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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of gas
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Message started by dogbot on 05/25/11 at 16:48:33

Title: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of gas
Post by dogbot on 05/25/11 at 16:48:33

I bought a 1986 Savage bobber last Saturday and I'm on my way to killing it in less than a week of ownership. :-[

It's a great looking bike and has been stripped back to the frame and completely rebuilt. Unfortunately, there are a lot mods that mean things don't always work the way you expect them to. The petcock looks original but the settings have been changed: 'ON' has been changed to 'off' as I found out when it died after riding 100 metres down the road. Instead, it needs to be run on the 'PRI' setting. This is fine, except when I forget to turn it back after riding like today.

I returned to the bike half hour later to find fuel dripping from the carb and making an impressive puddle beneath the bike. I re-set the petcock to 'ON' and left the fuel to evaporate before trying to start it. It fired up after a couple of tries with a bit of smoke from the exhaust but then seemed to run fine on the 20 mile trip home.

I'm planning on replacing the petcock with the Raptor version that is recommended here, but I'm keen to know if I've done any damage today by letting the carbs flood? I read in other threads that fuel can get into the crankcase. What should I be checking??

I'll post some pics of her once I've worked out how to upload them!

Edit: Think I've worked it out. Here she is:
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu80/bonersaurus/IMAG0369.jpg

Thanks for your help!

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by verslagen1 on 05/25/11 at 18:17:15

Keep an eye on the oil level, higher than you last looked at it and there's gas in it.

could be that you need a new vac line

or you might have it hooked up wrong, check the tech section under carbs stock, for carbs specs

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by Serowbot on 05/25/11 at 19:08:03

Check your airbox for gas too (it may be puddled in there)...

Is the vacuum line from the rear of the petcock to the r-side carb still attached?.. or are they capped off?...

... if so,.. your float stuck or needle seat is dirty...

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by Boofer on 05/25/11 at 20:32:20

As stated, check the oil level to see if it has risen because of gas in the oil. Yes, you can ruin your motor if gas gets in the oil. If this happens again be sure you have only oil in the crankcase before you crank it. The Savage petcock is trouble. Buy a new one (Expensive) or get a Raptor petcock (5LP-24500-01-00) that you will still have to turn off. I agree with Serowbot and Verslagen. I just want to impress on you to get it fixed before you ruin a good bike. :)

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by dasch on 05/26/11 at 00:56:57

check your float valve. Obviously it doesn't close. And it should.

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by Edgar on 05/26/11 at 01:10:17

Is that a sportbike fender on the rear?

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by Routy on 05/26/11 at 04:15:28

232634242F470 wrote:

check your float valve. Obviously it doesn't close. And it should.

Not necessarily so. As was pointed out to me, it is possible for fuel to get past a defective petcock diaphram, go thru the vacuum hose, and overfill the carb.

On the other note, don't panic if a little fuel did get in the oil and run a few miles. Just get it out,......and most likely it didn't do any damage.

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by dogbot on 05/26/11 at 04:18:04

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm really impressed with the wealth of information on the forum and the helpfulness of the members here. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute in the future rather than only burdening you all with questions!

I will check the air box and oil level this evening and take a good sniff from the filler hole in the crank case to see if there's anything amiss.

Sounds like I'm going to have to tackle the carb which is something I've not done before. However, I've already seen the excellent photo guide to the carb cleaning procedure, so I have more confidence than perhaps I should have. If the float valve is stuck or the needle seat is dirty can these be resolved with a good cleaning, or should I be ordering parts before taking it apart?

Thanks again for the help!

69484B4D5E2C0 wrote:

Is that a sportbike fender on the rear?

I'm not sure where it came from but it's been modified to fit the Savage. To be honest it's one thing I'll probably change in the future as I think it would look better with a fender that followed the curve of the rear wheel.

Title: Re: Fuel tap left on PRI and bike sat in puddle of
Post by MotoBuddha on 05/26/11 at 05:37:57

If you decide to get rid of that rear fender, I might want to buy it for another project.

And thanks for posting the photo. Now I know what the frame looks like in silver with black tins. Nice.