A word of caution

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htown16

htown16

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Went out to the garage this morning and found a big puddle of gas under the 74 C'do. I'd not turn the taps off after refueling it yesterday. Gently pushed the kickstarter down until it wouldn't turn any further. Out with the plugs and then turned the engine over. Gas blew out of both of the plug holes. Could have easily hydro-locked the engine. If you have any doubt after leaving the taps on pulling the plugs takes about 30 seconds.
 
Id leave the plugs out for a day or two , if its summer . And drop a tablespoon of oil in each pot once the petrols desisted .
As the bores likely washed . Maybe pull the sump plug too .

recently read of someone twanging a rod like this . Two Strokes & S Shaped con rods . Common in model aero engines .
flooded & electric starter .

Also why sometimes on tthe side stand , if its a fair lean , particularly with the old nylon float needles , Even fuel off -
All the gas could end up in the downhill carburator .

Just as well you caught it , you mightve got put through the ceiling if it backfired kicking it over . :D
 
Since boyhood trained to shut off the tap if the bike isnt running even for a minute.
A few months ago smelled petrol in the garage, investigated and found the BAP tap was
off but leaking into the carb. Never had an issue with BAP taps before, disassembled and could
see a faint wear pattern on the rubber. Pulled the rubber and reversed it. We shall see how it goes...
 
Best to leave the key off to ! , you'd be left with a lot worse . Could be a habit to turn key and kick start ,
 
IF you use fuel containing ethanol, it might be wise to remove the jet covers nuts on your carbs if the bike is going to be standing for a fairly long time. Alcohol can cause the white shit to form inside the bowls. It can block your jets.
 
My Dad did too.

Trouble is… in his haste… he once turned the fuel ‘off’ on my 1200 Bandit when I visited.

But it was a vacuum tap… he hadn’t turned it ‘off’ he’d turned it onto ‘reserve’.

I discovered this when the fuel ran out, and I reached down to switch to reserve… only to find it was already there… and thus my tank really was empty !
 
Didn't mention, but once plugs were out I blew the cylinders out with compressed air. Also, drained the sump and changed the oil and filter as it was close to being due for a change anyway.
 
Onder said:
Since boyhood trained to shut off the tap if the bike isnt running even for a minute.
A few months ago smelled petrol in the garage, investigated and found the BAP tap was
off but leaking into the carb. Never had an issue with BAP taps before, disassembled and could
see a faint wear pattern on the rubber. Pulled the rubber and reversed it. We shall see how it goes...
Click to expand...
With a structure at stake, over my shoulder it goes.
 
The old forgot to turn the taps off to find out the hard way a float suck open and fuel running into the motor trick, I think a few of us have been caught out with that one, usually once of course, when I got caught out I didn't even know till I kicked it over and the Norton fired up, I run my breather hose into a large catch bottle and it was quick to fill up and overfill the catch bottle and onto my floor, W T F knew straight away it was fuel/oil mixture, what a mess, just lucky it didn't go bang, so only been bitten once in over 46 years.
 
Fast Eddie said:
My Dad did too.

Trouble is… in his haste… he once turned the fuel ‘off’ on my 1200 Bandit when I visited.

But it was a vacuum tap… he hadn’t turned it ‘off’ he’d turned it onto ‘reserve’.

I discovered this when the fuel ran out, and I reached down to switch to reserve… only to find it was already there… and thus my tank really was empty !
Click to expand...
Hope you put him on the spot and under pressure.

“Dad, could someone have put their hands on my bike while it was parked at your place?”
 
Can't say that I've never done it either. Worse yet I found out that the taps on my A10 don't work at all. Hopped on one day and rode off to work only to discover that I had never turned them on. Luckily my float needle works as it should and I never went out to a puddle. Regarding gas in the oil, my father told me that when flying C47s out of Iceland in WW2 they would routinely dilute engine oil with gas before shutting down so it would turn over when cold.
 
Also happened to me, on a bike with vacuum taps.
I came out again after leaving the bike out in the sunshine after four hours, hit the starter button, then heard a "crunch" as the starter chain snapped on my Jap four. Wouldn't have been so bad, but I replaced the vacuum tap diaphragm six months earlier and the morse chain that snapped was also the drive to a piggyback alternator.
 
MikeG said:
Can't say that I've never done it either. Worse yet I found out that the taps on my A10 don't work at all. Hopped on one day and rode off to work only to discover that I had never turned them on. Luckily my float needle works as it should and I never went out to a puddle. Regarding gas in the oil, my father told me that when flying C47s out of Iceland in WW2 they would routinely dilute engine oil with gas before shutting down so it would turn over when cold.
Click to expand...

There is a company called 'Periscope Films' who post US military training films on YouTube, on all sorts of technical subjects; engines; electronics; radio etc. There are several films relating to aircraft engines, and the oil system is the subject of at least one of the films. Diluting oil with petrol to thin it for a cold start was part of their (recognised) procedure and is explained in one of the films

(thoroughly bored with cooking / dancing / prancing shows on the telly, obscure YouTube videos are much more interesting)
 
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