ok guys, never been much of a carb guy (can't even spell the whole word) but here's what I have going on... bike ran fine last fall, put it in my laundry room for the winter and brought it out this spring.. first couple of rides, I noticed after I parked it, given a few minutes it would shoot fuel out of the overflow. There's a guy at work that's knowledgeable so we pulled the carb off, cleaned it, blew it out.. but did not mess with the pin holding the float in... put it back together and it seemed good (actually seems great tons of power)... a day or so later, I park it and smell gas, it's pouring out the overflow tube again... what is going on? currently I just shut the petcock off half a mile from the house and it don't leak, but that's only gonna be good as long as I remember to do that.

any idea? 04 sportster, stock carb, etc.....

 

Without looking at it, it sounds like the float is sticking and the needle & seat are not sealing......

 

Steve, thanks! is it a combination of both or one of them? I was thinking float was sticking but because we cleaned carb am thinking the seal may be alright?

what are the fixes? major, minor?

 

Same issue i had on my 2000. Float is either stuck too high. (low if your looking at it upside down) so the needle is not shutting off the fuel flow or the tip of the pin is worn on the bottom of the float. Get a new pin and check the hight. should be level when its closed position

 

+1 - the float is sticking or trash is getting between the needle & seat.

 

replace the needle and the pin holding the float. the float should be fine as long as it doesn't have a crack in it or anything. It's pretty cheap, head for the dealer.

 

1. Turn gas off overnight!

2. Follow advice as above. You need to strip your carb again and study the float chamber, float and needle closely.

 

Odds are you have a grain of crude that's lodged in the rubber seat of the float needle valve or the rubber has hardened, or rotting away and not sealing anymore.

Float adjustment is critical and could be off just a nitch.

The tank vent may be cruded up and causing the pressure to build, and then to release when parked, like a belch, letting some gas to flow out the overflow.

Truthfully you should use your petcock to shut off the fuel whenever the bike isn't running. Auto shut off is one benefit of vacuum petcocks on newer bikes.

 

I went to a vacuum valve but I still turn it off manualy, Now if I can remember to turn the damn thing back on when I go to ride I get about a block before I get reminded again

 

More than likely it's dirt gunk as said before,a quick run on the highway,run it out to the rev limiter and it might clear it. Have had it happen a time or 2,other wise dig in,basically what everyone else said