Was going to go for my first ride of the season today. Hard to start. Battery not the problem. Horsed with choke and throttle. Got it started. Acted flooded. Got the revs up and ran fine, but gas pouring out of fairing at bottom. It sat all winter without a start.

So what fell off, shrunk up, hardened, dried out or went wonky?

BTW: Hi everyone. Long time no see.

 

Did you leave the fuel tap turned on over winter????

I did once! On my old XJ900! All the fuel from the tank drained into the sump!

The symptoms were exactly the same!

Just a thought buddy........

 

LOL ....no **** long time no see ..........How ya doing Joe ?

Sounds like your carbs float(s) valve(s) stuck ...... try Seafoam !

or

disassemble and clean out

See what happens when you abandon her like that !

Even though I can't ride these days (snow) I start both
bikes to hot running every week.

Check Shakey's tip too ......that could have happened

 

I would check the the gaskets in the carb. Float bulb. Mine dried up and gas was pouring as well.

 

Probably a combo of condensation forming in tank (sinking to bottom and a bit of rust occuring) and some fuel turned to **** gumming up your float valves.

Clean the tank and float valves / bowls out and it should be sweet.

If your model has a vacuum operated petcock it's probably worth checking it too. Since fuel only leaked out after it was running it must be working, but it's worth inspection to prevent a problem down the road somewhere.

 

My '90 is also leaking (due to the 20°F temps in Reno, NV) from the 'T' fitting between the #1 & #2 carbs. The only way to replace the o-rings on the fitting is a carb bank teardown. :-(

 

This usually happens when a bike sits for a while. The float hangs down pulling the needle, leaving the seat exposed and when you try to start it, the needle may not seat properly at first because there may be some corrosion around the seating surface due to some moisture and air above the float. Before you get to crazy taking things apart, try this first. Put the bike level on the center stand. Locate the carb bowl drain lines and look to see what carb is leaking. While it is leaking tap in the bowl with the butt of a screwdriver. You need to give it a good stout tap to seat the needle. You may need something other than a screwdriver to get in to the inside carbs. Don't be to gentle, you need a good rap to knock the needle into the corrosion. Once it is running it may take a few miles for the vibration of the engine to re-seat the needle and seating surface. Putting Seafoam in first will also speed up the re-seating processes.

I usually run my bikes a few minutes every other week while in lay up to prevent this form happening to me.

I hope this is all you need to do, good luck.

 

Thanks guys. Maybe I can speak the mechanic's language now. Though I might try Tim's method. Except my kid is at school so I lack the moral support. Remember, I'm not like you, I will do the cosmetic stuff for entertainment, but when it comes to actually fixing the bike, I call the guy. I have wasted way too much time being wrong as a younger fella.

 

And, sure. Of course.

 

Easy to identify if you have the same problem that I did .... just pull the dipstick and check the oil level.

My problem was that the sump was almost completely full of fuel, which caused the crankcase to overpressurise (hence why the engine was hard to crank on the starter), blowing a large amount of fuel back thru the carbs on draining out of the airbox onto the ground.

It's just a matter of changing the oil and filter, if thats all that's happened.