fuel leak issue...help please

[Jersey mike]

sorry should have noted year and model...'98 Tourer


hello everyone.

as the topic says i'm having a fuel leak issue. the leak appears to be coming from 2 tubes which have an elbow in them and run through cut out holes in the rear support bracket under the tank behind the carbs near the coils.

these 2 tubes do not attach to anything and are not plugged in any way. they stop about 1/2" once through the holes in that support bracket.

it is only leaking when the bike is running and it is leaking through both but if i had to be definite it appears the left side (kickstand side) is passing more fuel. the fuel shut off works. the leak happens in the on as well as reserve setting.

i rode the bike 2 weeks ago with no issue. got gas twice. came home parked the bike and there has not been anyone in or near the bike. there has been no smell of gas in the garage or any sign of a leak until just now.

i was getting ready to leave, started the bike in the driveway, came into the house to use bathroom and kiss the wife goodbye, went back out only to see a very large puddle spread out across the driveway.

shut the bike down, move away from gas, hose stuff off and looked around for loose hoses or missing plugs for those 2 tubes.

I've never saw plugs in them, i thought they were vent hoses.

any help would be greatly appreciated, i know it's a holiday weekend but if anyone can reply soon that would be great.

thanks,

mike

[Bone]

Open the gas cap and see if the leak stops.

[Jersey mike]

i did that once and it didn't help. just did it again and now not leaking. its been running now for about 5 min. no issue so far. going to take it for a short ride.

thank you.

[Jersey mike]

ok, a 5 mile run and no sign of leak.

what's would be the cause of that?

when i said i tried opening the fuel tank once, i opened it w/ the bike not running. did not try it with the bike running until 2nd time.

now it seems back to normal.

just need to go get fuel and get a ride in before t/storms today.

thanks again

[John Schmidt]

Those two tubes are functioning as designed and are meant to be open. They aren't the problem, it's somewhere else. If it stops when you open the cap, then I'd investigate small tube at the very rear of the bottom of the tank for pinches in the line or blockage. It will go down to a small tee which has nothing attached to it, then continues on down and out below the bike. It allows air to be drawn into the tank as the fuel is transferred to the carbs. Kinda like sucking on a thin plastic water bottle. If the bottle doesn't have a hole in it other than where you're sucking on it, the bottle will collapse. Punch a hole in the bottle and now it won't collapse when you suck on it.

[Chrisj CMA]

Sounds to me like a float valve issue.  I would be on guard for hydrolock. If it makes any strange sounds at start-up. Quit immediately and remove the sparkplugs and see if there is fuel in a cylinder

[Jersey mike]

ok just back (filled up first) from 90 miles with multiple stops and shut bike down, the longest shut down was about 35-40 min. the other 2 were quick ones about 5-10 min. no signs of leak or bad starting.

the ride was mostly back roads on the way out and highway on way home.

bike is in garage now, i'll see what happens tomorrow or next day.

thanks for all the feedback you guys are great.

[Paladin528]

Those are Air Vent Tubes.  If they are leaking fuel then the Carb bowls of one or more Carbs are over flowing.  Fix the issue as this could become a very bad issue under the right conditions.

[DGS65]

I just hydro locked my bike on Thursday big mess but I caught it in time so I believe. 
I would be testing your petcock fuel should not be able to flow if the bike is not running even if the petcock is in the off position.  Mine was allowing fuel to flow from the reserve feed even when it was off.  It also allowed me to run the tank dry while in the on position, this was a little embarrassing for to say the least for my wives first ride!