Burp?

[Guest]

Hey all – Happy Holidays!

After my '81 GS850 sat parked on the side stand for about a week (family in town for Christmas). When I started it up I felt what I can only describe as a "burp" of fuel on my jeans right around knee level while standing on the left side of the bike. Not enough to cause a visible stain, but enough that I could smell fuel later in the fabric when I was away from the bike.

The bike started up OK with choke, but on the left side exhaust I had a little dripping from the spot on the pipe where the megaphone starts and some white smoke in the exhaust until it warmed up.

I’ve known my fuel petcock has failed (no vacuum seal) but for the first time since I’ve owned the bike there was some fuel on the top of the crankcase, so I'm now getting some genuine leakage/overflowing (my shiny new OEM fuel petcock arrived with my new airbox boots on Christmas eve - yay!), but I'm still mystified by what caused that puff of gas-soaked air and where it came from to blast sideways from the bike.



Also, any tips on petcock replacement? Is it a simple swap?

[catbed]

just did a petcock swap. its easy. you either just have to drain the tank or lean it on one side, on some cloth or foam. if your petcock has not been removed to be cleaned, the screws may be a little tough to get out. mine were, but i dont think your bike has been sitting for 16 years. use the hex head and not the phillips part.

[Roostabunny]

just did a petcock swap. its easy. you either just have to drain the tank or lean it on one side, on some cloth or foam. if your petcock has not been removed to be cleaned, the screws may be a little tough to get out. mine were, but i dont think your bike has been sitting for 16 years. use the hex head and not the phillips part.

Cool deal, Catbed, thanks! Hex head vs. phillips - you mean replace the mounting screws? If so, do you happen to remember the size? (Hooray, any excuse to buy more stainless bolts \\/)

[tone]

Re the "burp"

A fairly common thing when a bike is left on the side stand for a few days & we've discussed this on another forum i use, all anyone can come up with is that a small amount of fuel bleeds down from #2-3 & 4 carbs into number one causing a small backfire on start up, most of us including myself have found that if you leave the bike on the centre stand or a paddock stand is simply dosen't happen :-D

[Roostabunny]

Re the "burp"

A fairly common thing when a bike is left on the side stand for a few days & we've discussed this on another forum i use, all anyone can come up with is that a small amount of fuel bleeds down from #2-3 & 4 carbs into number one causing a small backfire on start up, most of us including myself have found that if you leave the bike on the centre stand or a paddock stand is simply dosen't happen :-D

I was wondering about that, since the white smoke only came out of the "downhill" exhaust.

Perhaps that downhill flow even managed to overflow the bowl on #1 resulting in the small amount of fuel I found on top of my crankcase?

[paco13]

Remember to check that your oil doesn't smell of gas. If you have been having probs. with petcock, enough to puddle fuel on the case, then might have flooded into case as well.

[Roostabunny]

Remember to check that your oil doesn't smell of gas. If you have been having probs. with petcock, enough to puddle fuel on the case, then might have flooded into case as well.

Fair enough - I've got a filter handy - if there's gas in the oil from that petcock, will a new petcock and an oil change take care of it?