Carb Q2: Gas leaking through air filters

I have a set of VM29s on my bike now and I have it attached to a remote tank at the moment as I tinker.
Well I came out to the garage and noticed there was gas leaking out of the air filter pods on 1 & 4.:sick:

Sound more like float level or valve needle problem? I just had them apart and sprayed all the valve needles with WD40 and made sure they were "springy" before putting them back on. I didn't mess with the float level.

thanks!
-brian

if it helps it looks like the airjet was full of gas too.

I was driving myself crazy a few weeks ago trying to figure out the same problem on my friend's Honda CB650. The gas was overflowing from the carbs big time! I think I had taken off, and put back on those fuel bowls at least six times checking and rechecking the problem. The floats weren't the problem, (Honda doesn't use adjustable floats on this model) the float needles were brand spanking new, and the needle seats looked perfect. But for some reason the needles just wouldn't seal against the float needle seats. Actually, they would seal for about two minutes (enough to give you a little bit of hope that you finally fixed it) before overflowing gas all over the ground (and everywhere else inside the filter housing). It wasn't until I took everything apart again,(bowls and floats) and blew compressed air with a blow gun through the main fuel line along with some carb cleaner that all this debris and rust particles went shooting out of the carbs! I had a paper towel underneath so I could easily see everything coming out. After repeating the process about ten times, the carbs finally started to clear out.

So what I'm getting at is unless you have mis-adjusted floats, or worn out needles, look at your gas tank to see if there is any rust, or other crap in there. The tank on this CB650 was pretty bad inside, but after coating it with "red kote" tank sealer, it hasn't leaked since.

I hope this will be of some help.

Float needles/seats are not intended to be GAS SHUT OFF VALVES... they are intended to meter fuel as the bike is running. If you shut the gas off using the remote tank, the carbs would be a lot less likely to leak. You should also set the float levels. The VM29 doesn't have an overflow so when the bowls fill, gas will come out the needle jet (main jet holder tube) and flood the pilot and main air jets and will thus get into your air filters and in the combustion chamber where the gas will foul the oil after washing your cylinder walls.

d@mn .. another smooth move on my part!! I do usually shut the remote off, I just ran in the house for a few and forgot to go back out and work for 20 minutes. Welp .. lesson learned. Time to go change my oil!!! Thanks george.

Oh wait .. do you know what the float level height should be on those 29s?

- brian

If they are vm29mm smoothbores they should be at 24mm.i beleave. It would be better to use carb cleaner than wd40.Some cleaners will attack the seals and o rings in the carbs.

24mm float height.