Why would the bike smell?

[Ccitis]

Why does my XS smell like Gas in the garage? No leaks... petcocks are good (new). Carbs are not leaking. I thought it was venting through the tank, because the engine is hot... but even after not riding a few days the XS smells like gas. I have multiple other Carb bikes in the garage, they do not do this. I also have this popping/running issue I am working on... could it be rich and some gas is sitting unburnt in the pipes? Any other thoughts? I need to pull the carbs soon. Plugs look on the lean side....

[Socer4m]

Before riding again,,,,stick a long straw or stick in the oil filler to the oil,,,pull out and smell,,,iF ANY smell of gas and oil do not ride. You can also try to light the stick with a lighter,,,if it lights there is gas getting in the oil. If no gas in oil, good, move on to looking at the carbs and hoses with a flashlight carefully for any gas wetness.......your popping could definately be GAS IN THE OIL.....so check a couple of times with a stick, straw and report back,,,,Mike in San Diego and Pa.

[Radioguylogs]

I'd put it on the centerstand with a 2x4 under the front tire for a day, then peek inside the airbox to see if any gas is sneaking past the float valves?

[jkorn]

Above…. Good advise.

[DEEBS11]

Ccitis, what type of petcock are you using? Manual? If so, do you always remember to shut them off after you stop the motor?

[oldyam80sg]

I was going to say if you are running pods like myself then they do smell like gas sometimes. There are no leaks, and if you are using the airbox and the filter gets gas on it and dries, the smell never really goes away. Also the fuel tank cap might need to be looked at.

[JonnyO]

I'd put it on the centerstand with a 2x4 under the front tire for a day, then peek inside the airbox to see if any gas is sneaking past the float valves?

And if you found this condition what would the fix be?
I'm curious. Thanks.

[Mathh]

What mileage does your bike have? Worn needles / main nozzles/jets can cause this too..

[skids]

And if you found this condition what would the fix be?
I'm curious. Thanks.

Fix your leak at the petcock (standard) or the octi body (special) and fix your fuel valves, your float mechanism, etc.

[Larrym]

'Lo Jeremy! (^_^)

"Why does my XS smell like Gas in the garage? " (O_o)7

The ONLY time my Special ever smelled "GaSsEy" was after I had to chemically clean the TaR like GOO outta the tank and afterwurdz? The fuel sensor wire through the plate AND the "rubber" (wut kind? I dunno...) gasket of the plate were not exactly "leaking" but rather they were "WEEPING" fuel. (╯•﹏•╰)

Pretty awkward situation developed. I mean in the daytime I could smell the gas volatiles evaporating but couldn't find any leaks or "wet" spots. (●´⌓`●)

Then at night when the temps here in AZ dropped below 90 degrees, the weeping fuel/volitiles din't evaporate as fast so the weeping area expanded outwards/downwards enuf to flow along the edge of fuel tank and make it appear as if the right side petcock had a wet spot. Kind'a like the new rebuild kit hadn't "worn-in" enuf to provide the perfect seal. (；☉_☉)

I wurkied the petcock thru the rotations hoping to accelerate the break-in of the "rubbers" inside.... but the day/nite pattern continued. (Θ︹Θ)

I used a borescope camera to looky up/under the tank without removing it and discovered the leak at the wire/plate gasket. Then the fix wuz to R^2 the tank and replace the gasket as well as deal wit the wire issue. My choice on my special was to remove the wire and block off the hole. (ღ˘‿˘ற)

Major concern on my end was that I store my XS under a cover and EVERY time I pull it off I get shocked by static electricity. That spark would be MoAr than enuf to make for a nasty experience. (´･_･`)

Also, less than 6 inches from that weeping gasket/wire are the ignition coils producing the OEM 20,000 Volt sparkies at a rate of 2 (two) sparks every time a cylinder fires. Umm... even at idle that's a LOT of sparks and if even ONE spark happened within 6 inches of the "weeping"? ( º﹃º )

That's be way MoAr XSitement than I'd wanna have on any given day. ヾ(ﾟдﾟ)ﾉ゛

[Radioguylogs]

And if you found this condition what would the fix be?
I'm curious. Thanks.

Like Skids said.....
(a) fix the leaking petcock/octy
AND
(b) fix the leaking carb float needle valve(s).

Both need to be fixed.

[oldyam80sg]

leaking fuel + hot engine = very bad.

[cajun31]

Why does my XS smell like Gas in the garage? No leaks... petcocks are good (new). Carbs are not leaking. I thought it was venting through the tank, because the engine is hot... but even after not riding a few days the XS smells like gas. I have multiple other Carb bikes in the garage, they do not do this. I also have this popping/running issue I am working on... could it be rich and some gas is sitting unburnt in the pipes? Any other thoughts? I need to pull the carbs soon. Plugs look on the lean side....

You have the 80G and you stated new petcocks. Do you turn them off when you shut the bike off? Do you still have your center stand? Do you park it on the center stand? Are the carbs original to the bike or are they later carbs with viton tips on the float needles? If the bike smells like gas that strongly then I am going to presume you have gas leaking from somewhere. I definitely would not ride the bike again until I found the problem. No matter how well tuned the carbs are these bikes can still flood. I believe the Yamaha engineers realized this when they designed the Octi. In your case as part of the original petcocks and on the specials a separate Octi. Many do remove the Octi and I always advise that you should be in the habit to immediately turn the petcocks off any time you stop the bike and turn it off. Even for a few minutes turn them off. Years ago now we had a member that actually lost his bike and the shed it was stored in because he parked it in the shed and the bike caught on fire. Very dangerous situation. A lot of good suggestions already and I hope you track down the problem.

[2WheelFun]

It doesn't take dripping fuel to put fumes off. I had a fuel leak on a classic mustang that drove me crazy. I ended up tracing it down to one fitting on the heavily modified fuel system. I found it with a Kleenex going oner every connection that may have a leak, one was weeping and slightly wet the tissue.

Go over everything, from tank to carb bowls. Good luck.

[Larrym]

"Plugs look on the lean side...." | ◉ ͟ʖ ◉ |

Well.....Yeah. Mine did too. XSecpt fOaR the one on #3 cylinder which was black as TAR around the bottom ring due to the aftermarket float needle/seat not doing it's jorb of stopping the fuel from coming into the bowl AT ALL even tho it was set to the correct height stated in the ole CLYMERS repair manual prior to assembling the carbs/installing on my bike. ( ;ↀ⌓ↀ)
(Try saying that three times real fast...) （ ﾟ Дﾟ)

But even #3 looked "lean" at the electrode/anode and the usually white insulator. Cuz WHY??? (◔_◔)

Cuz it ran so CrApPy below 3.5 K rpms that the bike just....wasn't....DRIVEABLE in that range. So I DIDN'T. (.づ◡﹏◡)づ.

At the time there were other "issues" I had addressed due to the "Series-of-unfortunate-events" leading to my bike NOT being driveable. These issues required actual road tests to verify the repairs. ヽ(•‿•)ノ

BUT the bike ran so poorly when using the idle circuit (below 3.5 K) that I bypassed it and kept the rpms at 4K OaR above. ~(‘.’~)

That means it was on the main fuel circuit with the diaphrams metering the slides/needle jets fOaR the right fuel ratio. (ㆆ ᴗ ㆆ)

The ONLY reason it looked "lean" wuz because after 63 miles of "Test" rides at 4k and above driving my cruiser like a HOOLIGAN every where I went? ╮(╯_╰)╭

At every stoplight, stopsign, crosswalk, intersection, schoolzone, parking lot, or traffic jam? (´･_･`)

I had to back off the throttle and let the bike idle where it spit, popped, backfired, and otherwise washed the electrodes off/clean with the unburn-able overly rich mixture caused by the aftermarket carb kit parts. Gas is a great solvent. (´-ι_-｀)

Dunno HOW folks I've met over the years continue to drive these bikes running like this like its all nurmal. (O_o)

At 63 miles I had enuf of THAT and wanted my SuperBike back. (⸅⸟⸄)

Fingers-Crossed fOaR you on this whole ordeal. d(⌒ー⌒)b