Finally got everything in order today to assemble the bike back after everything I've been through with it. Well, first things first I think the battery is dead, so no problem, I'll go pick one up this weekend or something. However, while the bike was sitting in my garage (for about an hour), I decided to go back out and check one last time before I head to bed. Well of course with my luck there's a puddle of gas on the ground and I see that there's gas dripping from my airbox. Now, hoses are routed right this time, petcock was only on On (not Prime), so I'm guessing I'm looking at the floats?

Thing is, I adjusted the floats to be about 0.6 inches when at about a 30 degree angle, judging based on the tab barely hitting the needle. Do I place them flat on a table, or do it this way again? Supposedly one of the easiest things to do, yet I'm screwing it up and it's costing me time I would much rather spend riding.

And while I'm asking questions, here's a few about my battery:

1) The battery's positive terminal got pretty hot while I was trying to start it. Not super hot, but definitely warm enough to feel. I've heard this is a bad contact or a ground fault somewhere?
2) What kind of battery do you guys recommend for a reasonable price? I don't want something super expensive if I can avoid it.


Edit: Totally forgot that it can also be a bad frame petcock. Will test that this weekend, too. For now the gas tank petcock is set to off. Does anybody remember that thread about how to modify the stock petcock to get rid of the vacuum diaphragm? Maybe I'm not searching right but I can't find it.

Floats should be measured flat. But 14mm for me wasn't quite right. I adjust mine while mounted on the bike, with the U-tube method.

The bad connection is where the hot spot is.