[Colbyntx]

I need to replace my 17 year old fuel line on my 2000 Foreman 450S. The OME has a black plastic heat shield and its bent to route it to the carb. I have a good spool of 1/4" hose at the house if that's the correct size. Can I use this or do I need to go to Honda and het an OME hose?

Thanks

 

[retro]

If you can route the fuel line safely (no risk of it rubbing through or getting too hot or leaking or causing a fire) and with no kinks or sharp bends in it, I don't see why not. You'll have to decide for yourself if you can do it safely or not.

Edit:
No one, unless he/she is a psychopath lacking empathy for other humans (or a corporate goon) will tell you to reroute your own fuel line. The factory (at extra expense) formed that hose for special safety reasons to help insure that you don't burn up in a gasoline fire! Best to buy the correct hose and protect your family.

 

[Colbyntx]

I live in the sticks. My nearest Honda shop is 70 miles one way. Ran by there yesterday and picked up 18" of metric fuel line. That's actually a heat shield on the fuel hose. Took a good soaking, washing. Then I blasted with air between the old hose and heat shield to break that 17 year bond. Slipped the WD-40 nozzle between the hose and shield and sprayed short bursts from both ends. Worked it around for a bit and hose slid right out. There was enough WD-40 inside the heat shield that the new hose slipped right in.

 

[retro]

Yer a smart guy... Have fun with it!

 

[Colbyntx]

Unfortunately I'm waiting on the slow boat from the land of fruits & nuts on the west coast for my carb re-build kit. So she will be down until this weekend

 

[retro]

It'll be worth the wait though, look at how much you save by doing things yourself. You'll have confidence that its done right too, rather than wonder if the guy at the shop worked too fast trying to make his living and wasn't in a position to give a darn about it....

 

[retro]

Just a heads up in case you don't know about china carb kits yet... those china carb kits have useful rubber parts in them (o-rings, gasket etc.) but the hard parts (jets,needle, etc.) are usually cheap knockoffs that won't work right and sometimes don't even fit, so its best to throw them all away, using only the soft parts in the kit to reassemble, with your original hard parts back in there where they belong.

 

[Colbyntx]

Yeah and I am using only the rubber out of the re-build kit. I'll pull the carb tonight, break it down & run it through a few cycles in the US cleaner. I'm fortunate to have ethanol free fule local.