[jgrMeister]

My bike has been sitting for about two weeks while I was waiting for a new fan to do a fan replacement. I flushed the cooling system, installed fan, replaced radiator, filled system, etc. Obviously, I had the tank off. When I replaced the tank and started the engine, it started hard, I cranked it a few times giving it some gas not realizing the choke lever had fallen back down. Pulled choke back up, and the engine started. Let it run on choke for maybe 15 seconds, then put the choke back in. The bike idled smoothly, but looked down and gas was pouring out of (both?) carbs. Shut fuel off, wiped up fuel. Turned fuel back on, leak began again. Turned fuel off, wiped down. Turned fuel on, started bike. Leaking less, and only out of left carb. Took it for spin around block. Came back, still leaking slowly. Turned bike off, pulled tank. Wiped leak down, replaced tank, started bike. It is still dripping, but much less from left carb only.



Thoughts please. I am an extreme novice at this stuff.

 

[lucky]

sounds like your float is stuck try tapping on the carb that is leaking and then report back here the findings

 

[jgrMeister]

sounds like your float is stuck try tapping on the carb that is leaking and then report back here the findings

I did that and it may have helped since it is leaking less and only out of one carb. It isn't leaking out of the overflow tube, which is what I would expect if the float was stuck. It's leaking from somewhere higher on the carb.

 

[Blindstitch]

The floats could be mildly stuck. Put the bike on its center stand and take the back of a screwdriver and tap the side of the carb bowls on each side and see if the leaking stops. Don't run the engine during this. It may also help to drain the carbs and refill while doing this.



If it isn't that then it's probably slightly cracked bowl overflow tubes. There's a fix for that too.

 

[jgrMeister]

The floats could be mildly stuck. Put the bike on its center stand and take the back of a screwdriver and tap the side of the carb bowls on each side and see if the leaking stops. Don't run the engine during this. It may also help to drain the carbs and refill while doing this.



If it isn't that then it's probably slightly cracked bowl overflow tubes. There's a fix for that too.

I had a cracked tube on the other carb when I first bought the bike last month. I ended up replacing that bowl. It is not leaking from the overflow tube like I would think it would if it was a cracked tube, or even a stuck float. It is leaking from somewhere higher on the carb.

 

[lucky]

ok dumb question here but do you think you could of gotten the fuel lines hooked up wrong and you have the fuel line running to the vent on the carb??

 

[jgrMeister]

ok dumb question here but do you think you could of gotten the fuel lines hooked up wrong and you have the fuel line running to the vent on the carb??

Well, there isn't a dumb question considering my mechanical experience, but I'm pretty sure the answer is no. It's just a single fuel line coming from the petcock to a nipple on the outside of the left carb.

 

[lucky]

hmm well then i guess i was stupid i didnt realize you had a early model of bike i am used to my 82 i am almost wondering if some one was screwing with your bike you might want to pull off the carbs and make sure everything is tight on it

 

[Blue Fox]

It may be the O rings on the crossover tube that is leaking. Sometimes it is hard to tell when these leak as they quickly let gas flow down to the outside of the float bowl. Only solution is to remove the carbs, separate them and replace the O rings on the tube. I once thought it was possible to just separate them enough to get the tube out, but that didn't pan out.



TAS Supply has these O rings, I think about $5.00 for 2.

 

[jgrMeister]

The floats could be mildly stuck. Put the bike on its center stand and take the back of a screwdriver and tap the side of the carb bowls on each side and see if the leaking stops. Don't run the engine during this. It may also help to drain the carbs and refill while doing this.



If it isn't that then it's probably slightly cracked bowl overflow tubes. There's a fix for that too.

I will try draining the carb and tapping on it while it's refilling in the morning. Hopefully this does the trick. As always, thanks for everyone's help.

 

[bandit]

none of the work you have done would cause this problem.

i suggest the week the bike was sitting created this overflow,yes,from the fvn,s not sealing correct.and/or when you removed the tank,you inadvertantly stirred up small particals of foreign matter within the tank,which in turn finds its way to the carbs.

i suggest fit a new in-line filter,turn off the petcock and drain all the fuel out of the carbs.when empty,refill with clean fresh fuel.

 

[jgrMeister]

After emptying the bowls and refilling and tapping on the bowl, the leak seems to have stopped. The inline fuel filter goes on tonight (which was the last part of my repair project). Thanks everyone.

 

[Shep]

It's quite common for the carbs overflow for a while if the bike has been left unused.As you have done per above that usually fixes it and then get some miles on it.The better serviced the carbs are,the less it will occur but every now and then even one of mine will do it but a quick light tap on the float bowls and a few miles and it goes.





HTH

PS

Adding some petrol/gasoline additive can help prevent this as it helps keep the carbs lubed.



http://cgi.ebay.com/Startron-Fuel-T...648?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255be5a538



is just an example.Any cheap one from the Supermarket will do.Here in the UK,



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500ML-4-TREAT...04694898?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM



Also stabilizes fuel against breakdown if left.