Smell gas when stop ridding

[sscott]

A couple of times here of late I have gone for a short ride. Short ride being 10-20 miles. When I am done and put the bike away in the garage I am smelling a gas oder from my bike for a couple of hours. I have checked everywhere and do not find a leak. Is this normal? In the summer I never smelled gas like I am now. And I don't smell gas when at idle at a stop light/stop sign. The bike seems to be running smooth, no hesitation or burps when I throttle up or throttle down. Or is it a case that I'm not ridding long enough?

[spyug]

Not normal but not terribly abnormal either as you can get gas smells from time to time. As you mention its not there in warm weather. A gas smell is , as you point out, usually from a leak or overflow and I would suspect an overflow of sometype. Is there any evidence of gas in the airbox?

You say the bike is running well but you could be experiencing some dirt in a carb causing a slight overflow at some throttle settings. Do you know for certain that it is not running rich, what colour and condition are the plugs if you pull them after a ride. If you have one or more that are black and wet you are running a bit rich and this could be a source of the problem.

The first thing I would do is run some Seafoam through a tank or two which could help clean the carbs or at least displace any gungy causing an issue.

If this continues I'd be thinking about pulling and cleaning the carbs, especially if they have not been done in a year or two. Time and distance ridden should have no real bearing on this type of problem so riding longer is not going to solve things.

Let us know more of what you find.

Good luck with it.

Spyug

[Larry D]

Maybe your smeller works better in the winter......

If you haven't cleaned/dipped and rebuilt your carbs with some o-ring from Mr Robert Barr, I'd go ahead and do that. It's nice winter project and will ensure your carbys are nice and ready to go for the summer.

[sscott]

Spybug, I always have seafoam in my gas tank. I put it in everytime I fill up. Also I have pulled the plugs and the color is normal and dry.

Larry, LOL my smeller is about the only thing still working better at age 51.

The only thing I guess I needs to do know is find a manual that shows HOW to remove stuff to rebuild the carbs. I have no idea when the PO last did any maintenence on them. And as all of you here have said, rebuilding carbs is easy and a great confidence builder.

[spyug]

Here you go:

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

Contact Mr. Barr for the necessary o-ring kit (cycleorings.com I believe). Round up some carb dip and cleaning supplies and have at it.

Let us know how you make out.

cheers,
spyug

[sscott]

Hey Spybug, LOL I just found that in the garage section and off to get the carb dip and the ever handy muffin bake dish.

But thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll have something here that will confuse me during this.

[Steve]

Spybug, I always have seafoam in my gas tank. I put it in everytime I fill up.

Not criticizing, mind you, just curious, ... why?

That is, why every tank? I might understand every once in a while, but why every tank?

.

[sscott]

Steve, Well to be completely honest with you, I have no idea why. It was suggested to do that from a friend and me not knowing any better, I just did.

[49er]

Check your oil by removing the filler screw cap. If you can smell fuel in there, you will have a leaking petcock diaphragm or a worn seat. A common problem with these old beasts. Replace the petcock and you will be good for another 20+ years.

Don't bother with petcock rebuild kits, the o ring seating surface wears and won't seal properly, even with the new o ring fitted. I got around this problem by fitting a larger o ring so it seats in a new area, but not ideal.

[sscott]

If thats the case I will also need to change my oil and filter 2 more times, right?

[49er]

If thats the case I will also need to change my oil and filter 2 more times, right?

Oil once, filter maybe! Why change the oil twice? I change my filter every second oil change.

[spyug]

Steve,
I've been using Seafoam for 6 seasons now on the advice of guys over on the XS forum where I started. I use a couple of caps full per tank over riding season as a stabalizer since sometimes the bike sits for a month or more at a time. Over winter its more like a half can.

I find also that Seafoam will clean accumulated varnish out of carbs and likely helps to keep valves cleaner. I experienced it first hand on my XS400 and later on a Virago I had. Lots of stumbling and farting, a few tanks of gas with a half can of SF and both bikes started running right, with gas mileage way improved. Both set of carbs did get rebuilt a little later by the way and I didn't see any of the gunge and crap I had expected to.

I also use it in the first oil change of a dormant bike as it really pulls crap out of the engine. I checked with the manufacturer and they confirm that it is approved and safe for this use.

A lot of this maybe in my own head but it works for me and many others I've talked with. For a few pennies a tank it makes me feel that its doing something.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,
Spyug

[bwringer]

Check your oil by removing the filler screw cap. If you can smell fuel in there, you will have a leaking petcock diaphragm or a worn seat. A common problem with these old beasts. Replace the petcock and you will be good for another 20+ years.

Don't bother with petcock rebuild kits, the o ring seating surface wears and won't seal properly, even with the new o ring fitted. I got around this problem by fitting a larger o ring so it seats in a new area, but not ideal.

Agreed on all points.

Has your bike's petcock ever been replaced?


And yes, if there's much gas in the oil, you'll want to change the oil before starting the bike, and then do a couple of oil changes over a couple hundred miles to make sure you flush all the gas out. Use cheapo oil and it won't sting too badly.

Cycle Recycle II should have a petcock, probably in stock.

Holler if you need a hand!

[Steve]

Spyug, thanks for the reply.

I use Seafoam occasionally, too, just not every tank. I fully agree with the cleaning properties, and have for several years. About a year ago, I learned that it is also good for use as a stabilizer for off-season storage. About that same time, I found that Stabil (what I had been using for storage) has a shelf life if you purchase a large bottle and have it around for a while. Now I just use Seafoam and have one less chemical on my shelf.

I have never noticed any problems with fuel caused by not running the bike for a month. Of course, I would have to use one of the other bikes in the stable for that evaluation. That is mainly because over 657 gallons of fresh fuel have flowed through the two carbs on my Wing in the last 9 months. Have never had to winterize my bike, but I do all the others.

.

[49er]

IMO, you're going over the top changing the oil several times.

I look at it this way, it only takes a couple of weeks of inactivity for the fuel to fully evaporate from your carb bowls during summer months, hence the need to prime the bike after such breaks. Surely the same occurs inside an engine that has had fuel contaminated oil removed. In fact, I would expect evaporation to occur at a greater rate than from the carb bowls, because of it being more diluted. If you are skeptical, leave the engine without oil over night to ensure the remaining fuel has evaporated and then refill the crankcase with your new oil.

After the first decent run on the new oil, I would expect all the fuel to have completely evaporated. Top up if necessary and keep riding until the next oil change is due. Just my 2 cents worth.