Smells like gas

[Padre4art]

My bike smells like gas most of the time, running, riding, or parked. It is NOT leaking anywhere. Ideas? thanks

[donebysunday]

My bike smells like gas most of the time, running, riding, or parked. It is NOT leaking anywhere. Ideas? thanks

A slow leak will stink .... and dry up before it gets to the ground or the top of the crankcase/trans.
Run your fingers under the bottom of the carbs and the petcocks and see if you get a stink finger

[cajun31]

you might

want to check to make sure you don't have gas in your oil. Your carbs may be overflowing when parked. Could just be an occasional problem with a float sticking open. Check your oil level to verify. If over full then theirs your problem and a carb clean is in your future. Another reason for gas smell is running excessively rich. Unburnt gas. Check your plugs to see what color they are. If excessively black and or wet then you are running rich or not getting enough spark to ignite etc....

[Schming]

Or . . .

...fumes may be coming from the fuel cap if the rubber ring is not sealing properly.

[skids]

...fumes may be coming from the fuel cap if the rubber ring is not sealing properly.

That was my thought as well. One thing about these bikes, you should resist filling the tank all the way to the bottom of the filler neck. The tank gets a lot of heat from the heads and the gasoline does expand as it heats. Hopefully the overflow pipe is working OK. I have heard of xs'ers that found leaks into the tube from the tank (not from the cap location)...

[Padre4art]

Did some research and smelly finger testing today. Most likely is the fuel cap seal, 38 years and counting!

Thanks for many answers!

[cajun31]

38 years

yep... you found your problem. that thing has to be very hard and brittle. fortunately you can still get them. Check Mikes XS website.

[cajun31]

spoke to soon

I just noticed that you have an F model not an SF. That gasket is no longer available from Yamaha and I could not find it on Mikes XS. The part number you are looking for is 437-24612-00-00. Maybe someone else will chime in on a source for you.