Sporty fuel leak

Ever since I bought my 2000 Sportster it has dripped a little fuel from the carb area and pooled between the cylinders. It does not do it all the time. It has slowly gotten worse over the years and now I am looking into it finally. It started really dripping after I got back from Birmingham.

I cannot tell where the fuel is coming from. The carb body looks dry. Fuel line is good and the over flow hose looks fine. Its like it is coming out of the mouth of the carb.

Anybody have any ideas?

I am going to talk to Kent over at Retro Cycle Works in Fairhope this week.. Maybe he has some idea..

yeah you probably hit the nail on the head, but usually you have drivability issues when that happens, I didnt know retro was still in business.

Sounds like you may have a float that sticks partially from time to time and overflows, but usually you can feel a performance difference. Might try adding some seafoam to the gas, see if that clears any gunk out. Slight possibility of blowback, but that usually causes a LOT of it, not just a trickle.


Yeah, forgot about Retro, would be a good one to talk to about the Bike Show in July. I think he partially sponsors events at Boondocks or Burnouts, but I don't know him personally.

http://www.retrocycleworksinc.com/

I know him I apprenticed with him during trade school

I hope they are still in business! Times are tough..

I had Kent put a kit together for me when I did my 883 to 1200 conversion. He Treated me right. I wish I could give them more business, but I try to do all my own work... I go there for parts and tires and stuff.. Its a cool place.. They have some awesome old bikes in there.

Back to the leak though... Yeah.. Its weird.. It runs like a scalded dog and I have never seen fuel come out of the over flow tube.. So that would make me think its not a float.

I'm going with a screw in the bowl loose, maybe even the bowl drain,

I have the bike right here in my room.
The bowl drain screw is tight. I just checked. Everything looks dry on and around the body.. Its gotta be coming out of the mouth.

I'm with you but I'm sure you would feel a difference in the performance for enough fuel to pour out the mouth

you put the carb on then I take it cause the OL's 07 Sporty is FI , so shud the 09 be

I had a problem with 89 leaking too. It turned out to be the fuel inlet valve, the 90 deg.
elbow that my fuel line connects to was cracked. It was made of plastic and HD new
part was brass. Also replaced floats and jets and no more problems. Good Luck!

ooopppss IC now itsa a 2000 model , for some reason I thought it was newer

ScooterTrash69 wrote: I had a problem with 89 leaking too. It turned out to be the fuel inlet valve, the 90 deg.
elbow that my fuel line connects to was cracked. It was made of plastic and HD new
part was brass. Also replaced floats and jets and no more problems. Good Luck!

I will check it.. Never thought about that. Thanks.

Yeah bagger.. I am crazy, but its a carb for sure.

hehe me crazzee for sure , but for some reaon when I read it and replied to the post , I read it as a '09 model ..

weird
did you take the carb off and check the float needle for a ring around the pointed end of it, is it rubber or brass, if it is rubber it can get a wear ring around it, preventing it from sealing all the way, this is a delicate part of the fuel system, it does'nt take much to upset it.
that has been my experience or your float could be just a smidge out of adjustment.
i am not a technician, just poor and have to do my own work.....

biggerjim

Hey BiggerJim! I was starting to wonder if you made it home after the bike show.

I have not checked that.. It has stopped leaking for the moment.. It will be back.. I will check that out when the time comes.. Thanks man.

Sounds like a float sticking and a possible plugged or incorrectly routed drain line combo to me. Thats what I would start with. make sure the drain line is angled down and not looping over anything higher than the float bowl on the carb, this can be an issue if the carb continues to flow fuel after the bike is shut down, It can leak into the cylinder and if the intake valve is open it will fill the cylinder with fuel. HYDROLOCK is always a bad thing.

I would have to lean towards the float sticking but it has been a long time since I tinkered with a carb.

Kent is still there and Retro is still operating. I purchased exhaust gaskets for my Roadking just the other day from Buck.. Didn't see Ken that day, he may have been out of the shop or something.

I stopped by Retro a couple of times and they were closed early.. Somebody said Kent was sick or something..

I am almost sure its not a float problem.. Not that much fuel.. Just little drips now and then.. I am going to dig into it eventually.

let me know if you need a second set of eyes. I do alot of work on bikes. I dont do it commercially, but I do spin wrenches on them quite often.

Thanks man.. I've just been so busy lately I have not had time to worry about all my half broken stuff.. I will just keep ignoring this fuel leak..

Cool, Just keep em in mind if you need a hand.

here weirdbeard....sign this life insurance paper....trust me....

ask hayweed about fuel leaks.

draconis wrote:ask hayweed about fuel leaks.

I think he has a thread floating around here somewhere that is talking about ignoring fuel leaks..

Don't worry. I will post pics of the aftermath for you.