Slight Gas Smell When Bike is in Garage...Normal?

[ski_rush]

Hello everyone, I have had my bike for a little over one week ('04 GS500F). I keep the bike in the garage and when I go out to my garage now, I notice a slight hint of a gas smell. Since I didn't notice it before, I can only assume it's from the bike. The previous owner said that he noticed a gas leak before and had it repaired at a motorcycle shop; gave me the receipt seen below.

The receipt shows that the fuel assembly was worked on for a reported gas leak. Is a slight gas smell normal? If not, what do I do? I have NOT noticed any fluid or gas on the garage floor so I was assuming that it was not leaking. However, I smell a hint of gas smell.


thanks,

[Watcher]

Fuel evaporates quickly, a slow leak could produce the smell and simultaneously not produce a wet spot.

That being said it should be easy to find as the area where it is leaking should be wet.  Just start tracing fuel lines.

I doubt it is the petcock since it was so recently replaced, but these have been known to be sketchy at times.  More likely it's a cracked or dry-rot fuel line.


Also possible that if the floats in the carb bowls are not properly set you are overflowing into the airbox.  This would also indicate a bad petcock, though, and is a more involved job so I'd check all the lines first.

[user11235813]

I had a mysterious recurring petrol smell and I finally tracked it down to a small crack in the fuel overflow hose as it exits the tank.

[ski_rush]

So, it appears that the 2 fuel lines that feed into the petcock are dry rotted and cracked. I'm guessing that this is causing the fuel smell in my garage.

1. Is this repair a pain in the butt to do? I read on this forum that people had trouble fitting the lines to the petcock.

2. Has anyone had since same repair done at a shop? What should I expect for an estimate?


Thanks

[ski_rush]

I called 2 shots by me. Both wanted 2 hours of labor at $75/hour plus the price of parts. Forget that... I'm going to do it on my own. I wish I had a service manual. Ordering one now

[ShowBizWolf]

+1 for Haynes/Clymer manual!

Also, I know they are more expensive but the OEM fuel lines and clamps should save a huge pain in the butt trying to fit other lines. I currently have fuel lines on my GS that I bought from Advance a few years ago... made 'em work after a lot of extra time and fiddling around... but I want to replace them this summer with the OEM ones. I already have them, I'm just using up this tank of gas before I do it lol!

Check out this page of the "what did you do for your bike today?" thread about the lines:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=53366.4820

Has an awesome picture showing why the OEM ones are better.

[ski_rush]

I'm going to opt for the OEM fuel lines. I don't mind paying for those... It's the $150 labor I had an issue with. I'm ordering that manual now. Thanks for the recommendation.

[J_Walker]

I got rubber fuel lines from NAPA. they have some sort of nylon reinforcement between two different types of rubber bought it by the foot I believe. They have stayed pliable for me. and haven't got hard or stiff.  they been good to me.

[Watcher]

IIRC I ended up using lines that were a bit too small diameter and really forced them on the tank petcock, that way I could get away with not using clamps, since it's getting the clamps on that is the major PITA.

Not recommended but if you need it done "now" that would be the way to do it.

In the mean time it might be a good idea to shut off the tank petcock.  If you lift the rear of the tank up you can reach from the other side with a long screwdriver, or if you can snake your hand in some kind of way you can do it from the same side with a flathead bit (use it sideways to get leverage).

[ski_rush]

I'm going to order the parts online. I ended up ordering from PartsZilla...hopefully they are okay.

[ShowBizWolf]

I get all my OEM stuff at motosport.com. I am thrifty bastard haha and after comparing other sites like bikebandit and cheapcycleparts etc, motosport always seems to have the best selection and the lowest prices. All OEM is normally 25% off and they ship fast!

[ski_rush]

Am I crazy to keep driving it?

[J_Walker]

Am I crazy to keep driving it?

no just carry some zipties on you, and leave your tank unbolted [two bolts under the seat/fairings area] the seat is enough to hold the tank down.

[ski_rush]

The shipping update says that the parts are not supposed to actually ship out until Thursday. There was some brief delay on 2 of the 3 hoses I ordered. So, I probably won't get them until early next week.