what is this?

[Engraverwilliam]

http://imgur.com/GzoyvSb
and are there supposed to be hoses on it?

[tweeter55]

I'm definitely not an expert, but I speculate a previous? owner removed some California model doohickey.

[gPink]

...nor am I but that pinched hose can't be helpful.

[Deziner]

Emissions control stuff. If the bike runs well, disregard it.

[Jim __]

I can't see your picture, but I though these might help.....

[Engraverwilliam]

Thank you, that helps a bit.

Reddit also found me this http://www.kawasakipartshouse.com/oemparts/a/kaw/500b25cdf8700223e478f580/fuel-evaporative-system-ca

[Engraverwilliam]

Ok then,  I found the bit of hose coming from the tank and routed it back to the module. The gas smell I had has been reduced. Now, I need to find where there is supposedly a hose coming off the carbs to plucg into the other hookup. But looking and looking, and I cannot figuer out what I need to do. I see no floppy hoses as with the first one.

I'll investigate further.

The gas smell never has been real strong but definitely a radiating kind of odor. no puddles and the bike runs well.

She is being put in for full maintenance on the 26th valves, breaks...the whole 9. because she is currently only at just above half her capable mpg.

[Two Skies]

Sounds like you may have some debris in your float valves.  I'd recommend attaching a suitably sized hose to the nipples of each float bowl, draining each bowl into a cup (so you can see any debris that is flushed out), then flipping your petcock to the 'on' position for a few seconds with the drain still open to flush fuel through that float bowl, possibly unseating some debris.  Repeat for the other three float bowls.

Then fire her up and if she runs OK, see how she does/take a short trip.  If you still smell fuel after you take a short ride, you still have a problem.  Otherwise, problem solved for now.

Where you are smelling fuel, don't ever leave your petcock in the 'on' position, as some fuel may get into the cylinder, and cause a hydrolock.  The 'run' position (the one that flips on when the vacuum picks up) is probably OK, but as Connie petcocks age these can fail...

If you have fuel seeping into your air filter, btw, you are running a huge risk of hydrolock...


Search for hydrolock on this board if you need more info about what this is.  Essentially, a cylinder fills with fuel, then when you try to start the bike you end up bending a rod (fuel has nowhere to go and won't compress) and damaging the engine.  It doesn't happen often, but Connie owners need to be vigilant with carb and petcock maintenance else you run the risk of this happening.


Back on topic, if the 'flushing the float bowls' trick doesn't solve your issue, it's time for a carb cleaning/rebuild.  While you probably can do a somewhat good job yourself, the collective here recommends that you get in touch with Steve In Sunny Florida/Shoodabeen Engineering.  He specializes in Connie carbs, and will do you right!  Plus he has some economy & performance upgrades that might intrerest you... 

Your local bike shop will probably charge you a lot more than Steve will, and may end up not doing the highest quality work...

Also, his overflow tubes are a very nice option to prevent/protect against hydrolock.

www.shoodabenengineering.com/


All of the above said, take a few minutes to inspect your vacuum lines and fuel lines.  A pinhole in a fuel line, or an improperly attached one, could also be releasing droplets of fuel.  Just trying to think of all the bases here.

[Engraverwilliam]

That s a very thorough answer! Thanks for that. My mechanic is a performance & racing bike place so we will see how they do. I found the tube that goes from the top of the carb rack to the bottom connector on the emissions module so I will be reattaching that. Why people cannot put things back together I I do not know. ANYways, I will be draining the carb floats. would you also recommend disconnecting the fuel supply and running the bike dry? Or run it dry first then drain any excess from the bowls...I found the drain screws you where talking about.

here is where I take my bike
http://www.hudsonmotorcycles.net/default.asp

https://www.facebook.com/HUDSONMOTORCYCLES

http://www.yelp.com/biz/hudson-motorcycles-gardena-2

they have a fantastic reputation.

[Jim __]

That tube from the top of the carbs to the bottom nipple of the charcoal canister is the carb vent.  That should make a difference on the gas smell.

[RFH87_Connie]

Non-CA carb vent line routing in case you need it:

They just kind of run along the frame under the seat to open air (orange colored hose).

[Engraverwilliam]

Ok thanks RFH. I went out on my break and poked around on the bike for a sec and could not locate any hose coming from that location at all as indicted in your pics.

I will look again when I get home. I do not like missing parts on my vehicles. Even if someone says "You don't need that" I am OCD about missing parts. IT is all I think about every time I  use the vehicle until it is fixed.

[Two Skies]

No, you don't need to run the bike dry or anything.  The main goal here is just to flush any debris out of the float bowls, an maybe get a granule or whatever dislodged out of the needle & seat, if you are lucky enough to have that simple of a problem.  This is just an easy step that you probably should do every so often anyways.  In my case I lucked out, I'm hoping you luck out as well. 

I'm sure I'll be sending my carb off for rebuild fairly soon in any case, 'cuz I've been sold on the overflow tubes upgrade for a while, plus I want to install some of Steve's cool economy/performance jetting... and maybe his cool cam grind as well.  Oh, and the '7th gear' mod!  Gotta luv wish lists!

Back on topic, if you see more than a tiny bit of debris, yeah keep that carb rebuild in mind.

At best your bike is about 10 years old now (assuming you have an '06), so if you are seeing a drop in fuel economy, and the above trick doesn't bring things back in line, yeah it's probably due for a carb rebuild anyways.

Finally, definitely consider getting an inline fuel filter if one isn't installed already.  You need to be a bit careful here and get one that isn't too restrictive (gravity feed, so you don't want to starve the bike).  I'm sure the collective here may have a few good suggestions, I'm not sure which one is on mine (the bike mechanic I use picked it, not me).

[Jet86]

This is what i use. you can find them on ebay for around 4-7 dollars, last year i found them for 3.95 and bought 5 of them.

and most honda or any bike shop carry these but the shape seems to change on every new batch my shop gets so that's why i just bought 5 of them from ebay, i like the round shape ones better.

[Jim __]

NAPA FIL 3006 also works ($3.15).  It's a 90 degree configuration and will lay neatly on top of the carbs and give you a straight shot down to the carb fuel nipple.  Some folks have reported trouble with gas flow using external filters but I haven't had any problems.

[jettawreck]

Sounds like you may have some debris in your float valves.  I'd recommend attaching a suitably sized hose to the nipples of each float bowl, draining each bowl into a cup (so you can see any debris that is flushed out), then flipping your petcock to the 'on' position for a few seconds with the drain still open to flush fuel through that float bowl, possibly unseating some debris.  Repeat for the other three float bowls.

Then fire her up and if she runs OK, see how she does/take a short trip.  If you still smell fuel after you take a short ride, you still have a problem.  Otherwise, problem solved for now.

Where you are smelling fuel, don't ever leave your petcock in the 'on' position, as some fuel may get into the cylinder, and cause a hydrolock.  The 'run' position (the one that flips on when the vacuum picks up) is probably OK, but as Connie petcocks age these can fail...

If you have fuel seeping into your air filter, btw, you are running a huge risk of hydrolock...


Search for hydrolock on this board if you need more info about what this is.  Essentially, a cylinder fills with fuel, then when you try to start the bike you end up bending a rod (fuel has nowhere to go and won't compress) and damaging the engine.  It doesn't happen often, but Connie owners need to be vigilant with carb and petcock maintenance else you run the risk of this happening.


Back on topic, if the 'flushing the float bowls' trick doesn't solve your issue, it's time for a carb cleaning/rebuild.  While you probably can do a somewhat good job yourself, the collective here recommends that you get in touch with Steve In Sunny Florida/Shoodabeen Engineering.  He specializes in Connie carbs, and will do you right!  Plus he has some economy & performance upgrades that might intrerest you... 

Your local bike shop will probably charge you a lot more than Steve will, and may end up not doing the highest quality work...

Also, his overflow tubes are a very nice option to prevent/protect against hydrolock.

www.shoodabenengineering.com/


All of the above said, take a few minutes to inspect your vacuum lines and fuel lines.  A pinhole in a fuel line, or an improperly attached one, could also be releasing droplets of fuel.  Just trying to think of all the bases here.

If I recall, the petcock positions are "Prime", "ON" or "Run", and "Reserve".
On is the normal vacuum operated running position. Normal use selection. Regardless, overflow tubes are recommended. Strongly.
Prime is the manual always open position. Don't use this selection other than to manually fill/flush the carbs as mentioned, or to refill the bowls after having run out of fuel and switching to "Reserve".

[Two Skies]

If I recall, the petcock positions are "Prime", "ON" or "Run", and "Reserve".
On is the normal vacuum operated running position. Normal use selection. Regardless, overflow tubes are recommended. Strongly.
Prime is the manual always open position. Don't use this selection other than to manually fill/flush the carbs as mentioned, or to refill the bowls after having run out of fuel and switching to "Reserve".

You are correct.  I didn't remember the labels exactly.  I mainly use the two settings, and almost never run the tank down to reserve in the first place so I don't flip that lever very often...

[concourscharlie]

Don't know if you fixed this already or not, but that is a small liquid/vapor separator pump from a California smog system.
The line going from the bottom that says carb need to be routed to the vacuum port on the engine side of carb number 3.

If you've already fixed this.... sorry to bring up an old thread but I just actually switched to a non California model tank on my 93 and so I removed the pump and routing hoses and the evap canister and hoses. Thus I had to cap that vacuum port on carb #3 when i took the line off. It's possible you didn't see any floppy hoses because the PO used a cap on the vacuum boss..

Charlie