Theoretical fording depth

Hoping that you guys could provide some insight.

Actual fording depth of my donkey... 6 inches... and I won't be happy about that.

Ok, fair enough…you care for her, but she is really quite capable, and the photo is kind of funny, right? Honestly though, her intake and exhaust are up high. I am curious about what you guys think about that.

Water crossings at 10:32

In a previous life, I used to purposely seek out water and mud to cross or attempt to cross. Years bring change, and I've come to realize that water (especially dirty water) deep enough to submerge bearings, brakes causes them to fail prematurely, and water deep enough to submerge hot engines causes shock to all sorts of things. De-panel you CT and you will see a good bit of electronics and other non-sealed mechanical things, that are well below the snorkel... If I had a true need to drive my bike thru deep water I would, but it's gonna have to be a true need for me to run thru any water above an axle. I've learned that you can enjoy riding, and getting out in nature without pushing equipment that may or may be really designed for such extremes. Will it do it, there are examples of it all over YouTube... but I don't think it's wise, and probably not really necessary. But by all means have at it, you will probably gain mechanical skills along the way as well, I certainly did. I speak for me, and what I will do... I have certainly done my share of that, just no more.

It is a fun picture...

I’ve ridden through about 2 feet depth for about 40 yards without any issues! There’s a section of trail that runs up a creek bed that I’ve done several times and not a problem.

I’ve dealt with the “fragility” of motorcycles (and have 2 Desmoquattro Ducatis to prove it). And this bike isn’t fragile.
I think my new, little green monster is an absolute giggle. And I plan for it to continue for many, many years. But if I end up in a similar situation, referring to the video, and my “jewels” ain’t floating, I’m going through. I might even get a patch made for the “seat ain’t wet” group!
It’s one of the reasons I got this little wonder of a bike. It was made to survive (not live continuously) these situations. And then just keep scooting down the road.

I've not had my Trail in water, though I have ridden my TW 200 across knee-deep water crossings with mixed results. On the TW, much like the Trail the air intake is high (basically under the seat on the TW) but I've found that if/when the Spark Plug gets wet (or splashed) it grounds it out and the engine stalls. The first-time that happened to me I thought the worst and that I had sucked water into my engine. Thankfully I hadn't but I wonder if our Trails would have have the same problem? With how low the Spark Plug is on a Trail I could see that being a large hindrance to fording depth.

Kev250R said:

if/when the Spark Plug gets wet (or splashed) it grounds it out and the engine stalls.... Thankfully I hadn't but I wonder if our Trails would have have the same problem?

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I feel like this question has a very, very easy and simple way to test the question without submerging the bike. Turn bike on, spray engine with garden hose set to full, see if bike stops running. Or dump a bucket of water onto the spark plug side.

EDIT: if water restrictions are really that bad in SoCal I guess I could run the experiment for you, but TL,DR is that I don't dry my engine off after washing the bike.

As long as the spark plug wire boot has a good water tight seal covering the terminal it shouldn't ground out. Definitely a real issue with cracked old plug boots or "Don't put your hand there!" no-boot Rajah spark plug wire terminals that are popular on antique cars and motorcycles.

SneakyDingo said:

I feel like this question has a very, very easy and simple way to test the question without submerging the bike. Turn bike on, spray engine with garden hose set to full, see if bike stops running. Or dump a bucket of water onto the spark plug side.

EDIT: if water restrictions are really that bad in SoCal I guess I could run the experiment for you, but TL,DR is that I don't dry my engine off after washing the bike.

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That might work. I guess a spray bottle aimed directly at the Spark Plug would accomplish the same thing.

Personally I don't loose a lot of sleep over it as I generally try to avoid water crossings, though in the summer, which tends to be rainy at times in our local mountains it is fairly common to need to cross water in order to continue on a trail. Last summer I was on my Honda Trail and came across a crossing which would have sent my engine under water. I was riding solo, pretty far out in the back country on a not well-used trail headed to a questionable destination. I chose to turn around.

FYI Water Restrictions, at least where I live in So.Cal. are not as egregious as the media makes them sound. I take normal-length showers, fill my Cat's water bowl daily, flush regularly and wash my MC's and occasionally cars in my driveway and have not run afoul of my local water company.

Kev250R said:

FYI Water Restrictions, at least where I live in So.Cal. are not as egregious as the media makes them sound. I take normal-length showers, fill my Cat's water bowl daily, flush regularly and wash my MC's and occasionally cars in my driveway and have not run afoul of my local water company.

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Hey everyone, check out this rich guy just <checks notes> showering, and giving his animals water

I figured they weren't that bad. Mostly poking fun at you although I have lived somewhere where they were. I did hear that further south California had a "too much water outside the catchment area" problem though . figured they could probably use the knowledge here and you might be asking for a friend.