Carb/fuel leak

[GrahamLFCkeeper]

Hello everybody 

I hope you're all OK, long story short I bought a GL1500, asked a local paint guy to repair and paint some parts so I could sell the RSV ... that was a year ago! 

Anyway, the parts came back, all fitted.

Charged battery, she starts up 3rd time!

 

To say I was happy was an understatement.

That was till I saw fuel leaking out around the carbs on the left hand side. 

I've attached a pic of roughly where the leak is.

It leaks as soon as the fuel pump turns on (so the bike doesn't need to be started for the fuel to start coming out) and stops after 10/15 mins or so.

Any 'quick fix' ideas before I start tearing into the carbs?

Im guessing sitting a while has perished something.

 

 

[uncledj]

Give it the Seafoam "Treatment" and ride.    If I put my bike away for the season with ethanol gas in it,   It'll leak like yours for the first 20 minutes or so when I first run it again, but will stop and won't have any problems for the rest of the season.   This happened to me 3 years in a row...NOW...I make sure I put ethanol free gas, treated with Seafoam in her when I put her away for the Winter and the problem has disappeared. 

Don't be too eager to tear into the carbs....give it a little time.....and Seafoam....

Edited August 17, 2022 by uncledj

[Freebird]

I agree.  Also, try tapping on the side of the carb bowls.  You likely have a stuck float and tapping on he side of the bowls with the handle of a screwdriver or something will often dislodge whatever is causing them to stick.

[GrahamLFCkeeper]

Excellent, cheers, I'll give it a go see what happens 

[skydoc_17]

Hey Graham,

Congrats on your new GL1500! You are STILL welcome to hang around, we won't mind! The lesson to be learned, and to be carried over to your NEW GL1500 is "if you can't get Ethanol free gas in the UK, then you need to treat that gas with Sea Foam or other additive to keep the Petrol from separating from the Alcohol". Those Honda Carbs. are a bit trickier to get unstuck then the Yamaha Carbs. 

Good luck with your new scoot,

Earl

[GrahamLFCkeeper]

11 hours ago, skydoc_17 said:

Hey Graham,

Congrats on your new GL1500! You are STILL welcome to hang around, we won't mind! The lesson to be learned, and to be carried over to your NEW GL1500 is "if you can't get Ethanol free gas in the UK, then you need to treat that gas with Sea Foam or other additive to keep the Petrol from separating from the Alcohol". Those Honda Carbs. are a bit trickier to get unstuck then the Yamaha Carbs. 

Good luck with your new scoot,

Earl

I bought it last year (the 1500) .... and it has been the biggest nightmare in my motorcycle life 😪. I've had it stripped (carbs off) once already, to replace the notorious 90° pipe under the carbs.

She's currently sat idle till I have time to strip it down again (carb clean).

[GrahamLFCkeeper]

Quick update, two left hand side carbs were leaking, I've got it down to one (front left).

I can't go for a ride as it's MOT (government safety inspection) has ran out and leaking fuel would be a fail.

Also discovered the petcock isn't turning the fuel off. So I'll have a look at fixing that first. 

 

Good job I enjoy working on bikes 😆

Edited August 23, 2022 by GrahamLFCkeeper