Fuel Question

[Krane14]

First off...you guys are great! I had a bad fuel leak...it was all over the place. The bike sat for a week or so...so I wasn't sure where it was coming from. So I started scanning the website for a possible problem/solution. I found a ton of threads on the subject. I printed out a bunch of info from this website, grabbed my Clymer book (and my brother who is a bit more mechanically inclined that I am) and went to work.

I found a "DRIP" coming out of the left petcock. And I mean a drip...one drip about every minute. From some of the discussions it seemed like just a "DRIP" could be a big problem. We followed some of the other ideas of things to look at and the petcock seemed to be the problem. I used the tip of slightly bending the wobble washer...also, the two screws on the bottom of the petcock were both a loose a half turn or so...not sure if that was a problem or not. So far so good, not one drop on the ground yet...but I'll keep an eye on it. I changed the oil and we'll see how this works.

So here's my question...which may or may not be a problem.

Once I was finished with everything I took a quick ride then when I returned home I kept the bike running and turned the gas to OFF. After 5 minutes it still didn't run out of gas...if I gave it some throttle it would definitely act like it was starving for gas...but it just wouldn't quite. Is this a problem...I mean is gas getting somewhere it shouldn't if the petcock is in the OFF position while the bike is running? Or does it just take a long time for the gas to finally run out?

Just curious if this is normal or a problem. I have a '79 xs11 Special.

Thanks for your help.

Ben

[rover]

It sounds like one or maybe both petcocks don't shut off. The special has a vacuum operated valve mounted on the top of the carbs, the "octopus", which is supposed to shut off the fuel supply when the engine is NOT running. Five minutes of running with the petcoks BOTH off should about deplete the fuel in the carbs. Turn BOTH petcocks off, then remove the fuel lines. NO fuel should come from the petcocks. You should have four positions on the petcock valves, OFF, RESERVE, PRIME, and ON. Make sure you have them OFF when you pull the lines. If the exhaust is warm, catch any fuel in a small container, or you will have a serious fire hazard.

[chevy45412001]

run on

my xj can run for up to 11-15 min with the fuel tank sitting on the bench! (yes diconnected) i thought it was a prob at first also,but thats how long it takes to drain the carbs at idle. This is how i drain them to do jet changes. I personaly don't think you have a problem.