Total Motorcycle Community Forums

i just started getting the bike ready for the summer and I opened the petcock and fuel started to leak out of the one carb drain port. I turned the petcock off and it wont stop leaking (maybe there is just a lot of gas in the bowl the need to drain yet. What do I need to do to fix it?

Sounds like a stuck float not stopping the in-flow of gas. Try giving the carb a whack with the handle of a screwdriver or something. You can use a hammer if you use your noodle and don't beat the carb to death with it. Plastic handled screwdrivers are less likely to break of chunks of carb.

You may need to remove the floatbowl and check the float needle if the tool violence fails.

Did you prep the bike before storing it? If not, you shouldn't be surprised to find gunk in your carb obstructing the float needle.

Buzz'z method of whacking it might work if the float is hanging, but in my experience, if you whack it to get it to work, you'll have to whack it again and again.

In my laziness (didn't want to pull the carbs) I rode an old KZ around like that for a couple of years. Kept a wrench in my back pocket and had to give the left carb a whack every 5-10 miles.

don't be lazy. remove the carb float bowl which can sometimes be done without taking off the carb. remove the floats / needle and seat and clean the needle/seat well. i used to polish mine with silver polish but you probably won't have to be that thorough. also make sure that your floats aren't catching on debris or a loose gasket, keeping the from pushing on the needle to stop the fuel.