can floats go bad?

recently set my fuel levels in my carbs. 26's. i then decided to take them off and clean them more thoroughly. i noticed that when upside down with the bowls off my floats they are way different to one another. elevation. also after i reinstalled and test rode it with the fuel valve still on a lot of gas was flowing out of the overflows. the needle valves and seats are about one year old. im wondering if the buoyancy has gone out of the floats and not sealing my needles and causing the floats to be at different elevations. also if so where can you get new ones at? i didnt see any at Z1.

thanx

did the floats have fuel in them? I have seen cracks and pin holes in a float that will of course cause overflowing

Yes, they can go bad. I've seen holes in both plastic and brass floats. Usually found around where the hinge connects to the float, and is often found in older floats that have been bent for adjustment a number of times. Causes the float to fill with gas and then it just sits at the bottom of the bowl.

As Dragone mentioned, the best way to tell is to shake the float near your ear in a quiet place. If there's gas in it, you hear it sloshing around, or if you move it around gas will seep out. The best repair is to replace, but some can be fixed if you are good with a soldering iron or glue. Never try to solder a float if it isn't completely dry of gas!!

I like polkats explaination better. lol

yes you can either hold them to your ear and shake them to see if you can hear the ocean or you can have them checked by the coast gaurd,remember what happened to the barges in louisiana for having improper floats! :S :woohoo:
on a side note:i once held my ear up to a girl on the beach in california,i couldnt hear the ocen at all over her screaming! :blink: :woohoo:

One of the floats on my KZ1000 would fill up with gas and laet it over flow. I emptied it twice and it took about a week for it to fill back up and let the needle valve stay open. I replaced it and no more problem.

Floats may be okay and just need tang adjustments to set correct fuel levels inside float bowls.

The clear tube test is the most reliable method to set the float heights toward achieving the correct fuel level.

Forget the upside down dry measuring technique, as it's notoriously inaccurate.

Good Fortune!

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Good Fortune!

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