one in my bike. It’s a 30 minute video but it’ll explain everything wrong with the stock pump as well as any other pump offered for sale.
I’ll fight you if you say anything else is better! That said. I bought 2 complete kits (hoses, filter, and pump) when I was in Vegas. The 2nd one was for Kyle’s bike. We installed them and they both ran great. Well, mine ran great AFTER I figured out that I crimped a hose. Read all about that at The Taco Moto 3,000 Hour Fuel Pump and my crimping episode at New Pump, No Pressure, What Did I Do? and yes it was all my fault.
We had just returned from Death Valley where it had worked flawlessly. I had cleaned the air filter, changed the oil, fixed most everything and all of a sudden the bike would cut out as I was rolling through a busy parking lot.
I limped home and pulled out a spark plug. It looked fine. I checked to see if I was out of gas – nope. I checked and replaced the little inline filter- nope. I checked my ECU and it looked like it was fully plugged in and working. I checked the Rottweiler Intake and it all looked great. Tried without the air filter and still the same issue.
So I was confident it was on the fuel side of things.
I remember Taco Mike suggesting when you thought you had a fuel problem to first check what the fuel pressure was at the quick release. Taco Moto makes and sells a tester that plugs right in using the stock connectors. They had one in stock so I ordered it. I had to wait a few days for it to arrive.
Meanwhile, Charles had one and suddenly I had two!
I strung a bungee cord between my dash and rear rack and put it to the test. As Taco Moto says…
Operating pressure for the single cylinder KTM, Husqvarna, Husaberg, GASGAS fuel injected bikes is 48.6 to 52.9. If you’re out of range on that pressure you could be chasing your tail for hours and possibly needlessly and frustratingly firing the parts bazooka at your bike – all the while the real problem was weak fuel pressure.
Here’s a super short video on what I had.
Not even 40 PSI.
What that told me was the issue was most likely on the pump side and not on the injector side of things.
Now, the way the system works is that the pump has somewhat of a well around it that it sucks from, the fuel goes through a mesh filter, into the pump itself, out of the pump, into a filter, out of the filter and then through a Pressure Regulator before leaving the tank towards the quick release. That Pressure Regulator can fail too. The pump is supposed to put out nearly 100 PSI to the Regulator which sends around 50 PSI of fuel on and returns around 50 PSI of fuel back into the well for the pump to use.
The Pressure Regulator is supposed to run a 3.5 BAR (just another way to measure pressure). Uncle Google says that 3.5 is equal to …
Since the pump was pretty new and the Pressure Regulator wasn’t – could it be the Pressure Regulator?
Luckily, Charles also had an extra 3.5 Bar Pressure Regulator! Really! So I bought it from Charles.
I pulled everything out, replaced the Pressure Regulator, put everything back in and even tested the system again with both pressure testers (Mine and Charles). Would it read 50 PSI ????
NOPE!
So my next step was to contact Taco Moto. Naturally, they asked what pressure I was seeing and I explained that I had used two different gauges, replaced the Pressure Regulator with a brand new one and so on…
They said to pull the complete unit and send it to them. They could bench test each individual component which is something I couldn’t do. I toyed with the idea of doing the same by myself – but just couldn’t figure out how to do it and not burn the house down at the same time.
So I wisely packed it all up, vacuum sealed it, and shipped it out.
MEANWHILE…
Charles suggested while I waited, to send the injector out for bench flow testing and cleaning. He suggested a place he used in LA so it was pulled, sealed up and boxed too.
The Taco Moto box returned first and honestly I was a little frustrated with the lack of communication (the box literally just showed up on the doorstep with no explanation). But it looked like they replaced the pump, the filter and maybe some of the hoses. They also had a better way of holding my pump surround than I did. They used 2 zip ties, I used safety wire.
I had to wait for my injector to get back. It arrived shortly with a nice explanation of where it was when it started and what it is after the cleaning.
Now I might have been able to clean it on the bench but I wouldn’t have any idea what kind of a flow rate it was having. It’s supposed to flow at 420 cc per minute and according to this it now is.
With all the right parts in hand, I assembled everything and am happy to say the bike runs like it should!
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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