TOPIC:

Hey guys, So I am having and issue with gas leaking out of one of the barrels of my carbs. I just rebuilt the petcock so lets start there....
Does it matter which way the side facing nipple points? I realize the one pointing down is the main line, but there is a secondary one that is pointing, now, towards the front of the bike. Should that be pointing towards the rear or doesn't it matter?

Onto the carb...
Gas is leaking out of the inside on my left leg side of the bike and only that one. it's a slow but steady drip. I noticed inside the barrel it looks like there is gas in it whereas the ones next to it are dry. Could it be a bad seal in that particular carb? The PO said the carbs (of the Mikuni variety) have been rebuilt but I dont know when.

Thanks for your help!

Bdpowers wrote: ... gas leaking out of one of the barrels of my carbs....

Would suspect that the float valve is failing, for whatever reason, to stop the flow of incoming gasoline when it's supposed to.

Good Fortune!

You need to invest in a manual; no one ever regretted buying one. Are you sure the forward facing nipple you refer to isn't a vacuum line for a vacuum operated petcock? Ed

Ya I have a haynes manual and just found a link for a PDF of the shop manual so I have some reading to do there.
650ed, from what I understand it is a vacum operated petcock so that could be it, I'm not really sure. I just wanted to rule that out as the source of the leak since that is the last thing I rebuilt. I went out and took a few photos not sure if that will help or not. Thanks for the help!

So the barrel in question is the one farthest from the camera in this photo


When the Bike was on the kickstand gas would come out of here


inside of leaky barrel


inside of barrel right next to it


This is a picture of that side facing nipple I mentioned.

Sorry about those upside down photos....not sure what happened there.

That last pic had me thinking that the vacuum line from the peacock was connected to a nipple on the valve cover . Had to spend a few minutes looking before I figured illusion and the line bends and goes down. Hope it is connected to nipple on the 1 or 2 carb. The carbs seem a bit unusual for that year bike - squared tops. It can be hard to tell where exactly gas is leaking from as gas tends to seep. Regardless , Patton is more than likely correct in that the leak is caused by a float valve issue.
Lots and lots of posts here on how to address this issue .

Bang on bottem of float bowl with screwdriver handle to see if it comes loose,toss a big can of sea foam in the tank and run through system.

Yes, that line goes to what I would guess to a nipple on the #1 carb (The outside carb on the left leg side of the bike.) Sorry for the photo issues being dark and upside down. I talked to the previous owner and found out the carbs are actually Mikuni BS34's which I think are generally off the '82+ KZ1000's.
I will try tapping the bowl and see if that helps wireman. I have some sea foam on hand and was thinking about trying it so good to know its alright to use.
I think I may have to double check my work on the petcock rebuild though because it seems gas is always flowing, even with the bike off. It is a vacuum petcock which I believe should not flow if on "run" without the bike actually on. Is that right?
Thanks for the suggestions!

If needed --


Good Fortune!

Just wanted to say thanks for the help. I rebuilt the petcock and must of had something wrong because now fuel flow is stopped and the leak has stopped when the bike is off. I haven't noticed a leak with the bike running either but once the weather warms up a bit here in Chicago I am going to run some sea foam through it just to help any issues in the float bowl.

Mine leaked only when on side stand for long time, so I now put it on center stand and no more leaks.

I had a problem when I started riding mine, when I connected the carb overflow tubes to the airbox and gas was leaking all over. about midnight or so I called my friend to ask how do I turn this petcock off, and he had a harley he just said turn it to the off position- I was like there is no off just a on prime and reserve. gas all over the porch. the airbox was holding a bunch of gas.