[Hayseed]

I have been riding my Ace for the past week on some woodland trails. There are quite a few dried oak leaves and lots of pine straw. When I was washing the Ace this morning I noticed that leaves and pine straw had accumulated between the skid plates and the transmission and engine. I could not wash it out with the hose and finally poked most of it out with a small wooden dowel. I am going to try and fashion a plastic hook to scrape it out. I have a dozer that has had two fires from the same sort of debris collecting on the top of the engine. I don't know for sure that it will ignite from the Ace engine heat but my experience with the dozer makes me vary wary of organic debris and engines. The second fire cost me a lot of money. I am definitely going to take Scoundrel's advice and install a fire extinguisher behind the seat. If you are riding where there are dried leaves and pine straw I would also recommend some device to remove the organic debris from underneath the engines at rest stops.

 

[Scoundrel]

It's always a good idea to be aware of potential fire issues.
Not only is your personal safety and equipment at risk, but potentially the lives and property of hundreds of other people as well, not to mention wildlife.
I don't know how much trouble people get in when they accidentally set wildfires, but I can't imagine it being a light punishment, and if people get killed, well, that's terrible.

I was leading a ride with a dozen people in Eastern Washington during the dry season, and after a few hours of riding, we took a rest break in an area that had a big circle of bare earth surrounded by tall dry grass.
I pulled into the circle of dirt and started the "wagon train circle" thing. Most of the people followed suit, but a couple of guys pulled off into the tall grass.
They didn't understand why I had an issue with that. Even when I explained it they had a bit of an attitude about it.