Biketech7 - GSXR1000 Fuel Pumps And Filters.

Progress is made...
With the genuine fuel filter, and other bits, quickly delivered from International Moto Parts, and the aftermarket pump from Axiom Performance, I was ready to get back some of the lost power.
So, tank up and fuel line disconnected, I thought I'd try another fuel flow test. No fuel runs out of the tank at all when I disconnect the pipe - which isn't right, it should flow out under gravity. This time, instead of connecting up a separate loom to the pump wiring, I'm just going to turn the ignition on and let the bike run its own priming cycle. That way I can compare fuel amounts before the work, and after. 

Put the kill switch in the "Off" position and turn on the ignition. Switch to "Run" and the pump will attempt to get the fuel system up to operating pressure. It runs for about four to five seconds so I did it twice to check it against the factory test of ten seconds and at least 168ml of petrol.

In the video, you can see the tube has nothing running out of it until the pump is running. 

Just over 100ml in approximately nine seconds - not good.

Shiny new parts. The fuel regulator is included with the filter. (And bloody well ought to be for the price!)

And the part number of the pump if you're interested. Same as a 'Busa, and a nineties Honda Civic I'm led to believe. Pretty generic pump then.

With tank off, and pump removed yet again, it was ready for dismantling. It really is simple, just work methodically and take pics of the wiring etc. so you know where it all sits. The 7mm nuts holding the wiring to the base will have to be taken off, and there's two washers on each. Then the fuel level sender can be removed.

Take out the two screws pointing at the pump, and remove the two "speed-nuts".

The filter itself will slide off the two upright brackets, but will take a bit of moving first because of the O-ring just inside where my screwdriver is. Once moving it should come apart nicely.

The new pump comes with a wiring loom of sorts, but isn't the same as the factory version. I checked the connectors were clean and did a continuity test of the wiring. Once I was happy there was no added resistance within, the old wiring was refitted. The new pump actually comes with the pick-up gauze too. Pretty good for $70!
I used the old seal for the top of the pump, making sure to fit the little plastic spacer underneath, applied petroleum jelly and pushed it into the new filter housing.

New O-ring fitted to the pipe on the base, and lubed with a bit more jelly. The gauze might need to be helped in at this point, and then the whole thing should slip together nicely.

With wiring and sender refitted, it was ready to go back in the tank.

Time for the second test, and a big difference before even turning on the ignition. Fuel was now flowing out of the pipe by itself. In fact, by the time I primed the pump once, I already had 100ml in the jug!

Your doctor would be proud of that sample! The pics and video speak for themselves. Huge difference, and that was just one four-second prime. The black mark shows the original level after two pumps.

I just had to know... 
Armed with a hacksaw, I was interested what was inside this complex, plastic chamber. For the cost to be so high, there must be some sort of gold-lined, platinum strainer inside, with minuscule holes so accurately drilled the human eye couldn't even pick up on them. 

I cut the bottom off first.

There it is, that must be the platinum now.

It wouldn't come out through the bottom, so I hacked off the top. And there we have it. A dirty old piece of paper element held together with a few old bits of tin. Awesome... it was bloody dirty though!

And that's the pressure regulator if anyone's interested.

The verdict.
Major improvement, although I've yet to try it on full-throttle down a straight, but it feels very promising.

If you're experiencing similar issues, the first test should be prop up the tank, stuff a load of rag down in there and disconnect the fuel feed pipe. If nothing runs out, you might have the same problem. Now get some plastic tube to run into a jar of some sort, and run the pump. If it's slow (there was a massive difference before and after), it's a blocked filter, worn pump or both. For the price of a pump, it's better to do them both at the same time. Now I know it's a paper element, I won't leave it so long again!

Let's ride!