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My '04 Suzuki GS500F has had a bad case of carb leaking the past two nights.

There was a big puddle of gasoline under the bike Tuesday morning. The carb on the left side (side-stand side) was dripping gas. I stuck a rag underneath the carb, and the rag was dry when I got home from work. This morning, the rag was soaked and gas was again dripping from the carb.

It's been very humid here, and since the problem occurs only at night, I wonder if the floats are sticking and if weather has anything to do with it.

Also, the bike tends to idle down to about 1,000 RPMs at a stop and then cuts off. Could that be related to the fuel leak?

Any suggestions for causes and fixes are welcome. Thanks for your help.

Where is your fuel selector or shut-off switch set? Should be set on the "ON" position all the time except when you go to reserve. There is a vacuum shutoff that works in both the ON and RES positions and no gas will leak past it so there will be very little leaking from the carb if the gas if shut off at the selector switch. Don't leave in PRI position which means prime and allows gas to flow thru the shut-off switch when engine not running.

Gas leak most likely is due to sticking float valve but could be from loose drain screw or possibly leaking gasket. Gotta look it over to see. The fact that bike is dying at idle suggests that it is leaking past float valve. GS does same thing if you leave the choke on or partially on when engine is warmed and the mix becomes too rich and floods out engine at idle.

I left the old 97 GS on prime once a while back and it leaked past an open float valve and left a puddle of gas. More importantly, the oil level was about a pint too full since the gas leaking past the float valve can end up in the crankcase also. Be sure to keep a check on your oil till the problem is solved. In my case the particle of dirt holding the float valve open purged itself and I didn't have to take anything apart to fix.

Have you been to gstwins forum? Great place for GS500 owners with much help there for all problems.

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/

Thanks. Fuel valve is "on" not prime or reserve. Choke is off. I turn it off almost as soon as the bike starts up.