odd overflow problem

[Maddevill]

Flow

IF you can shut off the fuel by pushing up the floats, then either your float height is still too high or you have dirty/ worn needle seats or needle valves. They serve the function of shutting off the flow of fuel dictated by the floats. Also check that your floats actually float.

[Guest]

I bought one new float to compare to my 32 year old floats to make sure they were fine. I weighed the new float, then weighed the old floats. To my amazement they were all with in .021+/- grams of each other.

[sidecardad]

I polished the needle valves to get rid of some minor grooves and recut the needle seats. A #2 center drill fits in the seats real nice. Turned it very lightly with my finger then polised with a wooden dowl and some polishing compound. I did all this a week ago. Must have had some crud stuck or something.

[Crankthat]

Last year I cleaned the carbs on my sisters honda.

Put them on, they overflowed.
Took them off again paying closer attention to seats and valves(the valves had the rubber tips) they overflowed.
Took them off again, checked floats rubbed rubber tips with fingers good and broke out the magnifying glass all looked good put them back on and they overflowed.
Had to leave and did not get back to it for a couple of weeks turned gas to on position and they were fine, been fine.
Never could figure out but the only two good explanations I could come up with.
#1 Rubber tips had hardened just enough while out of fuel to deform until they soaked in fuel for a while.
#2 Weird air bubble.

Don't know if you have the rubber tipped valves or not.
Will never know for sure but will always leave the valves soaking in fuel if not replaced.

[Dave8338]

Or reconnected the lines correctly.

Glad you got it sorted out.

[sidecardad]

Valves arent rubber tiped. The line werent hooked up wrong. Theres only one fitting between carb 2&3. The other tee fittings between1&2 AND 3&4 are the bowl vents right. Someone said the carbs had seperate vents but only if they are apart. Mine have 2 Tee fittings and 2 lines for the vents.

[Dave8338]

Just giv'N ya ha hard time .

I have a similar bike and have been through everything air/fuel related with it.
At first, it was fun. By the time I got it right, some of these guys were tired of me. Some still are.

[Guest]

hammer the needles into the seats

[Guest]

hammer the needles into the seats

This is how you fix a Hardley

[sidecardad]

I've had a couple harleys and I've thought about doin just that.

[Guest]

it's how you can fix a leaky needle valve if you have solid steel needles and brass seats.
be diplomatic with the smallest hammer you have, and a small drift, ....

[sidecardad]

Update

Thanks to all the fine info here. Tore the carbs down again and soaked in dip, all new O-rings, some tiny pin holes in the diaphrams repaired. Bike runs great and I still have to balance the carbs and read the plugs. Still overflowing if I leave the petcock on. I did route the fuel line down the out side of carb 1, then underneath, then up to the fuel inlet. Takes longer to over flow now. So if i run the line under the bike, around the tail light and back I should be good. Time to start mounting the sidecar.

[Guest]

"Still overflowing if I leave the petcock on"

For some reason the fuel is overpowering your fuel needles. Turn the petcock off when you are parked.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I'm a little confused, but that's not hard to do.

My petcock does not have an "OFF" position.

For your perusal:

Where Do These Hoses Go?

Overflowing Carbs


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[sidecardad]

I put in an auxiliary shut off. One of those plastic ones from lowes.http://www.ereplacementparts.com/ima...8180-1_med.gif The diaphragm in the petcock is missing the little brass tabs on the back so it does not shut off, I have a kit ordered. The needles and seats are all new from z1 enterprises and floats were set with float level gauge and they did not overflow on the workbench. Only happens on the bike, after about 5 min of not running, with the gas turned on. The bike runs fine and does'nt over flow when running.