My Rocket in Flames on the Launchpad!!

Man, so sorry that happened to you.
I have had this problem on my TFC as well. Filling up, not on auto-fill and the gas has swirled up and gushed out of the filler cap all over the tank. The pump didn't switch off. Freaked me out. Had the same issue on my CB1000R too, so there's one specific pump I avoid now because its shut off is so bad.
Thanks man. I'm doing much better. Once I finish healing up and can get out of the house I plan on going to my dealership and measuring tank depths on all the Triumph models. I feel like this may be a contributing factor.
 
I've always been super cautious while filling up since I had a shut-off fail on me once and had a nice glug of gas flow over my tank on a t120, nothing bad happened luckily. I now always have both hands on the pump handle and I watch the gas level like a hawk.
 
My question. is why didn't the pump shut off when the fuel came back to the nozzle? It's usually automatic when the fuel reaches the nozzle it shuts off.
Not on a bike, but I have had faulty fill nozzles that don't shut off automatically 3 times in my life.
 
I've never overfilled any of my bikes, usually I stop or the pump stops by itself once the bike is full. And I always watch carefully once filling up because I never trust the automatic shut-off although it never failed me. Until last week when filling up the rocket, for a second I looked away just to look down again and find that it was overflowing and the nozzle was still running, until I let go. Gas was all over the tank and probably the engine. closed the gas tank and drove away, thinking I wonder if I'd have time to jump off it if it catches fire. It never did though.
But i'm surprised the nozzle didn't stop by itself. Something with the design of the the gas tank I think. In ~15 years of riding never happened to me ever.
 
I've never overfilled any of my bikes, usually I stop or the pump stops by itself once the bike is full. And I always watch carefully once filling up because I never trust the automatic shut-off although it never failed me. Until last week when filling up the rocket, for a second I looked away just to look down again and find that it was overflowing and the nozzle was still running, until I let go. Gas was all over the tank and probably the engine. closed the gas tank and drove away, thinking I wonder if I'd have time to jump off it if it catches fire. It never did though.
But i'm surprised the nozzle didn't stop by itself. Something with the design of the the gas tank I think. In ~15 years of riding never happened to me ever.
Venting of the new Rocket's gas tank was not thought through properly - either that or it was engineered on a Friday. If you wish to fill it up really full, with as much as you can cram in there, it takes practically forever. Air continues to percolate out as you add bit by bit. Add just too much in one go, and it throws a literal hissing fit as you had experienced (-:
 
I've never overfilled any of my bikes, usually I stop or the pump stops by itself once the bike is full. And I always watch carefully once filling up because I never trust the automatic shut-off although it never failed me. Until last week when filling up the rocket, for a second I looked away just to look down again and find that it was overflowing and the nozzle was still running, until I let go. Gas was all over the tank and probably the engine. closed the gas tank and drove away, thinking I wonder if I'd have time to jump off it if it catches fire. It never did though.
But i'm surprised the nozzle didn't stop by itself. Something with the design of the the gas tank I think. In ~15 years of riding never happened to me ever.
Dunno about the US. In the UK you shouldn't be sitting on the bike when you're refuelling.
 
I hope you are heading for a full recovery. this is a terrible heads up. I don't think it has much to do with the particular rocket gas input or depth, but the fact that the hot engine is right under the tank and a overflow like when the gas pump don't stops automatically, can be terrible on a motorcycle. I am lazy and while careful, I usually fill up while seating in the bike. But it had happen a few times that the fuel nozzle don't stop, or the lever gets stuck, etc... , from now on, just filling standing up, next to the bike.
We should keep this thread alive, its one of those things that is good to keep present from time to time.
 
So all the talk of should and shouldn’t aside, I found this thread while specifically looking for a fuel filling issue as I had an “oh ****” moment on Sunday after topping up the Rocket 3 R I had only just had delivered on Friday after a 6-month wait.

Looking at the filler in the tank I was concerned that there wasn’t a lot of room in there for fuel back pressure and splashes. I absentmindedly moved the nozzle for a better look while filling and the nozzle burped a good half a coke can of fuel across the tank! Due the lean on the bike it ran down the left side, meaning it hit the seat and the air box mostly, but I had a mild heart attack imagining it was about to hit the headers and ignite the bike I had owned for about 48 hours…

Luckily that didn’t happen to me but perversely happy to know it’s not just me (I’ve filled many bikes many, many times) and this design really is dodgy. Thanks OP for the stark warning of how very real the outcome could’ve been for me, but sorry it happened to you. No one wants to be the next “cautionary tale”…

Well at least it forced an immediate detail and polish of my red beast. 😏
 
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