Need help diagnosing carb problem

[thecdn]

My sons 05 GS500F has been having problems starting lately, accompanied by some memorable backfires. The other day after he got it started he took it to do an errand but when he finished it wouldn't start and he had to bump start it to get back home.

When I took the fairings off I found this:







Hopefully the pics are clear enough to show the gas leaking from the part on the side of the carb with the horseshoe clip. What does this mean and is it something repairable? I'm a so so amateur mechanic but my neighbour is a car mechanic with his own shop so I can get good help.

Any ideas/suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

[moosehead28]

Just by the pictures, you should remove the carbs and give them a real good cleaning, those ones are looking nasty

[ben2go]

The carbs are normal.Just really dirty.It appears that the float level and/or float needles are sticking allowing fuel to flood the engine.Chck the oil level and see if it smells like gas.If so change the oil.The e clip holds the throttle blade shaft in on the carbs.Back firing is another issue.That sounds like a valve out of adjustment.Is it back firing through the carbs or exhaust?Through the carbs is either a vacuum leak,intake vavle adjustment has went tight,or something bad in the ignition.Through the exhaust is usually due to flooding or late firing ignition.

[thecdn]

Thanks for the replies. Today I changed the oil, cleaned the carbs and engine area, and cleaned the air filter, it was bad. I will order a new one. Tomorrow I will puut it back together and see what happens. It also didnt have the hose from the top of the engine to the top of the airbox. Didnt have one when it was boight ised and didnt know it was supposed to be there intil someone on another forum mentioned it. So I found a hose to put there. I'm trying to avoid the carbs for as long as possible as I've never dealt with them before.

[The Buddha]

Leaking from the throttle butterfly pivot = it can also take in air from there accounting for the hard starting and backfiring.
I've only seen it in 1 carb so far ... pretty rare but can happen.
Cool.
Buddha.