Topic: My Petcock is not a well behaved Pet.

[Scott S]

 I had a 550F once that pee'd a little after sitting no matter what I did. I had checked float height, fuel level, changed needle valves, polished the seat for the needle valves, polished the pins the floats hinge one, etc.

 Didn't matter if I left gas in the bowls or ran them dry. If I let that bike sit for a while, it would pee on the ground EVERY time. Usually, I could just rock the bike back and forth under me and make it stop.

[754]

Sounds like  float..probably sticks,and when it runs, the vibes unstick it.
To find which one, this saves a lot of work..
Pull the drain hoses off the bowl, then run a piece of cardboard. Or a small tray under the four brass hose barbs.. Then turn gas on and see which one is the culprit.
 One thing that can cause it is the floatbracket hitting or dragging against the posts..I suspect this may only happen on the sides stand or intermittently.

[BomberMann650]

Sounds like  float..probably sticks,and when it runs, the vibes unstick it.
To find which one, this saves a lot of work..
Pull the drain hoses off the bowl, then run a piece of cardboard. Or a small tray under the four brass hose barbs.. Then turn gas on and see which one is the culprit.
 One thing that can cause it is the floatbracket hitting or dragging against the posts..I suspect this may only happen on the sides stand or intermittently.

Transparent overflow tubes aid in this as well.

[JWilde]

You don't have a serious problem until your bike does this in the OFF position.

P.S.  That isn't mtn dew

Got it! Thanks!!!!

[JWilde]

Sounds like  float..probably sticks,and when it runs, the vibes unstick it.
To find which one, this saves a lot of work..
Pull the drain hoses off the bowl, then run a piece of cardboard. Or a small tray under the four brass hose barbs.. Then turn gas on and see which one is the culprit.
 One thing that can cause it is the floatbracket hitting or dragging against the posts..I suspect this may only happen on the sides stand or intermittently.

yep prob a float by all accounts

[strynboen]

is it a idet to thange to rubber needel..in the fuel valve.
.i have thanged all mine on my cbx 1000,,and they looks like they can be used on 350-400(have not tryed them yet)..but rubber is easyer to get teighten then brass against steel seating

[jaguar]

None OEM/Honda carb kits don't hold up well to modern ethnol fuel.
Rubber tips on the needle break down.

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.
Can't see you doing anything else, but I would suggest looking for ethnol free fuel.
Might be hard in the city, heck it is hard out on the island.
Upstate seems to have it (Stewart's for sure)

Or ante up and order a barrel for yourself.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

[JWilde]

None OEM/Honda carb kits don't hold up well to modern ethnol fuel.
Rubber tips on the needle break down.

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.
Can't see you doing anything else, but I would suggest looking for ethnol free fuel.
Might be hard in the city, heck it is hard out on the island.
Upstate seems to have it (Stewart's for sure)

Or ante up and order a barrel for yourself.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

actually i was using 89. Now i will use 93. Had no idea about this. I use MMO just to keep the cabs and tank clean. Im going to order a crapload of Startron. Its readily available on Amazon and can arrive next day. Thank god I wasnt usung regular fuel. Thanks for your guidance on this.

[jonda500]

Assuming the float needle and seats aren't worn out and the float isn't sticking, you probably have some crap in the needle & seat. Next time it leaks, take note of which rubber overflow tube it's coming out of and trace it up to the carb float bowls to find out which one is leaking. Then turn off the petcock and remove the large brass drain screw at the bottom of that bowl to drain out the fuel - you can catch it in a small bowl or upturned jar lid and tip it back in the tank, or if it's an inner carb and you can't find anything to fit under it you can just stick an old towel under it to catch the fuel.  When you turn the petcock back on the crap in the needle & seat will be flushed out into the bottom of the float bowl where it can't cause any more leaks.
John
n.b. The 'crap' may be a rust particle, tiny slither of grass, little dot of fuel line rubber, etc, etc......

[DaveBarbier]

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

Not sure if this is sarcastic or not but sorry Jag, using 93 octane would make no difference.

And saying your CB1100 would leak on lower octane fuel makes no sense. Higher octane doesn't resist leaking. Unless you're saying the ethanol make your carbs leak and the fuel you got in Albany was ethanol free? Still doesn't make sense.

JWilde: Keep using the cheap fuel. I use the 89.

[BomberMann650]

I did read here that some floats dont float well enough in certain fuel blends.

So jaguar could very well be on the ride line of thought.

[harisuluv]

I did read here that some floats dont float well enough in certain fuel blends.

So jaguar could very well be on the ride line of thought.

I've never heard of that.  Doesn't seem to make any sense. 

[BomberMann650]

I did read here that some floats dont float well enough in certain fuel blends.

So jaguar could very well be on the ride line of thought.

I've never heard of that.  Doesn't seem to make any sense.

It could have been some extrapolated musing along the lines of "sea birds float higher in salt water".
I dunno.
Probably related to the fluid dynamics of ethanol added fuels and the different float materials.

[flybox1]

JWilde: Keep using the cheap fuel. I use the 89.

+1.  E-free is preferred.

[harisuluv]

I did read here that some floats dont float well enough in certain fuel blends.

So jaguar could very well be on the ride line of thought.

I've never heard of that.  Doesn't seem to make any sense.

It could have been some extrapolated musing along the lines of "sea birds float higher in salt water".
I dunno.
Probably related to the fluid dynamics of ethanol added fuels and the different float materials.

Yeah I figured, but I didn't even want to address it as I thought it would perpetuate the myth.  I mean my rubber ducky will float some fraction of a percentage higher if i put some salt in the water, but it's negligible. 

[JWilde]

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

Not sure if this is sarcastic or not but sorry Jag, using 93 octane would make no difference.

And saying your CB1100 would leak on lower octane fuel makes no sense. Higher octane doesn't resist leaking. Unless you're saying the ethanol make your carbs leak and the fuel you got in Albany was ethanol free? Still doesn't make sense.

JWilde: Keep using the cheap fuel. I use the 89.

Thanks. However I DID do some reasearch on the "starton" which he suggested and its gotten rave reviews. Ive ordered some and it will be here in a day or two. There's lots of research to support exactly what Jag said: so in essence, hes pretty much right.

[Scott S]

 You can also check here to see if anyone near you sells ethanol free.

http://www.pure-gas.org/

[jaguar]

Yeah premium shouldn't make a difference on paper.
But I fell it runs better in my bikes.

What I was saying is that some stations upstate have ethnol free gas year round.
That is only 93 though.

Yes the ethnol gas leaked in my cb1100f.
Non ethnol 93 didn't.

[DaveBarbier]

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

Not sure if this is sarcastic or not but sorry Jag, using 93 octane would make no difference.

And saying your CB1100 would leak on lower octane fuel makes no sense. Higher octane doesn't resist leaking. Unless you're saying the ethanol make your carbs leak and the fuel you got in Albany was ethanol free? Still doesn't make sense.

JWilde: Keep using the cheap fuel. I use the 89.

Thanks. However I DID do some reasearch on the "starton" which he suggested and its gotten rave reviews. Ive ordered some and it will be here in a day or two. There's lots of research to support exactly what Jag said: so in essence, hes pretty much right.

I've done research too. Startron is a good stabilizer. I have a few bottles in my shed. But it's only a stabilizer which keeps the modern ethanol laced fuel from breaking down. No doubt you know this already.

In theory, maybe it could make your floats float a fraction of a millimeter higher or lower, but in practice it's a non-issue. If you desire, get a glass jar and these fuels and to a test. If you find significant results post them up and we can all recreate the test and then we'd be better off knowing.

There are two arguments happening here at once though. 89 vs 93 octane fuel. And ethanol vs non ethanol fuel.

93 is no better than 89 for our bikes. In fact TwoTired posits that it's worse for our bikes. Higher octane fuel just resists detonation. It's harder to ignite. Newer cars use it because they have higher compression ratios. It will not make your bike run better, but placebos are very strong.

Ethanol is no doubt bad for our bikes. I wish I had access to it. I can buy 100 octane in quarts for like $5 each...I don't do it. But ethanol will NOT leak more than a non ethanol. All you need to prevent the ethanol damage is put stabilizer in if you're going to have the bike sit for longer than a month.

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse but I felt the need to help extinguish the myth. If anyone wants to continue talking about it, make a new post and I'll jump on board .

I don't mean to derail your post JWilde. Leaking fuel is not good. If it becomes more of an issue I hope you fix it permanently.

[Scott S]

I run 87 octane with no problems. Ethanol free when possible, but I don't worry about running a few tanks of ethanol laced gas when I'm on the road. I DO try to not leave ethanol fuel in the tank if the bike is going to be sitting for a while. If I do, I add some Sta-Bil for ethanol treatment.
 And a splash of Marvel Mystery Oil in any type of gas is fine. But just a splash....any more and you're wasting it.

 I recently heard about "RXP Gas Kicker"  fuel additive. I guess it's like Seafoam. Someone on the 2 stroke forum did some tests and said it removed deposits better than whatever other additives he was testing against. Tried it in a couple of tanks of gas on an RD350 and it seems to have cured a sticky float in that particular instance.

[jaguar]

My carbs leaked a bit on my Chop.....then it caught on fire......

[JWilde]

I'm sure you are already using premium fuel, it is the "best" and most expensive.

My CB1100F leaked while on Long Island, but never did in Albany due to changes in fuel.
Ethnol sucks, try "startron" you can find it at any marine store.
Stabilizer or other junk that used to work "back in the day" doesn't help.
MMO is a total waste of time for this issue.

Not sure if this is sarcastic or not but sorry Jag, using 93 octane would make no difference.

And saying your CB1100 would leak on lower octane fuel makes no sense. Higher octane doesn't resist leaking. Unless you're saying the ethanol make your carbs leak and the fuel you got in Albany was ethanol free? Still doesn't make sense.

JWilde: Keep using the cheap fuel. I use the 89.

Thanks. However I DID do some reasearch on the "starton" which he suggested and its gotten rave reviews. Ive ordered some and it will be here in a day or two. There's lots of research to support exactly what Jag said: so in essence, hes pretty much right.

I've done research too. Startron is a good stabilizer. I have a few bottles in my shed. But it's only a stabilizer which keeps the modern ethanol laced fuel from breaking down. No doubt you know this already.

In theory, maybe it could make your floats float a fraction of a millimeter higher or lower, but in practice it's a non-issue. If you desire, get a glass jar and these fuels and to a test. If you find significant results post them up and we can all recreate the test and then we'd be better off knowing.

There are two arguments happening here at once though. 89 vs 93 octane fuel. And ethanol vs non ethanol fuel.

93 is no better than 89 for our bikes. In fact TwoTired posits that it's worse for our bikes. Higher octane fuel just resists detonation. It's harder to ignite. Newer cars use it because they have higher compression ratios. It will not make your bike run better, but placebos are very strong.

Ethanol is no doubt bad for our bikes. I wish I had access to it. I can buy 100 octane in quarts for like $5 each...I don't do it. But ethanol will NOT leak more than a non ethanol. All you need to prevent the ethanol damage is put stabilizer in if you're going to have the bike sit for longer than a month.

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse but I felt the need to help extinguish the myth. If anyone wants to continue talking about it, make a new post and I'll jump on board .

I don't mean to derail your post JWilde. Leaking fuel is not good. If it becomes more of an issue I hope you fix it permanently.

Hi Dave, and you didnt derail my post at all. You stated your opinion and substantiated your opinion with facts. Doing so leaves little doubt as to how you arrived at your conclusion.

The leak problem has happened ONLY twice, both times after the bike had been sitting for over a week. No other leaks to speak of.

Im going to try the stabilizer and see how that works. By all accounts, not only does it prevent leaks (Jaguar stated that his bike DID leak when he used gas with ethanol in it. Though you say such a thing could not and should not happen, I cannot argue with Jag's account take him at his word: added to that, other ppl in other forums have said pretty much what he said, and therefore are in agreement that ethanol is the likely culprit)

[jaguar]

Ethanol sucks.
Avoid it.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Ethanol sucks.
Avoid it.

Ethanol does suck. It's difficult finding E-free gas. That web-site is not completely current, so call the gas station before you truck down to fill.  You are probably better off buying a drum and refilling at your own garage, if you don't mind storing a gas drum container. 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Did you get your new shoes this last weekend? What rubber did you mount?  Pics?