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Thought I'd take a peek under the Falco's tank as it seemed the overflow from the petrol filler cap was blocked. It is - I've not managed to clear it yet - solid chalky stuff in there - but once I do I want to reinstate the hoses that should connect to the spigots on the tank. Can anyone tell me the correct routing and where they should come out under the engine? No hose keepers that I can see, so I haven't much to go on.

Oh, and if one of the spigots is the overflow from the cap (water or whatever collects on the rim) then what's the other one?

Aaah ye bugger, it's no. 8 on this diagram innit? At about fifteen quid EACH!




Nipple on tank for drain doesn't look in good shape - I presume I'd have to take the plate off the tank to get at it and change it. To drain the last of the fuel can I use the QD connector? I assume this is the low pressure return from the throttle bodies.

The QD coupler is self sealing when you disconnect, it is possible to push the sealing device open with a hex key but this is a slow way to drain the tank, be quicker to undo the banjo from the tank baseplate

Yeah, have the same type on my GS. I have a spare one as I put a fancy Jiffy-tite connector on the supply side of that bike - was going to do both, but at 60 odd quid a pop I haven't got round to it.

I assume all I need to do is split the connector and connect up the correct (male?) fitting to the tank side and let it drain. On the GS I just hook up the return to a can and run the engine which pumps the tank quickly, doesn't affect the bike at all. Siphoned most of the fuel out anyway.

Well that's the overflow pipes ordered up - specific to the Falco it seems. Thought I'd better grab 'em while I could cos it occurred to me that the factory may have a bit of a fight on its hands staying afloat in the current situation - what that will do for the spares situation for an uncommon bike like the Falco is anyone's guess...

If it's the 'in-tank' hoses that have furred up, then I've had something similar happen to me on a 30k+ miles Falco that I used to own. I just ran the largest (and longest) twist drill I had that fitted inside the pipes up and down (from both ends), as well as using plus gas, WD40, compressed air and anything else I had to hand. Eventually I cleared the blockage, but there was a lot of thick white stuff in there, as you say. The OE rubber pipes are specially kinked as space is at a premium under the tank. From memory it becomes fairly apparent what route they should take.

Yeah, had to take the tank off to clear the nipple. Absolutely solid inside, but I got it all out eventually. Squirted some WD40 to flush it, blew it out with some air then a bit of ACF50 to keep the corrosion at bay.

Have the drain pipes and clips coming, and at some stage (probably when I do the fuel filter and internal pipes) I'll replace the nipple. Would have done it all now, but as we had to close our business due to Covid-19 I don't think spending wads on my toys will go down too well with Mrs Three Dawg...

Sorry to hear you had to shut up shop Mr Dawg, what were you doing prior to the apocalypse?

I have a B&B. Don't worry about me, I'll survive. Lots of things to be getting on with, but have to be sensible with the discretionary spending, at least for now.

It's always the same - you have the money, but no time or you have the time, but not the money.

Ain't that the truth. Still, I can't complain, I spent November and half of December riding in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina on my aged GS - 6200 miles in total. Carpe diem, eh?

Drain pipes arrived today - dated 2008...

Sounds like a whole bunch of fun! 2008 was the year I bought my Falco... The crate containing the bike had got 'lost' in Aprilia's warehouse. Has to be one of the last Falcos registered.

Yeah, it is fun. I love shipping the GS off somewhere interesting and missing some of the Scottish winter, and South America was a blast. Not as mad as Africa can be, but with some amazing riding - the salt flats at Uyuni in Bolivia and hitting over 14500 feet altitude were particularly memorable. The ol' crate has done more miles in the air and on sea than on land.