Hey guys I have a 2007 ninja just picked up a few weeks ago and when I put fresh fuel in her (she had been sitting a while with the previous owner) I started smelling gas. it appears that it is coming from the seal around the carburator bowl. Is this a common problem after this bike has been sitting for a while and any easy cheap fixes?

Thanks a ton :thumbup:

Yeah the gaskets go bad over time. Make sure the petcock isn't bad as well because I had a similar problem and it ended up being the seals on petcock had gone bad.

I did take the tank off to check the petcock and didn't get any leaks while it was off. I guess it sounds like I need a few seals :(

So I took the carb bowls out and the seals were pretty dry, I used just a touch of oil on them and re positioned them in the seat. I just checked a little bit ago and there is no gas smell and no visible dampness ^_^
The process was quite a bit easier then expected using you guide on carberator removal.

So I took the carb bowls out and the seals were pretty dry, I used just a touch of oil on them and re positioned them in the seat. I just checked a little bit ago and there is no gas smell and no visible dampness ^_^
The process was quite a bit easier then expected using you guide on carberator removal.

There may be other things going on though...

At this point you most likely don't have any fuel in the floatbowls unless you've run it. It takes vacuum (or turning the petcock to "prime" if you have it) to get fuel to flow.

When the fuel is at the proper level it shouldn't be high enough to run out of the bowl gasket area. It would only leak a significant amount of fuel out of the gasket if the needle and seat were not sealing completely or the float level is set too high.

Turn the petcock to ON with the bike off and see if it leaks. If it leaks then it's bad. It's only supposed to let out gas when vacuum is applied which means the bike would have to be on. If it doesn't leak then it's not the petcock so that would leave the carbs. Check float level and and replace gasket(s) on whatever side is leaking.

Turn the petcock to ON with the bike off and see if it leaks. If it leaks then it's bad. It's only supposed to let out gas when vacuum is applied which means the bike would have to be on. If it doesn't leak then it's not the petcock so that would leave the carbs. Check float level and and replace gasket(s) on whatever side is leaking.

Oh good point I had not thought of that. I turned the petcock to the ON position so in a little bit we shall know for sure.

There may be other things going on though...

At this point you most likely don't have any fuel in the floatbowls unless you've run it. It takes vacuum (or turning the petcock to "prime" if you have it) to get fuel to flow.

When the fuel is at the proper level it shouldn't be high enough to run out of the bowl gasket area. It would only leak a significant amount of fuel out of the gasket if the needle and seat were not sealing completely or the float level is set too high.

I did run the engine for a bit that evening so I did get the carb bowls filled again, as for float level I have a friend who has done it before and was going to walk me through the process, with any luck that should take care of any residual problems.

Those bowl gaskets ain't cheap. My local dealer hosed me $12 for a pair just last year.

j98sprint

Oh that sucks, well luckily I don't have any leaks now so something went right for me. Thanks a ton for the help. here is to many happy days riding! :dance::dance: