| Author | Message | ||
     Dr_greg |
Went for a 200-mile ride Sunday; after returning home the wife walked out in the garage and said "boy, I sure smell gas." Come to think of it, so did I. There was no sign of leakage of any sort, and I couldn't really pinpoint the source of the smell. At my last gas stop (about 80 miles before getting home) I did slightly overfill the "tank" (overflow ran out the hose and made a saucer-sized puddle). I've not noticed this before; any ideas? The smell did eventually dissipate. The moral of the story may be: don't fill the "tank" too full! | ||
| Chadhargis |
Most likely the engine heated the fuel tank up enough to cause the fuel to expand a bit and expell some vapors. No worries. | ||
| Cdallen |
Same happened to me, but only once and it was following a fuel up ~20 miles before home and some... spirited riding on that 20 miles. Has not happened again though, so for now I am chalking it up to what Chad said. | ||
| Chadhargis |
It happens quite a bit to me. Because heat rises, and when you shut off your bike, there is no airflow over the engine, the heat rises up and heats the tank. This causes the fuel to expand. If you had a full tank when you parked it, it could cause some fuel to spill out of the overflow tube. | ||
| Jim_sb |
Which is just one reason why CA bikes have the charcoal canister. The fuel tank (frame) is allowed to vent to the canister - when the engine is running the intake recovers the fuel vapors from the canister. Improves gas mileage (since your fuel isn't venting to atmosphere or the floor), protects the environment (more harmful VOX are emitted in a sunny day from a vent to air fuel tank than will be emitted in a year or riding through your tailpipe) and reduces the fire hazard in your garage. Which is why I leave the charcoal canister on all my bikes. Regards, Jim in Santa Barbara | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I'm not sure that the fuel expands so much as the air gap above the fuel does the expanding and displaces the fuel. My Prius has a bladder gas tank so that their is no room for air and I imagine that keeps out condensation. I know that I'm rambling. | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
Heck yea the fuel expands. One time it was actually boiling in my fuel tank - big time, like a tea kettle. I now park it outside of the garage until it cools down. I was breaking the bike in so I was not riding it hard. Remember the fuel tank wraps around the engine and the fan blows over the top of the rear of the tank. | ||
| Stevem123 |
Damn....I never noticed that but I ride in fairly cool climates also. Just remember that the fans do help a lot to remove hot air from the rear cylinder but the only forced air cooling comes from riding at moderate speeds. You don't have to be going real fast but any movement through the air brings temps down much better than the fans ever will. The oil cooler also needs forward motion through the air to provide any real effect. Now go ride that thing! BC Steve  | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
Heck the bike is so good I think it's taking me for a ride and not me taking it. HELP MOMMY, I HEAR THE ULY CALLING ME FROM THE GARAGE!  NO,NO,NO,YES,YES DAMN IT! | ||
| M2nc |
Amen Brother! Never smelled gas though, but I try not to overfill the tank. | ||
| 1313 |
M2nc, Not even after your ride last Saturday night after eating them beans?!?!  1313 | ||
| M2nc |
Okay, you have a point, but I was warm! |
