Left pet cocks on...

Rusty bucket · Oct 28, 2014

I had a large puddle of fuel under my bike. I guess I have a sticky float which doesn't surprise me. I am concerned that I could have fuel in my engine oil though. I'm a newbie Norton owner but have a couple bikes under my belt. I have had problems with this before with dirt bikes.

The bike has a single Mukini Carb on it, the vents seem to work well

Thanks for the input.

Torontonian · Oct 28, 2014

So .like , how OLD are the Mikuni Float needles. Gasoline is a great disolver and rubber only lasts so long. Time to $pend. :|

Rohan · Oct 28, 2014

Drain the oil in the sump.

If you haven't started it yet, nothing unpleasant will have gone into the oil tank,
or ruined anything. And you can have a look at the oil that comes out,
and discard if it has fuel in it.
(Don't forget to check the oil level in the tank, and top it up if required)

With Miks, they can drain fuel onto the floor out those breather hoses,
and not put anything into the engine ?

PreservationCycle · Oct 28, 2014

Better safe than sorry.

Drain the oil in the sump, and if it smells of fuel, the primary as well (Wet sumped Nortons can leak through the crank seal and in to the primary case).

I once went to change the oil in a Hinckley Triumph 900 Sprint and was rewarded with almost a gallon of oil plus another three gallons of gasoline. The petcock had been leaking and the bike was sitting for several months. It's a good thing the battery was flat or the owner might have tried to start it!

Bernhard · Oct 29, 2014

:shock: Depends if any fuel went past the piston rings, or not.
Strange things can happen, I left the fuel tap on a Honda dohc 650 Nighthawk, this has supposedly got a vacuum petrol tap, hit the starter button and heard a faint crunch-the started chain snapped due to petrol/pistons causing a hydraulic lock

:shock:

Torontonian · Oct 29, 2014

Strange things like Yamahaha XS1100 paper thin petcock diaphram. Went to start bike and could not get it to run more than 1200 rpm. Crankcase took all the fuel except for reserve side which was working as it was rarely used, was cottaging it so had to drain out some of the wierd mix to get R.P.M.'s up then to local garage for oil change of wrong grade , more fuel , then home for yet another oil change to correct grade and fit new wierd diaphram kit. :|

mikegray660 · Oct 29, 2014

besides draining the sump etc pull your plugs and ensure there no gas in the cylinders - don't be tempted to kick the bike over - if you have fuel in the cylinders you can bend/damage a rod if you try and start it

toppy · Oct 29, 2014

Torontonian said:
was cottaging :|

Just so people not from Britain know ovr here that term means men doing things you can get arrested for with other like minded men in public toilets.
I just thought I'd let you know as it may be much more innocent in Canada or other parts of the world.

Torontonian · Oct 29, 2014

Ha

Thanks , didn't know that . Here in Canada we have many lakes surrounded by cottages. 2nd. summer homes full of toys and boats and board games for the rainy weekends. Sometimes we stay in the city because it can be quieter than the Jet skis , boats , trail bikes , chain saws , fireworks , domestic squabbles , discharging guns and bush 4x4 's .

lwmcd1 · Oct 29, 2014

Happens to the best of us. Most cases caused by worn float needle (cheap fix). Drain the oil and crankcase and replace. And next time TURN THE GAS OFF.

lwmcd1 · Oct 29, 2014

toppy said:
Torontonian said:

was cottaging :|

Click to expand...

Just so people not from Britain know ovr here that term means men doing things you can get arrested for with other like minded men in public toilets.
I just thought I'd let you know as it may be much more innocent in Canada or other parts of the world.

Too much info. :lol:

Rusty bucket · Oct 30, 2014

Well I have learned a few things here I needed to know and one I didn't want to know LOL! Oh well, something to joke about with the boys. Nothing passes the time better when knocking back pints than bruising your mates heterosexuality...

acotrel · Oct 31, 2014

I know a guy who left the fuel on with an H2 Kawasaki two stroke. When he tried to kick it over the incompressible petrol in one cylinder gave him a bent conrod.

mike996 · Oct 31, 2014

I have had the cylinders in a Commando hydro-lock from fuel entering the cyls from leaking floats. In any case, if you are concerned, just pull the plugs and crank the motor. If there is any fuel in the cyls it will be expelled and end up on the ceiling.

Trialbyfire · Dec 31, 2014

I too left my petcocks on accidentally for about 24 hours, just the other day. I realized what I did but there was no puddle of fuel under the bike. Perfectly dry so I kicked it over. It started and a ridiculous amount of fuel began pouring out of the bottom of the air filter. Maybe a half gallon huge mess in the driveway. Once the excess fuel stopped dumping, which took about 30 seconds I jumped on a rode about 10 miles to see how it felt. It ran fine but having searched this thread a day late I realize I could have done some damage. Maybe got lucky this time.

SteveA · Dec 31, 2014

Trialbyfire said:
I too left my petcocks on accidentally for about 24 hours, just the other day. I realized what I did but there was no puddle of fuel under the bike. Perfectly dry so I kicked it over. It started and a ridiculous amount of fuel began pouring out of the bottom of the air filter. Maybe a half gallon huge mess in the driveway. Once the excess fuel stopped dumping, which took about 30 seconds I jumped on a rode about 10 miles to see how it felt. It ran fine but having searched this thread a day late I realize I could have done some damage. Maybe got lucky this time.

...a little fuel makes a big mess......a half gallon, even one of your itty bitty merkin ones...64 fluid onces instead of 80....has nowhere to hang around in an air filter...and if it came past the float and into the needle jet it would go down the inlets.....it was probably much less than you thought....a half pint is enough to make a big mess...and a half pint in a cylinder is more than enough for a hydraulic lock....

commando6868 · Dec 31, 2014

Rusty bucket said:
I had a large puddle of fuel under my bike. I guess I have a sticky float which doesn't surprise me. I am concerned that I could have fuel in my engine oil though. I'm a newbie Norton owner but have a couple bikes under my belt. I have had problems with this before with dirt bikes.

The bike has a single Mukini Carb on it, the vents seem to work well

Thanks for the input.

If you have "a large puddle of fuel" under your bike, and it is inside any structure, It could become a self correcting problem. A pint of vaporized gasoline has about the same explosive power of a half stick of dynamite!

lwmcd1 · Dec 31, 2014

Sounds like your valves were closed so the cylinders didn't fill up. Might not have been a good idea to run it with out checking the oil for gas contamination. My problem is forgetting to turn the gas on.

Left pet cocks on...

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