Gas EVERYWHERE?!?!?!?!? Is my bike ok?

Ok so i am puliing onto a street and a truck sees my coming and decided to blast out of a side street across from me. I was going to make a left hand turn so when i hit the brakes i fell over. i didnt slide or anything. just kinds fell over. so i then get my leg out from under the bike and stand it back up...as i do there is gas pouring from somewhere aound the engine. i put the kick stand down and the gas leak stops. i wait a few and once there was no more sign of gas leaking i cranked her back up. it took a minute and it seemed like she wasn't getting any gas. well then she finally cranks and i drive her home. and she seemed fine. my QUESTION is where did the gas come from? is this something "normal"? is my bike ok?

 

Probably the gas from the float bowls and possibley the gas cap was what you saw since it stopped when you got it upright. Since the petcock is vacuum controlled you would not get gas until the engine was running and drawing vacuum. If you had switched to "PRI" position (prime) your bowls would have refilled and it should have started more easily.

As for being ok I would watch for any leaks. Personally I would clean the bike too although the gas should have evaporated off by now.

Most important thing is you are OK!

 

"Normal" would be hard to define... but having gas dump out of the tank from around the cap or out of the carbs can somewhat be expected if you've laid it down. As Bill said above, wipe everything down (carbs/fuel line/petcock/air box especially) and then double check to see if you have any leaks.

It's likely ok, so breathe and relax. Consider yourself fortunate that you didn't hitch an unexpected ride on the truck that caused the drop. It wasn't your fault, but ride like they are trying to kill you.

 

Gas comes from the filler cap most of the time, but float bowls & crappy petcocks can be the source.

Might want to check your oil to see if any gas leaked into the crankcase.

The engine was flooded and thats the reason for no start. Next time picking up and smoke a cigarette and THEN try to start.
Only takes ~5 mins of patience.

 

Just step a few feet away from the puddle of petroleum product before you light up... you'd have a much bigger issue to deal with !

 

I dropped my bike in the garage a few weeks ago. Dummy didn't put the kickstand down! I had gas all over the place. No big deal. It was flooded and fired up when I held the throttle wide open. It's normal for gas to leak out when a bike is tipped over.

 

To answer your question directly... Yes this is normal and no you have nothing to worry about.

I have put my bike down twice.. Bloody horrible.

The carbs have overflow holes on each carb in the float chamber and would have emptied your carbs when it fell over which is why it took a little longer to start.

It's best to flick your petcock to pri or res for about a minute to fill the carbs back up again before firing it up.

 

:lol: I was thinking the same thing!

Flooding is a good point - I missed that one..

 

I could not resist

 

As long as your alright and the the bike not damaged no worries right but to answer your question it most likeky the bowls dumping out.. Glad everythings ok....

 

At once the bike is no longer upright; the Floats can't "Float" to stop the flow of gas to the Carbs.

All the gas in the Float Bowls and that in the fuel line will empty out the overflow tubes until the Bike is uprighted once again.

Now, you have to be observant to watch for the possibility of a sticking float.
If you have started the bike and there's no further leaking going on; it's a good guess that you are back to "Normal"

Very sorry to hear that you laid the bike over.
I hope you weren't injured and I hope the Bike didn't sustain any damage that will be costly to repair.

 

Thanks for all the info. And yes i, and the bike are just fine. just a small bruise on my knee.

 

Good deal!

I know its traumatic when you dump a bike. You rarely get away clean.
If all you got out of it was a scrapped-up knee; you're lucky.

One false move can set you down and ruin a project in an instant.
In another Thread I saw pictures of a guys bike after his accident and my heart goes out to him.

There's several things broken that may prove to be hard to find.