Fuel

[Tntlassiter]

I don't know if this is technical or general but here goes.
I had a brain fart the other day and I turned on my fuel on my bike when it was already off ( I thought it was left on so I turned it the other direction which turned it on). That was about 2 days ago. I go into my garage today and there is fuel on the floor of my garage that has leaked out of my bike. Is this normal if you leave the fuel turned on? If not, what do I need to look at?
Thanks in advance!

 

[MossBerg590]

Its not suppose to do that..the float in the carb is probably sticking.

 

[heybaylor]

Got a quick remedy for this.mine only does it after setting overnight

either your float needle is out of adjustment, or worn out needle seat/needle .
make sure your float does not have any fuel in it

only other thing may be your tank is building pressure from a heated garage ?
check your cap vent , it may be too tight
my three bikes that have a petcock, I leave the lever in the on position all the time no leaks.
(they do sit in a gravel floor barn. not in my garage

 

[BWG56]

Thanks for the response. I'm just curious as to why it won't leak after just a couple hours yet over night it will leak. I might take the cap off and see if it makes a difference . thanks again

Does the cap that BBC made you have a hole to vent?

 

[Peckerwood]

I had the same deal, it was a plugged vent in my gas cap. Simply pull the vented cap and see if you can blow through it. If not, clean vent or pull the paint savers and buy a HD cap.

 

[Sven]

Bad news. Float valve/seat/tang are in question.
1. Float tang: Home he here has not float tool but eyes it up and drops it from level. I may have a fuel ring line I can eyeball. I have a square float I can eye; by an imaginary horizontal line of the float to the top of the carb body where the bottom bowl flats up to. I now turn on the fuel as I hold the float at this horizontal straight line against the top of the carb line.

2 Float Needle: The old 'rub both hands together says, which stayed cold?' Rub a needle up against a seat and both evenly wear on each other. So here I am with a level float, it's leaking at this level is why home he does not need to measure so many mm from the top of the horizontal carb line and float bottom... if the float is designed to float level at that carb ceiling line is a no brainer.

3. Needle's Seat: I now push the float up higher so as to load the needle into the seat. It's still leaking, did not close off the leak. I now conclude:
a. Not the tang needing adjusting if it leaks still.
b. Is the left hand rubbing the right hand is the needle = Junk.
c. Is the right hand in the same boat is the seat is = Junk.
d. I replace both as a new set = 'I know the rules of rub.'

Where did my gas go?
Floor: The level becomes so high, it begins to leak out of the back of the carb where the air intake holes are.
Intake Valve: Follow the low and main jet holes in the venturi. The gas is set so high, the holes let this gas flow into the intake manifold, leaks down into the crankcase-open valve, is pumped back into the oil bag; you pull the cap off an she flows out the oil tank. The oil is now diluted to a water type flow, not a syrup kind of lube.
Will this hurt my engine? No.
Should I do what? You can approach it two ways:
1. Drain oil out of crankcase; leave plug out; A-let it dry out; B-start engine; let fresh oil wash the remainder out; monitor oil level at the bag; note how much flows like water is now flowing thicker; monitor crankcase pressure with plug out->> if not some hose hook up with appropriate hardware out of that drain hole plug thread.
2. Remove return line from the easier side; have hose off said side with it aimed in a container; start engine; kill engine before all oil is drained out of the bag; or oil is the flow out of the hose, not watery liquid.

I'd hose it. Why? A hose clamp and rubber tube is cheaper than stripped threads/it never leaked before I touched it/hard to get to/if not designed-in and easy access for this common problem/ect.

Signed,
NOLTT

 

[BWG56]

I wonder if the expansion of the gas from the heat off the motor after you park it and then hours later when it cools, has anything to do with it? just a thought

 

[cdogg556]

I don't know if this is technical or general but here goes.
I had a brain fart the other day and I turned on my fuel on my bike when it was already off ( I thought it was left on so I turned it the other direction which turned it on). That was about 2 days ago. I go into my garage today and there is fuel on the floor of my garage that has leaked out of my bike. Is this normal if you leave the fuel turned on? If not, what do I need to look at?
Thanks in advance!

I never turn my fuel off, it shouldn't leak at all, like mentioned earlier, your float is probably sticking.

 

[Tntlassiter]

Ok. Thanks to everyone for the responses. As stated in previous posts, I ma not mechanically inclined. What is a float in my carb and how hard is it to check/fix for someone without much experience?

 

[Sven]

What is a float in my carb and how hard is it to check/fix for someone without much experience?

For the mechanically challenged, it would be wise to follow a routine of turning off the petcock and call it a day.
A carb is the worst thing to touch. First, the carb may be built in a metric world and you place an American phillips screwdriver into a japanese made or a copied phillips screw hex with different angles, meaning, you strip the screw head and you are fucked! So right there we begin fucking the parts up we do not tool up for said international parts you will be working with is one [limited] tool about to make your world a horror story.

The float has tension>> it sits on the sidestand. Like a playground seesaw, lay a bucket of water on one end of the seesaw. The pivot receives pressure at the far end of the [bucket] pivot or float bottom, forces pressure at the pivot. If the sidestand were to be switched, the pressure would be off the float side, be more at an angle or pressure on the pivot side, has less pressure at the float bowl far end, lowers the bowl, drops the needle some.

So if you are mechanically inclined to see the pressure has switched via the change of sidestands, you can kind of see the pressure in relation to the pressure placed upon the float needle. So if you have less gravity pushing against the float via; closing the petcock to stop the pressure upon the float needle: no flow will occur.

Ask yourself this:
1. Does the bike foul plugs, the float tang is too low, the tang has an indent so deep, the needle drops with the correct float height? No, no fouling.
2. Is my bike hard starting as in too rich a mixture? No. Starts right up.
3. Does my bike run like crap, it spits and coughs like it's running out of power it's too rich and puffs smoke out the pipe? No. Runs like new.
If all answer as a NO, close petcock and get used to the routine. No carb work needed.

Signed,
NOLTT (you are about to create more headaches for yourself) is better left alone.

 

[cdogg556]

Got cha Sven!

 

[Tntlassiter]

Ask yourself this:
1. Does the bike foul plugs, the float tang is too low, the tang has an indent so deep, the needle drops with the correct float height? No, no fouling.
2. Is my bike hard starting as in too rich a mixture? No. Starts right up.
3. Does my bike run like crap, it spits and coughs like it's running out of power it's too rich and puffs smoke out the pipe? No. Runs like new.
If all answer as a NO, close petcock and get used to the routine. No carb work needed.


My answer is no to all these so I do nothing just make sure to turn off the fuel after a ride? Correct?

 

[Sven]

Correct.

Edit: However, if say you parked for a quick meal, coffee, pee break, the gas was not turned off for those few minutes, etc., it leaks on the ground when you return, then yes, big problem that needs addressing. If no puddle, then it's not critical.

Best Pavlovian move is to: turn key off - turn petcock off - dismount. Then; remount, turn petcock on, turn key one. That's the mantra.

 

[Bdm4ever]

Correct.

Edit: However, if say you parked for a quick meal, coffee, pee break, the gas was not turned off for those few minutes, etc., it leaks on the ground when you return, then yes, big problem that needs addressing. If no puddle, then it's not critical.

Best Pavlovian move is to: turn key off - turn petcock off - dismount. Then; remount, turn petcock on, turn key one. That's the mantra.

Mine does not leak either on or off (2007 K9) but I follow the Mantra every time I mount.

Safe Trails..

 

[Tntlassiter]

Thank you very much Sven! You were a big help!

 

[Dragonslave]

Its not suppose to do that..the float in the carb is probably sticking.

Agreed. It is either the float or the plug attached to the float that needs to be replaced.

However I agree with Sven about making it routine to shut off if nothing else is wrong with the bike. You could take this to a mechanic and get it done right but even they can F*** it up.

 

[New Boots]

Correct.

Edit: However, if say you parked for a quick meal, coffee, pee break, the gas was not turned off for those few minutes, etc., it leaks on the ground when you return, then yes, big problem that needs addressing. If no puddle, then it's not critical.

Best Pavlovian move is to: turn key off - turn petcock off - dismount. Then; remount, turn petcock on, turn key one. That's the mantra.

How about when one mounts and dismounts the old lady??

 

[BWG56]

I would say if she's puddling don't mount.

That's totally outta hand

 

[BWG56]

Today I put one of those 90* fuel fittings on my bike and when I turned the fuel on, guess what, yes sir it started running out the over flow line. So I removed the bowl and on the float valve there are 3 ribs that run the length of the body that are about .05 wide and about .030 high and at the top of them using a magnifying eye loop, they were smooth from riding up and down in the fitting but at the very top there was a burr and I think it was sticking on the top of the new fitting because it was a little different than the original. I filed it ever so slightly to remove it, reassembled the bowl and float valve, turned on the gas and no gas ran out the over flow. I tried to get pics of it but my phone couldn't get close enough to see the burr.

 

[francoblay1]

Ok. Thanks to everyone for the responses. As stated in previous posts, I ma not mechanically inclined. What is a float in my carb and how hard is it to check/fix for someone without much experience?

Here some reading for you.