The motorcycle has worked great since I got it.  The only problem is that it won't take a full tank of gas.

Let me explain the situation.  Lets say I ride it until the it runs out of gas.  I go to the gas station and if I put more than .750 gallons in it, it will start to leak gas if I try to use it.  Yes, gasoline will come out of the carburetor area to the floor and it won't start.  I would have to pull the throtle to keep it from dying.  Lots of black smoke will come out of the exhaust.  After a couple of minutes, it will start to work perfectly.  No black smoke or anything.

NOTE.  This only happens if I put more than .750 gallons in it.  Which gives me about 24 miles between gas stops.  If I put .750 gallons or less, I will have no problems at all.

Does anyone have an idea of what's happening?  Do you think I should take it to the mechanic or is it something I can do myself.  I'm a handy guy.  Thanks to the guides found here, I was able to replace the front brakes pads on my own.  And now I'm changing the oil once the weather in LA permits it.

Thanks guys.

You have to run it out of gas? As in empty the carb? If you run the carb dry, the float is down & sticking. Dont put it on prime till youve got it full & ready to start it, then hit Prime & thwack the carb a lick to make the float swing into place & close the valve inside. Sounds like your floats are hangin to me,

I've had luck freeing a float by tapping the bowl. Hold a screwdriver upside down and tap the bowl firmly with the screwdriver handle. Its worked for me several times.

The question is...

Are you running on "PRI", "RES" or "ON" ?

verslagen1 wrote on 12/14/09 at 09:05:39:


the answer is "ON"

Phelonius wrote on 12/14/09 at 10:20:13:


That's assuming that the leak occurs when the engine is not running.

If the leak occurs only when the engine is running, that probably exonerates the petcock.

Basically it's a carb clean, see the tech section.

But before you jump into that, check the float level.

if the bottom of the carb has a drain nipple, put a clear plastic tube on it and bend it up along the carb, open the drain valve and the gas should come up.  You'll need to put the petcock in prime to see the level it shuts off at.  Should shut off at the bowl gasket give or take a bit.  In your case, do this with caution as if your line doesn't come up to the top of the tank it may over flow.  even then it may over flow the vent tubes.  If it does you'll have to adjust the float level even if you replace the valve.

Once you disassemble the carb, the float valve should just pull out of the carb body.

Surely they told you what the problem mite have been ?
Did they clean the carb, or find another problem ? We could all learn more if we had more info than what you posted.

But glad its fixed anyway.

juang wrote on 03/12/10 at 07:37:54: