Leaking carbs!

My carbs are leaking. At first it was just a slow drip when I would give it some gas. Now today I started my bike and had a rag stuffed under the carbs to catch any drips while it warmed up. When I went to pull the rag out it was soaked with gas. The carbs seemed to have two different leaks (dripping from two different points). Any suggestions for a newb?

I got the bike last summer and over winter didn't drain the gas. I know now that was the complete idiot thing to do, but like I said I'm a rookie and didn't know any better. So when I brought the bike out this spring I bought a cheap siphon and pumped all the gas out of the tank. Then I tried to drain the carbs by removing that little drain screw. The one on the right side came out just fine and I was able to drain it. The one on the left side however looks really bad and is very badly stripped and I couldn't get it out. It looks like maybe one of the drips is coming from there.

This is frustrating because right after I bought the bike I had a friend's friend rebuild my carbs and it was a bit pricey. Now this is happening. Don't want to keep spending money on these carbs. If they have to be taken apart I'll do it (try it) myself. Anything I should try before diving in?

Thanks for any help

 

there are alot of good threads that will walk you thru cleaning and setting up your carbs. It helped me alot on my 1100.

 

Your floats are likely stuck for one of the problems.

For the other, guess you freed the drain screw just a bit when trying to open it.

First things first. I wouldn't recommend starting it anymore until you get the leak fixed. If you have any doubts, read the post "I almost died a fiery death."

Get some allen head carb drain screws from Chacal and replace the ones you have. You will likely have to drill the stripped one and use an easy out to get it out. You will have to pull the carbs and take off that bowl, so you might as well take them all off to make sure you don't have any gunk in them. If you do, take some carb cleaner and clean it up a bit.

Put everything back together and when you put them back on the bike, have a screwdriver handy. Turn it on prime and keep tapping the bowls if you see them leaking until they stop.

Your costs should be new drain screws and some carb cleaner. That is where I would start.

 

Awesome thanks!

"If you have any doubts, read the post "I almost died a fiery death."

Hahaha, uhhh I think the title makes a strong enough point...

 

Yea, I would hate to read another story of a different XJ'er doing the riverdance down the block to try to put his pants fire out.