interesting find inside bs34 carb

[650mark]

my all stock '80 special has pissed gas out of one of the carbs 3 times since I bought it 3 months ago. i turn the new manual petcock off each time i stop the bike but when i turned the petcock back on those 3 times the gas immediately flooded out until i shut off the petcock. if i start the bike before i turn on the petcock it does not do this. so i figured it was about time to replace the float valves. i removed and disassembled the carbs and found that one of the float valves is missing the little wire that attaches it to the float tang. weird, huh? the floats are not leaking, are properly adjusted, and the bike starts, idles, and runs extremely well all the time. any thoughts or opinions? thanks in advance

 

[DogBunny]

You don't need the little wire, and it's purpose is to prevent the opposite of what you are experiencing -- the rubber valve needle tip can get stuck in its seat which CLOSES the valve, and the wire will open it as the float lowers.

In your case, I think that the needle or the float is getting cocked or is rubbing on something, preventing the needle from seating until you start the bike and bike vibration frees the stuck or rubbing or cocked part. So, I would carefully study the valves, the float, the float pin and the float bowl on a bench to try to determine where the problem is.

 

[vr3506]

Around the floatseat, there is A rubber O-ring, be very careful with removing the float (pin That holds the float) itself
You easely destroy your carbs!
This O-ring often leaks

 

[DEMORALIZER]

I just had this issue. Turns out I replaced everything in the carb just for basic maintenance but neglected to clean the body where the old O-ring for the carb seat was. I adjusted the floats so many times to keep it from leaking till I completely disassembled the carb and found a very small amount of o-ring left over. After I cleaned it the leak stopped.

 

[650mark]

went ahead and installed the new the float valve kits since I already had them. the insides of the 2 carbs looked like brand new but one of the floats was a little out of spec so fixed that as well. reassembled the bike this morning and it starts, idles and runs perfectly with no fuel leaks at all. may just be out of the woods after all! hope to get some riding done in the next few days before the temps here get back over 100

 

[vr3506]

Lot of SuXSes