Fuel leak

[timothyp219]

I have a 1999 Katana 600. I was riding this weekend and notice a fuel leak. I tried to ride it home but almost fell due to the massive amount of fuel spilling out of the bike. The engine quit and would not start. When i turn the ignition on fuel leaks down the kickstand. When I turn the ignition off the leak stops. I am thinking that it is a fuel line gone bad. I will not be able to take a look at it until 2 weeks from now, but I wanted to see if anyone had an idea as to where to start.

[beachflyer]

fuel line, petcock, or carbs. take the fairing off and see where its coming from.

[HemiKat]

Your probably right. Either you have a broken fuel line, or a fuel line has popped off. Atleast that is the most commom explanation. None the less, atleast the gas tank has to come off.

[Devinjordan]

its prob. a fuel line that came off this happened to me so I put a hose clamp on it.

[Wild-Bill]

If the leak stops when you shut off the engine then your petcock is just fine. It's stopping because when you shut off the engine the vacuum holding the petcock open goes away and the petcock closes. Just the way it's supposed to be.

Pull the left main fairing off and shine a flashlight up under the tank. Chances are a fuel line has come off the petcock. You'll probably have to remove the bolts at the back end of the tank and slide a piece of 2x4 under the back end so you can get your hand in there to reconnect the line and put a hose clamp on it.

[steves]

Could have stuck floats too.

[Wild-Bill]

Possible. Stuck floats don't usually show as a fuel leak while the engine is running, though. Usually, with stuck floats/leaking float needles you'll see the leak for a moment or two right after shutting down the engine.

[steves]

I had a float that was doing that for a while. Would leak like a sieve when the bike was on, but stop when it was off.

[timothyp219]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The fuel line had come loose. The previous owner thought it was a good idea to use a zip tie to hold the fuel line on the filter. I Trimmed the end of the hose and put metal screw clamps and that solved the problem.