Carb leaking gas question

[steely]

I have an '82 GS850GL, the carbs have been cleaned and bench synched as per the carb section on this site. I put them on and performed a vacuum synch. The bike has run amazingly for the last 700 miles (in under four weeks, thank you very much!). Yesterday, I was coming back from lunch, and noticed that there was gas coming off of the right side of the engine. This evening I got out in the garage and started up the bike and the same thing is still happening. The gas is coming from the drain tube between the #1 and #2 carbs. Would this be a stuck needle (or float)? If not, any suggestions on what to look for?

Edit: Oh yeah, the clock reads 14,200 miles and I recently bought it after it had sat for at least 10 years.

[Rocketman]

Hey Steely, I have the same exact bike, only mine sat for the past 8 years and had 12,000 miles on it when I began the "resurrection" in June. Had the exact same problem as you. Gas spewing out either means stuck float or clogged needle valve. A couple of light raps with the wood end of a hammer on the bottom of the float bowl might free things up, but maybe not forever. Dropping the bowl if you have small enough tools and fingers can be done without removing the whole rack, and if you're real careful you can maybe even save the gasket, then tickle the float, spray it up good inside there, and hope for the best. I tried all these things, and they were a good temporary fix, but ended up disassembling and rebuilding my entire 4 carbs 3-and-a-half times, and my horrible experiences are well documented on this forum, with responses from some of the best Suzuki minds God ever put on this Earth. To this day, I'm still not running at 100%, but I'm getting there. Now I intermittently lose a cylinder. Last week was #1 (which is now all better), today its #3. Now its on to replacing the petcock valve, a few vacuum lines and fuel lines to see if I can now relax. Best of luck with your issues, and get ready for lots of great advice.

[steely]

Thank you Rocketman. I replaced the petcock when I first got the bike, after determining it was malfunctioning (#2 cylinder loading up). I think I may be pulling some crap from the tank into the carbs. The tank has a very imperfect coat job done on it. I have been considering loading it up with MEK, then draining all the crap out, and recoating it with POR15. My carbs have been removed, dissasembled, and cleaned twice. I will try the rapping method you described as a temporary fix, but I think that fixing the tank may be in order. Thanks for your advice. BTW, my bike has the exact paint scheme as yours (black/gray), at the moment. I am in the process of doing some customization, which will include a completely black paint job. I have already pulled the side emblems and filled the holes on the side covers. BTW, if you are looking for some original side emblems (not gold) IM me. I can send them to you for whatever shipping costs me.

[Rocketman]

Thanks a lot, but I still have my old ones, which were kind of silver looking but in fine shape. Look forward to seeing how your bike comes out.