Gasgas leaking fuel..

[Johnnygunn]

Just bought my first trials bike, 2022 gasgas with 43 hours. I noticed a couple small drops of fuel in the back of my truck when unloading it after I bought it (petcock off). I worked on some balance in the garage, rode it about an hour, didn't notice any fuel dripping. While working on balance and hopping again in the garage recently (petcock off), I noticed a few more drops of fuel on the ground. Is this something I should address or is it the nature of the beast? 

I come from a motocross/enduro background. If I ever had a carb leaking fuel it was continuous and it was the float sticking 99% of the time. But it was many years since I owned a carb. Fuel injection and all.. I got back on a 250 2 stroke mx bike again this summer, and before I put a smart carb on it, the mikuni would occasionally leak just a few drops in transit, as well..

Anyway, if this isn't normal for a trials bike, what's the move? Thanks! 

[turbofurball]

Address it, it shouldn't be leaking fuel!  Find out where it's coming from, if it's the carb use a rebuild kit to seal everything nicely.  It's not unusual for cheap fuel filters to start leaking or the fuel lines to crack too, so check everything thoroughly (cheap Chinese filters are false economy).

[marky dee]

Somtimes the overflow leaks....!!! ,not bad...!!!

[Glayne]

Few drops, totally normal for a Keihin carb.

[lowside]

On 6/2/2023 at 3:38 AM, Johnnygunn said:

Just bought my first trials bike, 2022 gasgas with 43 hours. I noticed a couple small drops of fuel in the back of my truck when unloading it after I bought it (petcock off). I worked on some balance in the garage, rode it about an hour, didn't notice any fuel dripping. While working on balance and hopping again in the garage recently (petcock off), I noticed a few more drops of fuel on the ground. Is this something I should address or is it the nature of the beast? 

I come from a motocross/enduro background. If I ever had a carb leaking fuel it was continuous and it was the float sticking 99% of the time. But it was many years since I owned a carb. Fuel injection and all.. I got back on a 250 2 stroke mx bike again this summer, and before I put a smart carb on it, the mikuni would occasionally leak just a few drops in transit, as well..

Anyway, if this isn't normal for a trials bike, what's the move? Thanks! 

I am new to trials bikes, so take this with a grain of salt, but I don't think your bike should be routinely dripping fuel.  It's likely not much of a problem at all, but it would be worth investing a little time to identify the location of the leak.  I have a Keihin PWK28 on my Sherco and once I'd cleaned the carb and figured out (with help from folks here) that the manual was wrong, it hasn't leaked a drop.

In my case, I was sort of glad it leaked, because it showed me that the carb overflow pipe was zip tied and positioned directly above the dogbones and had therefore removed much of the grease from the linkage.  I'd rather know about that, than not.

Maintaining these is half the fun, at least it is for me.  Love the learning process and they are pretty simple really, a step or two up from a lawnmower, so accessible for a newcomer like me.

Practice balance again but this time, put a tiny bit of cotton wool loosely into the end of the overflow pipe.  Chances are thats where your leak is.  Balance practice will slosh the fuel in the float bowl and you might get a couple of drips.  At least you'll know.

Engine running during balance practice, I take it?

You'll sort it, good luck and nice bike

Edited June 3, 2023 by lowside

[Johnnygunn]

33 minutes ago, lowside said:

I am new to trials bikes, so take this with a grain of salt, but I don't think your bike should be routinely dripping fuel.  It's likely not much of a problem at all, but it would be worth investing a little time to identify the location of the leak.  I have a Keihin PWK28 on my Sherco and once I'd cleaned the carb and figured out (with help from folks here) that the manual was wrong, it hasn't leaked a drop.

In my case, I was sort of glad it leaked, because it showed me that the carb overflow pipe was zip tied and positioned directly above the dogbones and had therefore removed much of the grease from the linkage.  I'd rather know about that, than not.

Maintaining these is half the fun, at least it is for me.  Love the learning process and they are pretty simple really, a step or two up from a lawnmower, so accessible for a newcomer like me.

Practice balance again but this time, put a tiny bit of cotton wool loosely into the end of the overflow pipe.  Chances are thats where your leak is.  Balance practice will slosh the fuel in the float bowl and you might get a couple of drips.  At least you'll know.

Engine running during balance practice, I take it?

You'll sort it, good luck and nice bike

It is not running when I balance. Thanks for the words! 

[lowside]

4 minutes ago, Johnnygunn said:

It is not running when I balance. Thanks for the words! 

I'm told the inertia of the engine helps with balance but as I say I'm new

[jonnyc21]

If its a few drips in transit or when the bike is off and your hopping I would say it isn't a big deal.  If you really want it to stop my best guess would be that the float adjustment is right on the edge of high. 

If I still had our Gas Gas and it was doing this I would just turn off the fuel and run it a bit before putting it away it if I was planning to transport it soon or do any engine off balance practice just to lower the fuel level myself.

Good luck what ever you decide to do.