Triumphrat

fundyrider · 05-12-2008

The last couple of weeks, my 1200 Trophy has been starting harder than usual, sometimes I get a faint smell of gas, at times it seems to be starving for fuel at low revs, today I went into a store for about 10 min and when I returned to the bike there was fuel leaking down the side of the bike and a pretty good puddle under it. I got it home and parked it in the garage and not a drop has leaked since. Any idea whats going on?
Peter

Mark62 · 05-12-2008

Can you be more specific about"fuel running down side of bike". It sounds like a float is hanging in a carb or your petcock is leaking.
Mark

fundyrider · 05-13-2008

fuel looked to be coming from the air box, dripping on the rubber boot on the alternator terminal, bike was on the side stand.

Mark Anderson · 05-13-2008

I think Mark62 is right. I have the same problem with a 1995 Sprint 900 I just bought. The previous owner managed to only put 8000 miles on it in 13 years. I am on my third tank of carb cleaner with positive results. With each tank the low end performance improves and after the first tank the leak stopped and has not returned. Its probably one of the floats, I suggest working the throttle hard and carb cleaner.

ervdrvr1 · 05-13-2008

I'd say a float sticking, but, check your fuel lines for any splits just in case.

Erv
Deep in the Heart of Texas!!

narrowminded · 05-13-2008

Check the oil for gasoline! Shouldn't be contaminated but why risk it!

BlueTrophy · 05-13-2008

Do check the oil. My nephew asked me to check out the leak on his Yamaha and I found the crankcase full of gasoline from stuck floats. Removed the carbs(as in most cases with newer engines, whoever designed them has never had to work on them) and cleaned them well and put them back in. Drained the oil and left the crankcase open for 24 hours. All is well.

sailfish · 05-13-2008

If the bike has Mikunis then the float seats need to be inspected and most likely replaced. If the seat is cracked, no amount of fuel system cleaner will fix that. Search the forum and you'll find plenty to read on the topic.

fundyrider · 05-13-2008

Thanks for all the replys, most likely carbs need cleaning, never worked on carbs before, not sure it's a job I want to tackle myself.
Can't say I smell any gas odor coming from the crankcase although my oil level appears to be higher in the sight glass than I normally keep it.
The bikes previous owner was a cruise ship captain, so the bike sat for months at a time, judging by other issues I've discovered since taking ownership, mostly lack of maintenance, I doubt he used gas treatment before laying the bike up.
I'll study the service manual for a bit to get an idea how hard doing the carbs are

mcG63 · 05-13-2008

Having just gone through exactly what you are describing I would recommend purchasing new float assemblies. I chose to replace the dried out o-ring seals on the floats and I reset float heights but after reassembling everything I ran the bike and the #2 carb flooded the airbox and crankcase with fuel again. The needle looked ok but it was not seating as required.
My new floats came today but now I am out another 4 litres of synthetic oil, a filter and about 3 weeks of riding time!
While I had everything apart I also changed all my fuel and vacuum lines.
Hope this helps.
mcg63