I've watched dozens of videos and none of them made sense until I got to your video! Thank you so much!

Haha one time I had to take a set of carbs apart 10 times before I found the little piece of grit that was causing the problem. It was down in the bottom of the float bowl and it was a little piece of rubber from the fuel line. Each time I filled the carbs back up, it would float up and clog the float needle, but when I drained the carbs it would settle down at the bottom, so I was always looking in the wrong place for it, at the needle/chamber, while it was always down in the float bowl

Believe me, dont worry about harming the ozone with your carb. Hydrocarbon evaporation from the Earths crust is measured in tons, that little bit of gas is not even a good fart from my horse. But thanks for the video, helps me tremendously.

dude. awesome video. you simply explained how the whole carb works and why gas is overflowing. thanks

thanks to all the guys that are posting all these intructional videos. I finally fixed my bike. it wouldn't run without the choke on so I cleaned a the jets with 1 piece of wire brush then sprayed it with carb. cleaner yeah!

Thank you for explaining this! I got my first bike, a 1983 Yamaha Maxim 400, and thanks to wonderful Wisconsin weather I have only been able to ride a few times. When it started leaking fuel I have to say I did panic a little. I am clueless when it comes to anything engine related but it's my bike so I want to know how to fix it. The more I searched the more confused I got and then I found this video. The way you explained it made total sense!! I'm ready to pull the carburetor and get her running again! Bonus: I'm not just following a list of steps without any idea why, now I actually really understand how it works. It's like the thingy in the toilet that stops the water from running ;)

Thank you for the great explanation! My bike always does this if I havent ridden in a while. My first mechanic told me to just ride it off. Its works, but is embarrassing and unsafe to drive around trailing gas.

OK .... so I may not have you as my first pick for a partner playing Pictionary, still you did a great job explaining how to recognize and repair. Just picked up my Suzuki Bandit from the shop having a jet kit installed and withing 5 miles noticed same thing as beginning of your video. Called the mechanic who stated something about most likely being a stuck float. Now I know what he is talking about thanks to your video. Thank you for taking the time to post it and help others.

Thank goodness for videos like this. I have found my offending jet needle and after replacing it, cleaning and re-seating I am ready to re-install carbs. Panic over. And I checked the floats actually FLOAT too !

Thanks for the video, good job! I have an '84 Ninja 900 which I been working on all this year, restoring it the best I can. The bike is almost finished. Guess what's holding it up, yep the carbs. I rebuilt the carbs and installed new float needles along with some other small parts. The floats looked good. It is still pouring gas all over the place, coming out thru the 2 small holes on the carb inlet, where the air filter gets bolted on too. The carbs didn't do this before i tore into it.

Quick fix: I was in difficult place to make a larger carb cleaning operation and was able to make the float work again by shutting off fuel while engine running, then the engine will continue running on the remaining fuel in the carbs. When the carbs are nearly empty or empty open for fuel again and wait for the carbs to fill up, repeat a couple of times and your problem is likely fixed :D

gearhead and environmentally friendly. You my friend are the future! keep it up.

God damn. I have learned so much from watching your video blog, man. A huge internet high-5 to you!

That's the most I've ever learnt about bikes! I appreciate its an old video but Thanks for explaining 🙂

i have cleaned my carbs ,put it back together and it works. I noticed cracks in manifold thing that conects carb to engine and replaced it. Job done Muhaha. Now if i sell my bike i will not sell it as cheap as i was thinking because i know what is inside. Thank you , you earned me money and better bike.

I attached a sync vacuum gauge assembly and saw a radically fluctuating needle (not good!), but they were all the same. Used a small plastic tank got off ebay with the sync kit, seems to work pretty good. Well I will check the float height next few days...the carbs look new, I cleaned 'em really good. This bike has been modded, it is not stock. Basani comp exhaust and the jets are 148 main, 98 idle. I did drive the bike home about a year ago, but it didn't idle below 2000 rpms. Thx for your help

the further the sealant is form the engine and thus the cooler it stays, the longer it will last. I have bikes with repairs like that lasting for years, some it only lasted a few weeks. Enjoy it now, and in the meantime keep an eye out for cheap replacement parts. Good job!

Ive had this issue for a rediculous amount of time, had a "friend" try and fix my carbs twice, even put in a new carb kit. Yet still dumping out of my right hose, I watched this earlier, and decided first thing tomorrow AM im going to try this, see for 1, if he actually put in my carb kit (ill kill) or if something is just gummed up. What an outstanding video! Ill get back and let you know how this turns out!

This video is extremely helpful. thank you for taking the time to show people how to fix a leaking carb. With my limited tool budget I'm sure I'll be swearing and scratching my head but I'll have a reference to use. Thanks again.

Ive noticed that a lot of new riders have this irrational fear of the carburetors, they always take them to the shop because they think as soon as they open them up, a whole bunch of tiny parts are all gonna jump out springloaded. I take this tone in this, and my dozens of other videos on carbs and other maintenance techniques, not just to show the semi-competent how the process done, but also to instill confidence in the novices who just dont know yet that they do have the skills.

Amazing video, couldn't have said it better myself. Keep up helping out man, we appreciate it!

Great tutorial. My 1980 yamaha cafe racer project as been giving me hell from the beginning. Fuel is coming out of my air box!!!!!

Thank you again, I will check that video, you are saving me from a lot of frustration not to mention the money.

Great video man. I knew mine were clogged, this gave me the confidence to do it. Carbs are way more simple than I thought

This is exactly what I needed to see! Planning a carb strip down after mine leaked just like this!

Worked a treat on my CBR600, many thanks!

What i did was after cleaning the needle i took out the petrol from the petrol tank and cleaned the tank and made a very fine filter for the petrol tank to stop the crap constantly clogging onto the needle. It really helps if you find your self constantly pulling apart the carb apart to try and clean it and fine that it just keeps on leaking.

hey man thank you for posting this video! helped me pre plan how to fix my mother's boyfriend's bike. i have watched a few of your videos and they are great and very easy to understand. keep posting them!

Great video. Thanks so much for sharing. I have gas leaking back through the air filter. I'm hoping it's a similar situation.

fyi,guys. take lots of pictures with your smartphone before removing the carburator

Thank you sooo much just. Bought a 1981 kz 550 ltd and one carb has this slow drip from the over flow valve..... this helps a lot. I'll be pulling the carbs soon!

Thank you for sharing this information, two of my three bikes are leaking and I was so afraid something really bad can be the cause, now I will try this first, only problem is one of my bikes is a V twin and carbs are really hard to reach.

Just wanted to say you are the man thanks for the help....to anyone who need help on a bike ask this guy

Glad to help! It could be gas from the gas cap, but first make sure there is no gas pooling in your airbox. Gas in the oil is the big thing, track the level of your oil in your sight glass to make sure it is not going down or especially up, if you don't see any in there then you are probably ok. Any semi-open containers of gas sitting around nearby?

@Miralis27 The choke richens the mixture of the air and gas, either by blocking off the air, adding more gas, or both. If you have fuel leaking it is probably not directly associated with the choke, probably something else

Thanks for the video, very easy to follow. I had a similar problem with fuel overflow into my air box and leaking everywhere. Bought a rebuild kit and the with the rebuild kit the floats sat to low so I reused the the old gear and just changed the O rings. But it's still leaking.

Nice job Max! By the way, if your video camera is like mine, it will have variable close focus depending on the zoom. It's counterintuitive, but most zoom cameras will have better close focus limits when set to wide angle. So, if you find that it can't focus because the camera is too close, try zooming to wide angle and you will be able to hold the camera closer. Strangely, the loss you get from wide angle is less than the gain you get from ability to hold the camera closer. Cheers.

Your battery might be flat, but if it is, it is not causing these symptoms. Sounds like you need a full carb cleaning, with special attention to the things I mention in this video. Click on my channel and look up my video on cleaning carburetors, I demonstrate on another motorcycle but the concepts are the same for quads too. Good luck let me know if you have any other questions.

When you turn the fuel back on the rush of fuel washes the needle clean and it seats properly. You may have to do this several times but it has never failed me on a bike or a car since the 1950's. On an old car you crimp the rubber line from the gas tank to the fuel pump with a vice grip and follow the same procedure.

@trufbros1 Make sure your needle moves in and out of its chamber freely, float heights are set appropriately, and that it is not leaking from anywhere else like a float bowl gasket or bad fuel lines

Ugh I hate that. I used to be a major perpetrator of sloppy wiring jobs, and having to deal with all that from the other end has taught me to clean up my act. Usually now I will re-wire with snap connectors and try to keep the coloring of the wires the same

@jdogface Haha no worries dude, glad to help. If your gas leaks into your cylinders, it can lead to a very bad situation. It will foul your plugs and make your bike run poorly, but more importantly it will dilute your oil, making it much thinner, and therefore unable to lubricate your engine. Your engine will wear rapidly and soon the cylinders will scour. You need to change the oil anytime it smells gassy, and more importantly fix that float leak asap. Send a message if you need some more help.

Awesome easy to understand video, thank you!!!!

@dwidthekid Are you sure it wont go in? You are not stripping the threads? Look down into the spark plug hole and see if you see anything in there blocking its way, your engine may have eaten a valve

Have you checked the float height? How about the floats themselves, were there new ones in your kit or are you using old ones which might be damaged and not floating so well anymore? Finally whats the condition of your float needle chamber, where the needle sits, is there possibly some corrosion in there that is preventing the needles from seating properly?

10:05 top tip, replace all the cross head screws with allen head ones! No more stripped screws.

@zrultima Check your float needles, if the one carb that is leaking is the side that your kickstand is on, then almost definitely your float needle on that carb is stuck open

@Drumnguy77 That does sound like the needle is stuck open, either the float is stuck or the needle got dislodged when you were reinstalling it, or something like that.

Me too...cleaned the carbs first thing this morning, everything looked good until i took the float needle out of the leaking carb and found a very small chunk of rubber under it, checked all needle valves and jets of each carb before putting them back on.

@ElderPromethean You gotta clean them like I showed in the video. If it is not this exact problem, then it is something close, like crusty needles

@YoshiMan246 Its actually not too hard, get yourself a digital touchless thermometer, like $15 on ebay or autozone, and track the temperatures of the header pipes as they warm up. Start with the bike cool, start it, then track the temps of the pipes as they heat up. If one doesnt warm up then you are not firing there, or one warms up way faster than the others, it is burning way too lean. This is a preliminary test but it could let you know wheres the problem. Also, did you synch the carbs yet?

Right on man, I just picked up 2 of those same bikes, Im about to make 1 out of the two. It sounds like you are overflowing, check the float height and that the float/needle/pin is clean

A good tip for stripped screws, use valve lapping compound on a screwdriver. I've actually gotten a screwdriver to bite so hard I snapped the tip off my screwdriver a quarter inch from the tip of the tip, and it was like a standard #8 Phillips, not a tiny screwdriver either.

@zrultima Can you isolate where it is leaking? From the overflow hoses, or from a gasket, or the little plastic tubes that run between the carbs?

MrMaxstorey explains this process well and does the job right. However, if the leaking is happening when the bike is not running it could just be bad o-rings on the drain screws. Every bike is different but I have heard of guys just pulling the valve body out and apply a thin coat of copper sealant to the body/oring and reinstalling. I have even heard of some cheapskates plugging the drain hose and having no problem for years. Lets just say this is what a friend of a friend of mine did. Just be safe out there.

Well, generally you can tell if your floats are the issue. If you have the brass hollow style floats, just shake them and see if they have gas inside. If they are the black plastic floats, look really hard for any cracks or places in the material where gas could be soaking in. If they look uniform they are probably good. Before you spend any more money, just do a little experiment and lower the float heights a bit, and make them all the same, and see if that helps

Great video. Learned a lot in just a few minutes.

@zrultima Remember that both the floats and the float needles need to be able to move totally unencumbered. While you are in there check your float heights (I have another video up for that), which can also cause overflowing if they are off. Also be sure to tighten up all of your float bowls extra tight.

Man thats a bummer, its frustrating because you really can't muscle them free. I will usually spray them, soak them, heat them with a blowtorch, or tap them lightly with a pick and hammer. Beyond putting them in a sonic cleaner, thats about the best you can do

Since your first carb is lower when the bike is on the kickstand, sometimes it will leak even if the overflow is coming from a different carb. Re-check those float heights, the needles, and the floats that they dont have small leaks and are still floating well. As for your leaking bowl, theres not much that can go wrong there. Either the gasket is in good shape and the bowl is tight, or it isnt. Try tightening it some more. Might be worth replacing the screws with allen heads for a tighter seal

Thats the kind of stuff I like to hear in the morning

You shouldnt put sealant on the float bowl gaskets, only use the gasket. Im not entirely sure which bolt you are talking about, is yours stripped or stuck?

Yes, thats the same type i use..a 3/8 clear wall filter . When i got the bike a few months ago it didnt have an inline on it and now i see why.

@jkrlabonte Could be, carbs leak from a lot of different places than this movie illustrates. This one really just focused on overflowing carbs, but they can leak from gaskets, fuel lines, connecting hoses, or other places. First step is figuring out from where exactly the leak is coming, next you can address it

@dwidthekid Oh well you may have fouled the plugs after flooding the engine when the carbs were leaking. Also make sure all of your air conduits are tightened well and that there are no vacuum leaks.

@Drumnguy77 That is probably the bowl plug, normally there is a screw there that you can remove to drain the bowls. You'll need to get another one. Go on bikebandit and look up your bike, they sell them for like $3.50

Thank a lot! Very good info for 1st timer...

Great video thanks. Now i understand why my carb leaks.

@YoshiMan246 It could be a slight air leak, or a partially restricted fuel line. Also, you may r may not be jetted properly, if you have pod filters or an upgraded exhaust, you need to change your carburetor jets. Finally, can you confirm that all 4 of your cylinders are firing? If you have a dead cylinder it may act like that.

Best video i have ever viewed!!!!!! You freakin drew it out, now i get it!!!! Best help ever"!!"!!!!!!"

To remove a hinge pin use a spring-loaded centre punch on the end. One click usually does it.

I took them apart again yesterday and checked out the floats then re-adjusted them. Only one carb is leaking now and it seems to change each time I take the bike apart. I'm starting to think only one of the floats need replacing.

@dwidthekid What do you mean the engine turns like a key in an ignition? Does it sound differently while its cranking than it did before?

@schwinnprotocol Check your gasket that it is not torn, and that the screws are tightened down tight

Great video, thank you, video and explanation were great, might include how to adjust float level to the proper setting based on the manufacturer's specifications. Mine wasn't stuck, (on my Polaris ATV) just wasn't adjusted properly. Keep up the good work on the videos !

OK I took the bowls off of 2 carbs and rechecked the float height and seat. The seats look new. It ended up being that I plugged the vent holes on top with a plug coming off of the tee. After I took the plugs out, no more leaks, YA! Now it just needs to be tuned at the idle adjustment. Seems to die when i give it a little bit of thottle, but will idle ok.

Good video...but I have to correct you on the arms that hold the float pin. I had a carb that had a broken arm, I J/B weld it, and it worked great, didn't have to buy new carb.

Very helpful video for me, thanks so much

Brilliant, brilliant video, many thanks. Quick question. My 2002 (ok, not exactly vintage but it has gone round the block) leaks a small amount of fuel (not like the amount in this video) from one of the hoses down by the rear brake pedal - i am assuming this is the overflow hose you refer to. I'm guessing that this is due to a sticky float and that i should overhaul all the carbs? Or just open it up and see which one is not playing ball? Carb overflow is the most likely problem, right?

Yeah I will often use an inline fuel filter from a lawn mower, you can buy them at autozone, I buy them by the lot of 10 from ebay

Yeah man, I just replaced all the o-rings on my '81 CB650C carbs. Did the trick.

@69kafil Well, without taking a look at a picture or something I cant say for sure. Sometimes the fuel overflows are located there. Or, that is the main fuel intake, and you have your fuel lines misrouted, and you are feeding gas into an overflow which is then flowing out of the gas intake. If you want you can take a video of the carbs leaking and send me the link, and I will take a look.

I think the majority of these problems stem from an overly rich mixture from overflowing carbs. Sort that out, and whatever issues remain you can diagnose then

Excellent video

Awesome dude....well explained!!!

Thanks for this video... you are a good teacher.

Thanks for watching, Im glad the video helped you. Usually you can take old gas and oil to most auto parts stores, and they will recycle it for you. If not, your local dump is the next best place

So I have a few problems with my carbs, and hopefully you can help. I have a kawasaki kz750, my carbs recently had new floats and needles installed, and their levels are okay. No stuck floats, no adjustment needed. My first carb leaks from the overflow valve, but I'm confused, because the fuel level isn't even high enough to reach the overflow tube. My third carb leaks excessively from the bowl-body mating surface, even though the o-ring gasket is new and undamaged, but this only happens when th

I own a 1981 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim which has four carbs. In viewing my bike from the side it is obvious that the carbs are tilted a bit fore and aft. With both wheels sitting on level ground and the bike supported upright I was able to establish that the carbs slope downward in the aft direction by about five degrees. I took this slope into consideration when I proceeded to adjust the floats. With the carbs off the bike, I supported them in a fixture I built that holds them at the same five degree tilt as on the bike. The fixture is also constructed so that the bowls are easy to remove and install to allow fine tuning of the floats and fuel level. Once I've established the right fuel level on one carb, I took a vernier caliper and measured the height of the adjusting tang on the float lever. I then set the adjusting tang on the remaining three floats to the same height with good repeatability. All this detail paid off. The bike has never run better.

great video man helped me out alot.

That sound slike you still might have float problems, or sticky slide, vacuum leaks, or clogged main jets

Thank you , very informative video

Well first make sure that is a carb overflow hose, your battery drain hose also will typically route down by your brake pedal and that is an entirely different problem. But yes if it is coming from your carbs then it is a very good idea to go in there and take a look at all 4. Whatever is causing your leaky carb to leak might be building up and fixing to cause a problem soon in the other ones

Also, maybe have a linked video of how to "PROPERLY" dispose of gas/oil as I might not always do that in the best possible fashion....

Thanks for the help! Fix my gy6 carburetor.

@spelunkerd Thanks for the advice, that was on my old camera now I just use a flip cam, very easy to use but not much ability to adjust the picture.

Is it a black plastic float, or a hollow metal float?

e petcock is on prime. Also, I currently have the airbox off, and i just ran the engine with no air filters and noticed two things. My first carb, when the engine is running shoots out the air/fuel mixture out of the intake side of the carb; not constantly, but every ten seconds or so. Also, when the engine shuts off, either the first and fourth or the second and third carbs will smoke out of the intake side. Sorry, it's a lot, any help is greatly appreciated.

son of a biscuit. i found my problem max! i checked my floats and they were good! decided to respray the boots for 50th time and i found a surge when i would spray the rod linking the carbs together! i rednecked it and just put some hondabond around the leak. fired it up again and now shes purring like a cat! haha! frikn aye. but i think my patch will last long. idk

@carlcbx Normally I would have, but I was pretty sure I knew which carb was the culprit. I only opened up #2 for comparison purposes. Anyways, this solved the problem and the bike runs great.