Stinky Bike

[rickmc2000]

Ok, you may laugh, and I feel silly asking, but here goes. I have a 78 XS1100E that runs great, so it's hard to complain. My problem is, After I ride it, my clothes smell like I've been pumping gas all day, or working on the engine. I tried riding without clothes, buit people just laughed. I don't see any oil leaks, can't find an exhaust leak, and the gas overflow is dry, even though the gasked is starting to crack. Is this normal? Any ideas? Help would be appreciated, especially by my wife and co-workers.
Stinky

[dbeardslee]

Rick - are you sure you're not getting a little gas leak around the carbs or petcocks? Sometimes you can get a little leak when the motors under a load that isn't immediately apparent at no load. Check around the gas cap too. The seal can go bad allowing gas to slosh into the overflow area and blow back on you. Easy enough to tell if that's the problem - just open the gas cap and see if it's wet around the outside of the filler neck. If you're smelling like gas, either your leaking some gas somewhere, or the cage in front of you is

[Yahman]

Stinky

The problem is that you live in the "DRY SH*TYS" my friend!

I know, I lived there for 22 years.

Larry

[petejw]

r u running pods?
or have the case vent hose disconnected from the airbox?

[rickmc2000]

Stinky Bike

I have a stock air cleaner. I believe all hoses are connected and in good shape. When you walk bu the bike, you can smell gas also. I'm thinking more about the gas cap as part of it. There is something down low also cause my jeans smell too. Wherre can you get replacement gaskets for the gas cap?

[Dennyz]

check your hoses over. A cracked fuel line near the petcocks and/or Octopus (on a special) will only leak while the motor is running because of the vacuum shutoff.

Leaking petcock(s) could be another possibility.

[dbeardslee]

Rick - I got one for mine from MikesXS based on advice from a previous thread. I haven't actually put it on yet, as I found out what whas causing my problem was a break in the overflow tube down inside the tank allowing gas to get sucked up through the top. The seal that I have is the Mikes XS part #20-0036. Sure looks like it will fit, but again, haven't installed yet. You'll have to take the tank vent apart to get it on, so it's a good opportunity to make sure that puppy's clean. If the vent's plugged and the seal is bad, and you replace the seal, you could wind up starving for gas to the vacuum created inside the tank. I've been looking high and low for Arm and Hammer Washing Soda so I can setup a little electrolysis bucket to derust the whole thing when I do mine.

P.S. I just looked at the beginning of the thread again, and you say the overflow is dry. I'm thinkin' Denny Zander's got the right idea lookin' down low - especially if that's where you're getting smelly. I don't have a special, so I don't have to deal with octopi, but I understand that they're more trouble than they're worth.

[rickmc2000]

Stinky Bike

Thanks to all for the great advice. I'll go out and check it out. A suggestion for your rusty tank, I had rust in my tanks too. I did the electrolosis clean and it worked great. Next day, I had rust again. So I ran it again, (learn kinda slow). Same results. Then I got a tip about phosporic acid, the stuff used in Kreme's kit. I found a product at Lowes that had phosphoric acid and flushed the tank with it. Wow, it worked great and didn't rust back up. Turns out, phosporic acid seals itself. Lowes doesn't carry that product anymore, but I'm sure if you look around, you can find something else with phosporic acid in it. I used MEK paint thinner to dry the tank, again, like Kreme, but you gotta be real careful about your paint with that stuff. It's been a year now and the tank is still clean. Thanks again.