Anyone installed a spark arrestor ? What worked for you?

Ah, another B.C.'er who rides on crown land.  For the edification of our non-B.C. trials rider friends, in a knee-jerk reaction to last years devastating wildfires our provincial government is mandating that all off-road vehicles which operate on crown land be equipped with spark arrestors. That's all well an good but to my knowledge there are no spec's or approved unit cited. My solution will be to buy some wire screen from a hardware store and affix it to the muffler outlet with a band-clamp.

Edited April 4, 20188 yr by d2w

D2w is right, regs, at least do not specify the use of a hideous industrial unit...yet.. So it would be best to be smart about this and not screw around, there are several ''USFS type'' units available from different trials bike dealers in the U.S.  If people start making silly hacky homemade crap, then they will make more specific rules that just hurt our ability to ride.  Lewisport has good selection...and Great to deal with, as is RYP, ETC, ETC

I'm not proposing to make "silly hacky homemade crap". Rather I'm just going to replicate what the manufacturers make; a wire mesh which covers the exhaust outlet (but for about a tenth the cost). Hell, I may even have my machinist brother lathe a custom end-cap for me. But more significant, I'll use the money I'll save to purchase high-temperature exhaust weave and wrap my header pipe (because I believe a hot header parked in tall grass  is more likely to start a fire than an exhaust spark [which I've never seen from my correctly jetted bike]). All we can do is to ride responsibly and be aware of the conditions. And when/if it's too dry, don't ride at all in the bush. The last thing I want to do is loose my/our ability to ride due to government regulations.

Edited April 5, 20188 yr by d2w

3 hours ago, d2w said:

Ah, another B.C.'er who rides on crown land.  For the edification of our non-B.C. trials rider friends, in a knee-jerk reaction to last years devastating wildfires our provincial government is mandating that all off-road vehicles which operate on crown land be equipped with spark arrestors. That's all well an good but to my knowledge there are no spec's or approved unit cited. My solution will be to buy some wire screen from a hardware store and affix it to the muffler outlet with a band-clamp.

Did not imply that you personally are gonna make.....silly hacky homemade crap''... I am sure some people will try to get by with some chicken wire and a band clamp....and this will eventually bring the hammer and costs down on us even more   

You can check here for USFS spark arrestor info which will be a pretty good guideline for your project.

 

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/programs/fire/spark/faq.html

 

 

Interesting info, Thanks betablocker.   Sprinter , if you have not already, you might want to check with Dave at mototrialswest, good guy to deal with and local. 

Spanish Fly makes a good spark arrestor for Trials bikes you can order from Lewisportusa.

Ordered and received a Spanishfly arrestor directly from his website and also the one of the models that Lewisport sells and can say that they are both Very nice high quality units.

On 4/5/2018 at 10:58 AM, ivsforever said:

Spanish Fly makes a good spark arrestor for Trials bikes you can order from Lewisportusa.

 

On 4/6/2018 at 8:05 PM, pauls320 said:

Ordered and received a Spanishfly arrestor directly from his website and also the one of the models that Lewisport sells and can say that they are both Very nice high quality units.

 

@pauls320: Did you get the Viper or the new mini Viper? How does it fit? Is the screen removable?

Hey anachronism, I got the regular viper and the screen is removable, I did not install it on a Vertigo but I think it has a similar curved aluminum muffler exit as my older Sherco. It probably was not necessary but I  did a slight trim on my pipe tip to square it up so the arrestor would slide on fully and once grub screw is tightened it is nice and solid.   

At the risk of being shot down in flames (or at least, sparks), what is the real-life worth of a spark arrestor? As I understand it, it's a metal gauze that could work like a fire-guard on an open fire. But in all my life, I can't recall seeing sparks coming out of the exhaust of any infernal combustion engine. They seem to manage without them in Spain and that can be absolutely tinder-dry in summer as my village (when I lived there) knows only too well.

Do these things have any real value? Or are they just the whim of a government bureaucrat somewhere?

 

Spark arrestors are required here in Canada now and if one wants to ride without getting a hefty $$ fine you need to comply..

I use the fancier one that Lewisport sells, machined, anodized aluminum as opposed the the steel one (Spanish fly).  The screen can be removed and cleaned which is needed on a regular basis, works well; have one on my wife's gasser too.

 

 

Success ! Viper brand specific for 3 sizes , the 1.260 fits Vertigo perfect and looks like it was made for it