New Year surprise ... sump full of petrol

Hello and Happy New Year!

Well for some anyway ... my bike ('02 1200) has been in the garage for a week, I went to start it this morning in anticipation of a nice ride to the Scarborough Hotel and noticed a strong petrol smell ... I discovered that the tank is near empty (I left it near full) and the sump is full of petrol! Damn!

Not the best timing being that nothing is open and I need to fix this at least by Sunday so ... I'm thinking a stuck float in one of the carbs or something of that nature ... anyone had this happen?

Anyway, it looks like the carbs are coming off, not exactly what I needed to be doing on New Years Day  

As always, any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Cheers,

Roden

The fuel tap on the 1200 is vacuum actuated.  So I think that would be a good place to start your investigation. 
The fuel tap should close when the engine stops. 
Your carbs then have the float and needle setup to look at.

that's quiet weird, given that its a vacuum operated petcock.

what position did you have the tap on?

also, even if you had it open on prime, it shouldn`t by pass the needle and seat, so you`ll have to look at them, could be a bit of shit in there stopping one from closing

ahh..you beat me to it Bosco!!

Hey guys thanks for the rapid response ... I just checked and sure enough the fuel tap is in the "on" position, not prime, so fuel has apparently gotten past it, I'll pull that to start with and yes mtbeerwah, it then has to get past the carbs, so my problem is compounded it would seem ...

Anyway, just psyching myself up to get into it ... it's hot out there and I'm not feeling the brightest .... lol

To start with, look at the carbs to see why it by passed.

When you have the tank off, turn the tap to reserve, and see if it still passes the valve, then back to the on position, as it should be, if it still leaks, obviously pull it apart and see what it going on. You can get kits for them if needed. 

From all the bandit forums all over the world that I have visited, it seems that some people do have a problem with the petcock valve failing, fortunately I never had that problem with mine, but after about the 120 000km mark, I ditched it, and put a "Pingle" fuel tap in, which is a straight dump, and eliminates the vacuum system, so when you stop the bike, you just turn it off. I always double check when I stop, to make sure it is off, so no chance of loading up the system, which should work anyway, but if it did pass, you could end up with hydraulic lock which obviously is bad.

Had the same thing happen to me with the VTR last summer. I actually got mine started after a struggle and filled the garage with white smoke before stalling. I drained 12lt from the sump! 

I had a stuffed petcock and a float on the front carb.

You'll need to do a couple of quick oil changes if you had it turning over.

Yep, just drained 10 litres from the sump!

Tank off next and have a look at the fuel valve, I think that will be my main problem here ... trouble is with these vacuum valves is you can't turn them off ... maybe the Pingle valve is the way to go

Like 2WA, I've had exactly that same problem this year but not on a Bandit - mine was my old 1980 Yammy XS850, with vacuum operated fuel cocks. In my case, two of the 3 floats needed adjustment (I had recently overhauled them and didn't set the floats correctly) AND both fuel cocks were leaking fuel through to the carbs with the motor off (the XS850 has dual feeds to a common rail). I found a fix for the fuel cocks on the XS850 on-line forum, and plenty of complaints about a particular brand of after-market fuel-cock overhaul kits (K&L brand - one person actually reckoned this kit made the problem worse!).

Good luck - pulling carbs is a pain and of course, you have to be super-careful not to snap off the float support legs.

Roden wrote:Yep, just drained 10 litres from the sump!

Tank off next and have a look at the fuel valve, I think that will be my main problem here ... trouble is with these vacuum valves is you can't turn them off ... maybe the Pingle valve is the way to go

You should still be able to get OEM parts and thats the way I'd go.
They went vacuum so we wouldn't forget to turn a valve off 

Well I got the fuel tap off and sure enough as soon as I disconnected the fuels hose, it poured petrol straight out. I turned the tap to reserve and back again and it stopped but I guess that might happen, its not a fix.

I pulled the tap apart and I can't visibly see any problem but I can blow through the tap in its "on" and "reserve" position ... so I guess an overhaul kit is in order ... I'll steer clear of K&L brand

2wheelsagain wrote:

Roden wrote:Yep, just drained 10 litres from the sump!

Tank off next and have a look at the fuel valve, I think that will be my main problem here ... trouble is with these vacuum valves is you can't turn them off ... maybe the Pingle valve is the way to go

You should still be able to get OEM parts and thats the way I'd go.
They went vacuum so we wouldn't forget to turn a valve off 

That was a recall on the VX800 after I bought it, I had 1 leaking manual tap replaced under warranty then about a year or so later a recall replaced it with a vacuum operated tap, in the next 19-20 years I had no problems with the vacuum one.

Anyone know where I'm likely to pick up a petcock overhaul kit off the shelf in Sydney?

Cheers,

Roden

don`t like your chances.

start at your local dealer, then spread out from there.

They will then look up Suzuki Melbourne, and tell you what`s in Australia, and hope not say its gotta come from Japan.

Sydney`s a big place, and I`m sure there`s lots of dealers there.

It's probably the same petcock as fitted to a heap of Suzukis around the time so you shouldn't be restricted to a Bandit unit.

mtbeerwah wrote:don`t like your chances.

start at your local dealer, then spread out from there.

They will then look up Suzuki Melbourne, and tell you what`s in Australia, and hope not say its gotta come from Japan.

Sydney`s a big place, and I`m sure there`s lots of dealers there.

I had parts for the VX arrive from Japan quicker than they could get them the 800 km from Melbourne to Adelaide 

so... dumb question, and a mild sidetrack...

there's a reserve tap on the bandit? I haven't been able to find one on my 06.... could someone point me in the direction of it?

thanks.

stu wrote:so... dumb question, and a mild sidetrack...

there's a reserve tap on the bandit? I haven't been able to find one on my 06.... could someone point me in the direction of it?

thanks.

not unless you fit a aftermarket tap

Chook wrote:

stu wrote:so... dumb question, and a mild sidetrack...

there's a reserve tap on the bandit? I haven't been able to find one on my 06.... could someone point me in the direction of it?

thanks.

not unless you fit a aftermarket tap

ah. so, not so dumb.

Thanks

stu wrote:so... dumb question, and a mild sidetrack...

there's a reserve tap on the bandit? I haven't been able to find one on my 06.... could someone point me in the direction of it?

thanks.

The 06 tank is the same as the 1250 tank ....................no tap whatsoever ( unlike the 1200 tank which does )...............it would be handy sometimes though

paul wrote:The 06 tank is the same as the 1250 tank ....................no tap whatsoever ( unlike the 1200 tank which does )...............it would be handy sometimes though

Yes, it would. ... I've only run out of petrol once... when I had unusually high consumption... was actually on my way to the petrol station at the time... didn't make it..... seems strange that there isn't one, though....

stu wrote:

paul wrote:The 06 tank is the same as the 1250 tank ....................no tap whatsoever ( unlike the 1200 tank which does )...............it would be handy sometimes though

Yes, it would. ... I've only run out of petrol once... when I had unusually high consumption... was actually on my way to the petrol station at the time... didn't make it..... seems strange that there isn't one, though....

And you could use your tank easier as a remote tank when working on your bike by bypassing the vacuum part of the tap .