quick question about gas tank cap

[rolofung]

After a fun, problem-free ride today, I stupidly dropped my bike in the garage while parking because I didn't make sure the kickstand was completely down - doh! Nothing broken, at least.

While the bike was on it's side, I noticed that gas was slowly leaking from the fill cap. Is this normal? After I got the bike back upright, I checked the rubber seal and it looked fine. Seems like an easy way for moisture to enter...

[KAT TOY]

aren't these tanks vented? the lip on top is far enough above the drain area so moisture is no problem. right?

[uno]

The cap itself is vented, however, there's supposed to be a ball inside the vent to prevent gas leaking out.

Here's a thread where a guy had problems unlocking his and tore it apart to fix it, has some great pictures of the guts... http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=102762

[rolofung]

Hm ok I followed the instructions paul.miner posted... I could hear the steel ball in place and I didn't want to knock the retainer loose so hopefully that's not the problem. Guess I'll find out (hopefully I won't have to) if taking it apart and putting it back together fixed the problem. At least now I know the vent is normally open, so I don't have to worry about that. Thanks for the tip uno!

[uno]

If the gas was just trickling out, I'd say it was working correctly. It's not an airtight seal, so I couldn't see it holding in liquid either. I think it would also depend on how much gas is in the tank, if it's sloshing around, etc. A full tank would put more pressure on the ball, creating a better seal; whereas a half empty tank would slosh and cause the ball to move, breaking the seal.

[kevin2502000]

Not sure what bike you have but on the pre's there is a vent that goes through the tank from the lip to the bottom of the engine. This is to catch any liquid that gets past the seal and drain it througn before it gets into the fuel tank. Yours might be plugged, run a stiff wire through it.