Hmmm thats no good. Clean it up with some carb cleaner and put everything back together. Make sure when you reconnect the fuel lines you do it correctly. That can cause lots of problems. Good luck 

Scrubbed the hell out of everything.  Just reassembled the carbs with some new gaskets as well.  Trying trying to figure out the float height stuff before I put them back on. 

Also the float bowls were on backwards before, but this time they are corrected.

She started immediately!!

But I have a ton of issues and I am not sure where to begin, other than probably in the carbs.

I had the frame petcock on prime, and there was a leak out of one of the fuel hoses, and it was also leaking out of the left carb on the valve to drain the bowls.  I tightened it and it was still like that.  I turned the petcock to on, and the leak stopped.

Second, the idle shot up to 4k, to fix that I just rotate the large knob coming out of the carbs right?

Third, when I went to shift into 1st from N, it grinded real bad, and the rpms shot up even higher, so I shut it down.  I might not have had the best clutch control because I was so excited to hear it start as well.

Fourth, I went to start it again, and almost blew my right ear out from the loudest backfire in a parking garage ever.  So I need to fix that as well.

Finally, I checked the oil dipstick after the brief 10 seconds it was running, and it like there was barely any oil.  I plan to replace the old stuff immediately.


So with all of those things, where should I start?

Do replace the oil immediately, I am sure you will be fine running it with it like that for a little bit.

1. If you run your bike on prime the carbs are bound to leak, so it is good news that the bike doesn't leak on the on setting. I would say replace the fuel hose, or use a few hose clamps to seal the connection.

2. Yes the idle adjustment screw will fix that, just make sure your not adjusting it from a floating idle, and it is indeed the true idle. You want to set it to preferably 1.5k

3. With the shifting into first from neutral, you pulled the clutch all the way in? if so you probably need to adjust your clutch in all of the spots.

4. Backfire is normal from a bike that hasn't run for a little while. just run some new gas through it and you will be fine.

Oh so it is normal to leak out when it's on prime?  So I should just leave the petcock turned to on at all times pretty much going forward?

Ill double check the clutch stuff again when the engine isn't all over the place.


I am going to check the float height from this trick: http://www.gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm
I have a feeling my floats aren't set at the right height, and I will also get the idle down via turning the knob as well.

I forgot to mention that I noticed there was no hose for the carb overflow vent either, so when I re-do the gas lines Ill add one of those as well.

The plan is to get do at least some of this tomorrow night, and then install a new rear shock that I have this weekend.

Quote from: ctjacket on June 06, 2013, 03:54:23 PM
Oh so it is normal to leak out when it's on prime?  So I should just leave the petcock turned to on at all times pretty much going forward?

Ill double check the clutch stuff again when the engine isn't all over the place.


I am going to check the float height from this trick: http://www.gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm
I have a feeling my floats aren't set at the right height, and I will also get the idle down via turning the knob as well.

I forgot to mention that I noticed there was no hose for the carb overflow vent either, so when I re-do the gas lines Ill add one of those as well.

The plan is to get do at least some of this tomorrow night, and then install a new rear shock that I have this weekend.

keep us updated bud!

Small update today:

I am getting new tires put on next week; just went with BT45's since I don't really know what I want and it's my first bike.  I am having a motorcycle mechanic put them on next week for $100 for the set, and he's also going to give me a quick inspection of what he thinks of the rest of the bike as well for $45.  He'll check the brake components, frame, transmission, hoses, any hardware missing, etc...  I figured it would be nice to have a pro take a peek, and for $45 is not too bad.

I got some o-rings in for the carbs, although I replaced most of them with vitron rings from Autozone, and I picked up 3 quarts of oil to change/fill up tomorrow.

Okay so I did the oil change today, but there are some more issues now....

The bike will start, and then immediately die, or occasionally rev up high in rpms then gradually decrease until it dies.  For the second instance, I am sometimes able to feather the throttle to keep it going a little longer, but then it just dies out eventually.

Also when I try to get the throttle to respond, nothing seems to happen occasionally.


It seems like I have a few leaks, both oil and gas.  It seems like maybe my float bowl gaskets are bad, the floats get wet with gasoline.  I have 2 new ones coming in sometime soon.  If it is not coming from there, I am unsure where on the carbs they can be leaking, but they get covered in gasoline.

There are a few places where it seems like oil is coming out.  I put in just under 3q; I didn't use the entire 3rd bottle.

So this is still an ongoing process

Pics below.....








Near left peg

That oil leak under the chain and clutch cover could be coming from the clutch push rod seal, yours may well be shot like mine was.

The gas leaking out... hmmmmm... replacing the float bowl gaskets is definitely your best bet for now, if problem persists make sure to update thread.

As for not starting, have you looked for any major air leaks? Rips, burns, tears in vacuum line or bad, cracked, holey carb and air box boots?

I am going to pull the airbox and make sure everything is still attached, and I am pretty sure that I got all the gaskets on tight; will double check to confirm it.

Small update today, got my new tires in.

Also on the stock needle jets, are there any metal washers on them, or is it just the larger plastic ones?  Now that I think about it, one of the needles had a metal washer on it while the other one didn't.  It looked stock though, because there were no grooves to adjust the c-clip anywhere.

Ugh so frustrating.  Pulled both plugs, covered in a carbon ash.  Put 2 new ones in and didn't start, also it smelled like gas where the plugs were, so I guess that explains that....

Have carbs out again and am double checking everything as well as installing new gaskets for bowls.

 For the time being, until you know everything is fixed, I'd be checking the oil for a gas smell every time before you try and start it. If your floats are faulty you can get gas in the crankcase eventually. For this reason, don't leave the bike on PRI when it's sitting, just ask me how I know.

Final update for this thread:


She works perfectly.  New gaskets, one more o ring swap in one place, and the float were set correctly this time and she just purrs.

Got the new tires on today, and new rear brake pads as well.

The mechanic was actually surprised I was able to buy it for only 700 in this good of condition, and offered to buy it off me
Next step is waking up early and riding to RFK to practice in their parking lots.

edit: so for my first bike, with a budget of 2k to spend, i managed...

700+250 for labor and inspection by mechanic+175 for tires+100 for battery, oil, various o rings and stuff = 1275   


Future projects will be new handlebars, and a katana 600 shock as well for it.

Also for anyone in the DC-NoVa-MD area I highly reccomend www.willpowermcs.com to take care of your stuff.