gas is leaking out of my carbs

[Guest]

It was doing this before so I took the carbs back apart. I just put them back on with a homemade fuel supply. I'm not sure what to check next, floats were set correct, I put different floats in just in case the old ones were bad. I trimmed the bowl gaskets, checked the pins for the floats and they were loose. If its running it doesn't leak only when sitting turned off. It runs okay got an air leak somewhere, and an exhaust leak but I will deal with those problems tomorrow. I took them apart and everything was clean but I cleaned them again.They were not soaked but there was not anything in them. What should I check next? I think the over flow hoses were not hooked up but it doesn't seem like that would cause this issue. I'm guessing it has to be the floats or the needle valves? When I first rebuilt the carbs I used k&L rebuild kits. It ran okay for a couple of years but last year it started running like crap and leaking fuel.It set all last summer finally I got sick of not riding and put them back on, now today fired right up on the first couple of cranks, never did that before, and ran okay for the air/idle not set. I really hate to remove them again but I really want to ride.HELP

[azr]

Where are they leaking from? around the bowls or coming out of the overflow tube? It'll be your float needles sticking. I'd also check your petcock to make sure it's not overflowing as well. Are all 4 carbs leaking or just one?

[scrapper]

I didnt look that well but the gas is in a home made bottle with a inline petcock valve. I will go back out there and look around to see where it was leaking from. The vent hoses just go above the carbs or do they need to be in a certain spot? They were just shaped like an upside down J. I can install new ones if they need to be longer or go under the seat or something? The needles looked good.

[scrapper]

That is odd I went back out there with a flashlight and nothing was leaking. One of the vent tubes was pointed down without a hose on it.I raised it back up before trying to see if it would leak.

[Nessism]

The bike can't leak when turned off unless your petcock has failed or you have it set to Prime.

[scrapper]

I have a bottle hooked up to it with an in line petcock valve no tank is hooked up. I opened the petcock valve and it leaked, I went back out there and it did not leak the only thing I did was raise the vent T up. Maybe it was that or the carbs needed some lube from the gas?

[steve murdoch]

When you "cleaned/rebuilt" your carbs did you change the o-rings? http://www.cycleorings.com/
Sometimes the old rings can swell enough to seal after sitting for a while when the gas is applied. A good sign that they need to be changed.
Like the others have mentioned have a look at the petcock as well.

[850GT_Rider]

I just went through this on a rebuilt carb set. At least during testing, make sure the temporary bottle is not mounted much higher than the tank would be. If you hang it from the rafters, the added pressure from the elevation can overwhelm the float needles.

AND - what was in the rebuild "kit"? Many on here, myself included, feel the K&L kits contain cheap and/or non-standard components.

[scrapper]

I have went out and checked the fuel leaking problem 3 times and it has quit leaking just did it the first time. Now the bike is running rough and when I hit the throttle it hangs and will not stop unless I turn it off and re start it. I do not see any obvious air leaks. I had the mixture screws turned to 1 1/2 time and slowly opened them 2 1/2 times bike run better at 2 1/2 turns. This is with a fuel bottle not the tank. I put my finger over the vacuum line port then put tape on it. It has a dyna ignition and coils.I set the timing on one set of plugs but not the second.This was last year, it was running normal. Its running to poorly now to do the second set. What should I check besides air leaks?