Dropped bike, gas leaked?

[Brandon]

Hi everyone! Great site by the way. I am the very proud owner of a "new to me" 02 V11 sport. My wife and I just finished the MSF course and she wanted to try the V11 out. Unfortunately it proved to be just too heavy for her and fell over while stopped. No damage to her which is most important. The bike only suffered very minor scuffs and a broken rear brake lever.

So my question is about the gas tank. I ran over right away to check on her and stand the bike up. When I got there gas was pouring out around the tank lid. Is it supposed to do that? I know this is a total noob question, but it seemed very strange! Seems like it should seal??

 

Again, great site, I have learned so much already from here.

Thanks!

-Brandon

[Garsdad]

I've not tested mine, but in theory it should seal. However...

 

There is a "tip over" valve in the vent line for these bikes that often was installed incorrectly, causing it to not vent at all and "tank suck" to occur. Many of us have fixed the orientation of the valve and lashed it to the frame in the right position. Some of us, myself included, just removed the valve and run a plain vent line. Others removed part or all of the rubber seal around the gas cap so the tank could vent there.

 

Have a look at the cap first. After that, I am out of ideas!

 

Garsdad

[edge]

What he said... Check the cap seal, my guess someone rmoved it to stop tan-suck. FWIW not such a good idea as demonstrated

 

I've not tested mine, but in theory it should seal. However...

 

Others removed part or all of the rubber seal around the gas cap so the tank could vent there.

 

Have a look at the cap first. After that, I am out of ideas!

 

Garsdad

[Brandon]

Thanks for the response guys. When you say check the cap seal, do you mean the rubber ring around the lid that opens up? I'm sorry for my confusion, these bikes are new to me. Is there a write up on fixing vent problem? I've tried searching, but am still a little confused about it.

 

Thanks again!

-Brandon

[Guest frankdugo]

welcome brandon,the previous responces sum it all.---the search should bring up numerous pages

[Garsdad]

A couple of things.

 

First, this is what it should look like. When you close it, it should require a little downward pressure before you can turn the key to lock it. If yours just falls closed, then it is not sealing. Make sure the rubber seal (the black ring around the red) is complete and not pinched or mis-shaped so it doesn't seal.

 

Second, when you use the search function at the bottom of the thread, it only searches that thread. Go to the forums home page and search using the search function at the top of the page, type in "tank suck" or "tip over valve" and you will get enough discussion to make you totally confused.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Garsdad