Help Please. Fuel gushing out of front of carbs. Bike started, this makes me sad.

[jrobertfox]

Got the bike together and running!!! But then it ran out of gas and upon filling it, and turing on the pet cocks, one of the carbs just starts shooting out gas from a hole on the front of the carb. Also some leaks out of the right side bowl vent if i put my finger over the hole on the lower right of the place where the filter attaches.



DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I want this to be fixed so I can ride it. Any ideas?

[James England]

It looks like the float needle valve on that painful at carb. Running out of gas has drained all the fuel from the float bowls..the floats drop right down and the float needles can stick in the open position, especially if there was any contamination of the final dregs of fuel. Usually, this fault fills the airbox with gas and it drips out of the drain hole at the bottom of the box. It can also fill the cylinders with gas, contaminating the engine oil. So, you shouldn't leave the fuel switched on or run the bike until it's resolved.

It's not an unduly complicated fix. But first, you could try tapping the float bowl with a screwdriver handle..with the fuel turned on. Sometimes, this can make the float needle go back into place.

If that doesn't work, I'd remove the bank of carbs and then remove the float bowl and check out the valve. I would also connect up the fuel tank to the carbs whilst they are off the bike, just to make sure that the valves operate correctly before you put the carbs back on...

[natemoen]

Most likely it is a float hung up on the bowl gasket. Give the carb bowl a couple of light raps with a screwdriver handle and it should stop.

[jetmechmarty]

Most likely it is a float hung up on the bowl gasket. Give the carb bowl a couple of light raps with a screwdriver handle and it should stop.

When mine was acting up like that, I'd whack it with dead blow hammer. I carried one in my saddle bag until I got it resolved. Trimming the gasket may have done it for me, but I can't remember now. I replaced the float valves too.

[motoman]

Got the bike together and running!!! But then it ran out of gas and upon filling it, and turing on the pet cocks, one of the carbs just starts shooting out gas from a hole on the front of the carb. Also some leaks out of the right side bowl vent if i put my finger over the hole on the lower right of the place where the filter attaches.



DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I want this to be fixed so I can ride it. Any ideas?

#3 carb may be the 'master', but it IS evil! The notorious one for gasket catching internally on float, and float bowl not getting precisely seated in recess prior to tightening.......DAHIK.

[dpotter58]

#3 carb may be the 'master', but it IS evil! The notorious one for gasket catching internally on float, and float bowl not getting precisely seated in recess prior to tightening.......DAHIK

yep. I have a set from my F on the bench that I tore down and cleaned a dozen times. Did the air check to see if the needles were sealing, cut the gaskets back, put everything together leak, leak, leak. Start over go through it all again and again and again. Eff it, bought another set. I have been tempted to use the set on the bench as a hammer but I'll figure them out before it's all over

[MPittma100]

Sad, But True

Many of us have had this problem more than once. It takes a few times with these carburetors to gain the proper finesse to get them right. Easy to get discouraged. But you have to stick with it and keep trying. Once you get them right, the rewards are great.

James' suggestion to pre-fill them with gas and see if they leak prior to putting them on the bike is a very smart thing to do. This will save a lot of time and frustration. It is a good idea to use a source for fuel other than the tank (such as a lawn mower tank, etc.) to complete the tuning process. The bike's big cumbersome tank just gets in the way when you are trying to sync the carbs.

So, take your time. Check the bowl gasket(s). Trim if necessary to clear the sides of the floats (the area of interference). Be very precise when setting the float height. Don't set 4 floats - set all eight. Also make sure that you have the correct setting for the particular floats that you have. There are several different ones. You will eventually get it down pat and will learn from this experience. Next thing you know you will be an XS-GURU!

Good Luck, MP

[MarkD]

I may be overstepping my bounds here, but if I could offer a little advice... For me, tearing the carbs apart, and rebuilding them with K&L kits from ebay was step#1. Of course I cleaned them with carb cleaner, no soaking, just a thorough tear-down, including each hole cleaned with a pin on all 4 emulsion tubes, etc. I set the floats at 25.5 mm, and keep in mind, all needles and seats were replaced from the kits. There is a fine video from motorcyclememoir that illustrates most of the procedure. DO NOT BE AFRAID to do your own work. I did this stuff, you can, too. These guys here are patient and smart, they will help. --here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95nlrP-yn2I


After many problems with revving idle and hanging idle, the gurus here suggested replacing the pilot jets with genuine Mikunis. I had checked for vac. leaks, etc., but the pilot fix did the trick. My bike runs like a beast now, and the carbs are not really that difficult to work on, you just need a manual ( online at scribd), and some patience. Good luck.

[DGXSER]

+1 on tapping the float bowl. Been there done that many times.

[James England]

Originally, I was apprehensive about doing my own carbs and trusted a ' specialist'. I bought a set of 'reconditioned' carbs, from the US, and had them shipped to the UK. I did the remote tank test and thank heavens I did! Fuel leaked from absolutely everywhere! Even the float bowl gaskets because they hasn't been tightened properly. The carbs were contaminated with blasting sand, missing one air screw and painted in gas soluble paint. It was a real horror story and I ended up sending them back, although I lost out on import duty. I then took a deep breath and did it all myself...perfectly.

This person still advertises his services on eBay, by the way. When I emailed him about it, I received a four word response.."I don't get it".

So, my advice is read the posts in the thread, persevere, don't lose heart and do it all yourself. Are all, its only the same thing four times over even if you do a complete rebuild.

[TADracer]

One other thing to check is make sure your vent tubes are higher than the carbs. I found that if they are below the fuel bowl level then once a leak starts they can act like a syphon and keep it going. I have pod filters and keep my bowl vents zip tied up the frame under the tank.

[jrobertfox]

thanks guys! The old "whack it with a hammer" technique worked like a charm. I'm sure they are overdue for a rebuild/cleaning.

Took her for a ride yesterday and it was epic, but now I have another problem with the ignition I think. Another thread about that to come, although it could be the advance or something.