Had almost a full tank of gas go into the oil

I rode the bike after it sat for a long time and put it on prime to fill the carbs. Forgot to turn it off prime and discovered it after going back in the garage a week after I parked the bike. THe tank emptied through the carbs and the crank case vent. After changing the oil and filter, the clutch is engaging as soon as the lever comes off the grip. I didn't set it this way. The pull feels like it always did and the cable looks ok. Could the clutch sitting in gas/oil for a few months cause the friction material to expand?

 

What did you do to remedy the leaking float needles?

Yes, the friction material may have swollen. It should return to normal after a few days.

 

I got some new stainless needle and seats without the rubber tip like I had on the bike. The bike ran fine for the past 8 years so I measured the float height and put the new setup at that height. Fuel was about 3/8" low using the clear hose from the bowl drain method. It now had a bad stumble when you tried to accelerate from a stop. I raised the level some more and one is leaking fuel. I checked with the clear hose on them and they all seem like they are right up at the carb body. I made a carb stand out of pvc to checked them and try to get them right the first time. I filled the carbs with gas I squirted in the fuel line from an old differential oil container like this one
but I think I was getting a bad reading as I had to squeeze the bottle to get gas to go in the carbs. I have an old lawnmower gas tank I will attach to the stand I made and let gravity fill the carbs like on the bike and try setting the levels again.

 

link on setting fuel levels look on page 8 fuel levels are below carb body not at carb body

Setting the fuel levels

Hitachi, all HSC32 series (all XJ650 except Turbo and 81-83 XJ750): -Fuel level measured via the clear-tube gauge: 3mm +/- 1mm (.12 +/- .04 inches)

3mm below body is your spec

 

If you didn't vent that bottle then the gas won't flow. The volume of fuel that exits a container has to be made up by an equal volume of air, and that can't happen via the fuel line.

 

I squeezed the bottle then pulled it off the hose to get air in the bottle. I wonder if it was possible to force too much gas into the carbs causing a bad reading. Also, if you drop the clear line a bit lower to get bubbles out of the line, does that give a bad reading? It seemed after I got the bubbles out, the level stayed the same no matter how I raised or lowered the hose. Is there somewhere for that small amount of extra gas to go, like to the bowl in the next carb via the feeding tubes?

 

You can't do it the way you did it and get an accurate reading. Forcing fuel into the carb won't give you an accurate fuel level. It needs to be gravity-fed, under atmospheric pressure only.
The hose that you're using to masure the float level is able to be moved up and down without the fuel level changing. The fuel level in the clear hose will always match the fuel level in the float bowl. Getting the bubbles out of the clear hose is as simple as giving it a tap or two to let the bubble break free.

 

What k-moe said. I messed around for way too long before figuring that out. I would hold the tank up to fill the carbs (I was just using the gas tank itself on PRI) then set the tank down to go to work. I guess all that gas coming out of the carb into the tube has to be replaced!

 

Thanks for the replies. Is this setup ok for the needles?


The ones I got looked like that with no clip to attach it to the float. I put them in with the seat and metal gasket, put the bowls on and turned the rack all different ways around, upside down and shook them a little and nothing came apart...so far.