So its January 11 in western New York and its 55 degrees with some sun too! I had to take the bike out for a run. Unfortunately I got caught in the rain... a really bad one too. I have an 02 FXD with a carb and I run it with an open air cleaner (Ness Big Sucker). Now the question is, I'm sure the filter was soaked with water and the bike was running like crap- no power, hesitation, nasty lugging of the engine etc. Did I do a ton of damage to my motor by limping my way home in the rain storm? The bike will idle fine at this point and seems to be doing OK though I don't want to take it out for fear of more damage. Is there anything I need to do after this stupid move on my part???

Thanks for any suggestions

 

If you suck in too much water, you can damage the engine. You can do thngs like break rings and bend con rods. But what's done is done. You either did damage or you didn't. You'll just have to wait and see what happens.

In the future, get a rain sock from K&N. They allow a little bit of rain mist in, but not enough to matter. I used one on the open filter on my turbo, and it worked just fine.

 

If your air filter didn't break down (fall apart), I'm sure your fine. The bike ran crappy because when the air filter got wet, it couldn't breath. I would replace the air filter and take the bike out for a spin.

 

In order to damage your engine from injestion of water, you would have to do more than riding in the rain, more like riding through a deep stream. The problem you are having is like stated above, not enough air through the filter when it's wet.. If it's a K&N which is what the big sicker comes with ,clean it, reoil it and go ride. The sock is a good idea in any event for riding in the rain. It will break things down to a mist which will burn through the motor. Aircraft use water injection with a mixture of fish oil for max power settings and if water hurt the engine, we'd have planes falling out of the sky all over.

 

Thanks guys, I took it out again today. Its running fine. I bought the K&N kit to clean and oil the filter. I'm gonna change the oil again in the spring.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help this forum is... TC you are legit, I knew you would come through with some great advice and information. This forum and the guys who take it seriously are a true asset to the biker community.

Kevin

 

Just make sure that you have a K&N. Some have confused the two types

This is a K&N as comes in the big sucker unit



This is brand X and not cleanable(usually found in the later stage 1 kits)

 

All you did was clean the carbon off your intake valves.....

 

I know that teh Big sucker did not come with a K&N a while back as when I asked them if it was a K&N they told me that it was a Type of filter like the K&N. Which to me meant no. I have not installed on in some time as I am not a fan of the Ness products. But I can say that I run a 325 K&N and have been in a down poour to where I could hardle see in front of me and the bike ran fine. I thought that I had read some where that the K&N when oiled properly would not allow water droplets through as they are too large to pass through. I went to the site to confirm this and was not able to locate any info stating that. I would have to say that the oil would be the product that is stopping the water from going through.

When cleaning or drying a floor fan that will swivel works great. Point the fan vertical and set the filter on with something to keep it from blowing off. I have a KILLER fan not very big but it really moves volumes of air.

 

I have run the old style SE intake and have an Outerwearracing cover for it that I use in the rain. If you can't find a cover that fits call what you have Use internet search to find web sight. They will make a custom one for any thing. It keeps 95% of the h20 out but still lets engine get plenty of air. Best thing is it wads up the size of a paper towel. Don't sweat it you didn't hurt nothing but it an't good for it eather.

 

Bob, I run an open K&N on my RG. I went out to the K&N site to look for a rain sock. All I found was a dust cover. I would like to put one of those socks on mine. Do you have any additional info on that rain sock..thanks, steve