Need advices for my bike's airfilter box

mittico68 · February 11, 2017, 12:02:40 PM

Ratman, yes I drained it.
I didn't want to wait a single minute more, so I just squeezed that bottle with a pincer: but I did it gently... so I squeezed 3-4 times to drain completely the bottle.
And yes, I think I'm gonna change the air filter. And I think I'll go for a K&N.
Today the weather was kind enough to let me ride ma-deuce (cloudy and 10 degree C.).
It's been a real short ride, around my town, but I felt really happy and the bike too!

OR Seedman · February 11, 2017, 10:50:30 AM

I would never...I was raised to respect my elders......

dkeshish · February 10, 2017, 23:15:24 PM

Lol. I deserve that
Honestly got me laughing out loud. Thanks for that good sir!

Quote from: CDNRatMan on February 10, 2017, 23:03:14 PM
I am so sorry I did not articulate myself properly for the gentleman from California. But I should have said:

Under normal circumstances I turn the milk bottle upside down, I thought most people would have figured out it was the milk bottle...... but then you are from the state ready to fall off into the ocean.......lol.....ok now go and relax.....lol

here was me thinking to myself that OR_Seedman was the one that was going to slam me.......lol........

CDNRatMan · February 10, 2017, 23:03:14 PM

I am so sorry I did not articulate myself properly for the gentleman from California. But I should have said:

Under normal circumstances I turn the milk bottle upside down, I thought most people would have figured out it was the milk bottle...... but then you are from the state ready to fall off into the ocean.......lol.....ok now go and relax.....lol

here was me thinking to myself that OR_Seedman was the one that was going to slam me.......lol........

dkeshish · February 10, 2017, 22:52:08 PM

How do you turn the bike upside down? Sorry sorry I had to....

Quote from: CDNRatMan on February 10, 2017, 16:05:15 PM
Under normal circumstances I turn it upside down and just let it drip drain over a few hours or overnight, then spray with a bit of a degreaser, then once again leave it drip drain overnight, but of course I have a whole winter to do this not just the rainy season like you in Washington State.......

mittico68 are you going to replace the air cleaner also? If you do consider a K&N air filter.

CDNRatMan · February 10, 2017, 16:05:15 PM

Under normal circumstances I turn it upside down and just let it drip drain over a few hours or overnight, then spray with a bit of a degreaser, then once again leave it drip drain overnight, but of course I have a whole winter to do this not just the rainy season like you in Washington State.......

mittico68 are you going to replace the air cleaner also? If you do consider a K&N air filter.

OR Seedman · February 10, 2017, 15:36:52 PM

when I drained mine, I disconnected it and flushed it with carb cleaner.....DOH! then hooked it back up...

CDNRatMan · February 10, 2017, 13:01:21 PM

ok stupid question did you drain the milk bottle?

mittico68 · February 10, 2017, 08:29:55 AM

Update.
I took a better look and I've seen that the "milk bottle" was FULL!
So, I wiped it down, together with the hose, the air filter and the box.
Now, after having put everything in its place, I'm waitin' for this damn rain to stop and then I'll take a ride to see it the bike runs well.
Thanx everybody, for your kind tips!

CDNRatMan · February 06, 2017, 09:22:40 AM

Quote
the airfilter box is partially soaked by a mixture of gasoline and oil; and I've found that the rubber pipe running under the box is heavily soaked,

With that being said I will venture to say you have a clogged line. That rubber hose you mention that runs to the "milk bottle" on my bike is often soaked in oil after a long day ride or a heavy ride. Nothing really serious and a easy wipe down after the bike cools off. I also take that hose off and ensure it is clear and not clogged.
I do not get a huge amount of oil or gas fumes in that area but it is present, and as GB said it is normal for that type of air cleaning box.

mittico68 · February 06, 2017, 01:56:45 AM

Thanx GB for your kind suggestions.
As for the airfilter, I just can't remember if it's been replaced last year so I will ask to the mechanic who checked my bike last spring.
I've noticed one thing that makes me wonder: the airfilter box is partially soaked by a mixture of gasoline and oil; and I've found that the rubber pipe running under the box is heavily soaked, too... Looks like the said mixture is spilling out of the airfilter box. And I don't think that's a good thing...
As for the petcock test, I still haven't found the time, so I'll do it asap.

greenbarn · February 05, 2017, 11:55:23 AM

Before you get too far down the path rebuilding or replacing things, let's check out a few things. You said you "assume" this is gas laying in your air cleaner housing. Are you sure it's gas?

While it's entirely possible that your petcock is not shutting off and needs repair or replaced -- It may not be the case. It would be entirely normal to smell gas when you take take the filter off. And the system is designed to suck the crank-case vapors - including stray engine oil- into the breather. If your air and crankcase breather system is still stock, the whole thing runs oily and dirty by the way it's designed, and would have to be cleaned up periodically. Is the milk bottle full of oil? Mine, when I got it was full and backing up into the air cleaner box.

Like Ratman said, that air filter looks to be the age of the bike. If it's very old, I'd say it looks "normal" and just needs replaced. If you replaced it last year, on the other hand, then that's really cruddy.

On the fuel petcock- Do the test Seedman said- it is entirely possible it is not shutting off. Mine went bad, but it had no symptoms except I noticed when I had the fuel line off going to the carb, it would not shut off. I tried to rebuild it and had it apart several times, but it would not work right, so I bought a new valve. Another thing -- if the petcock IS bad, and if you find the float needle to be bad also-- allowing gas to run through the carb when it's shut off, then one more thing you need to be leery of -- check your oil for gas contamination. The extra gas can run into the cylinders and down in the crank case and you'll have an over-full crank case with very thin oil.

mittico68 · February 02, 2017, 12:31:45 PM

Okay. I will try it asap and then I'll report.
Thanx a lot for now.

CDNRatMan · February 02, 2017, 12:01:43 PM

Alright, When I open the air cleaner, I to get a smell of gas, not a lot not overpowering, but you can smell it. I have a stock setup no mods done to the air filtering or the air box in any way. I am thinking yours is the same. I do not see any indication of the fuel running from the carb down the where it is sitting. Perhaps try some Seafoam to clean out the carb, a petcock cleaning and rebuild on a 18 year old bike just might be in order. I also get a misting of oil in the air box, in along the bottom same place as your gas is. My milk bottle there at the end of the oil line it is always about half full by the end of the summer.
I also got rid of the stock air filter and went with a K&N filter, I remove it in the fall, wash it well with a soap water solution, let it dry and re spray with the K&N oil to make it work. How old is your filter? Perhaps time to change for a new one. An honestly my filter has never been blackened, not sure why yours would be, is the bike running normal otherwise.......
So simple steps, check that your fuel is in fact shutting off, through the petcock, then see if the float bowl is not working properly, those 2 things done and working correctly then we have to delve deeper.

OR Seedman · February 02, 2017, 11:55:35 AM

looks to me like your vacuum petcock is not shutting off completely and allowing fuel to flow into the carb. Also, your float is not shutting off the flow in the carb bowl completely, allowing fuel to "flood" the air cleaner.... My petcock does the same thing...but I have already cleaned and rebuilt the carb, so the float shuts off the fuel flowing into the bowl..

I would disconnect the fuel line from the petcock and see if fuel still flows through it....it shouldn't if the bike is not running....if it does, the petcock is bad and needs to be cleaned/rebuilt or replaced...also, you need to clean the float bowl in the carb and make sure it shuts off the fuel when full...

thoughts, Ratman?

mittico68 · February 02, 2017, 05:49:00 AM

Hi Fellas,
today I was checkin' the air filter and as soon as I opened the box I felt a strong smell of gasoline, coming from it.
So, I've looked at it closer and I've found that the black plastic box is partially soaked and I assume that's gasoline...(look at the attached pics, please).
As for the air filter, I've seen that it is partially blacked...(again, look at pics). Is it because of the said gasoline?
If so, is that normal or what?
Awaitin' for you Drifter Gurus to reply asap... THANX!