Can't find the leak

[chuck hahn]

light some incense and pass the smoke along the joints to see if its puffing anywhere

[Guest]

got the bolt off (neighbor with a welder)! new exhaust gaskets (and studs) and problem not solved. pulled the carbs to double (triple) check for any potential sources of air leak, and found that the intake side of the carb (and into the airbox) was wet with gas. this was a few hours after running it. no gas in the crank case or leaking from anywhere. pulled the hose off the carb suction nozzle and the nipple was wet too. assuming the float heights are set right and the float needles are good (i checked them when I pulled the carbs apart to dip them, and checked them again on reassembly):

1) could the gas be from anything other than the petcock (coming down the suction tube); and

2) could that be causing the popping / sputtering (happens mostly on decel, which I thought was a lean condition problem)?

even with all the apparent excess gas, bike does not seem to be bogging. but I am boggled.

Any place where you have an exhaust joint, if it's a little loose or not a good seal it could be sucking in some cold air, that can cause decell popping.

[mrules]

that's a good idea about using incense. I will go back to looking for exhaust leaks after solving the overflowing carbs problem. I'll start with the petcock (which is OEM and only 4 years old) because of the gas in the vacuum tube and then recheck the floats / needles.

[gustovh]

I live in Vernonia and may be able to help. Drop me a pm for my number.

V