Gasket?

[rmtcook]

Hi folks,
So I bought an 03 1200 as a leftover in February and I've only got a little over 3k on it so far. Over the past week I'd been noticing that the bike was running a little rough, but I thought it had to do with something I'd read here about it getting a little squirrely when you run the 1200 on reserve for a while. So I filled it up and it continued to run worse and worse. Over the last couple of days, I started noticing some white/grey smoke. Yesterday, I could barely keep it running in the driveway, but decided to see if it was bad fuel and took it out in the neighborhood. After a mile, it looked like I was spraying for mosquitos the smoke was so thick, then the bike died.   So I pushed it home!! I'm thinking that this is one of the things you all warned me about when I bought it. A dried out or cracked gasket or something like that. Thoughts?  
So now I have to contact the dealer,   find a way to get the bike down there and start the warranty dance. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

[pmackie]

Thick smoke out the exhaust sounds like a lot more than a bad gasket, more like a catostrophic failure.

it looked like I was spraying for mosquitos the smoke was so thick

Sounds like warrantee for sure. Let us know once you find out what happened.

[Blade]

The Bandit have pretty good filters in the gas tanks, so running on reserve should not be a problem. As to the white/grey smoke, sounds like water in the gas.

Running rich is black smoke, burning oil is blue smoke and white/grey smoke is water.

You could drain the carbs and make sure that you have completely drained the tank then fill everything with known good fresh fuel and see what the Bandit does then.

[rmtcook]

The dealer did come and pick it up for no charge, but they won't get around to looking at it until this week sometime. I'll let you know. I hope it's as simple as water in the gas Bill. We'll see.

[rmtcook]

I heard from the shop today.The mechanic told me that the float stuck which resulted in the engine filling up with gas and that this isn't covered under the warranty. He said that this usually happens when the bike sits for a long period of time, which I don't understand because since I've gotten it I've ridden it almost every day except for 3 or 4 separate weeks that I've either been away on business or vacation. Most of my riding is a short commute to work with occasional longer weekend rides. Has anyone else experienced this or are they just yanking my chain? Total cost for the job is going to be about $275, so I'm not sure whether it's worth fighting with them about it. He also said that I can avoid this happening again by using fuel stabilizer. I just want my bike back!!

[Blade]

I heard from the shop today.The mechanic told me that the float stuck which resulted in the engine filling up with gas and that this isn't covered under the warranty. He said that this usually happens when the bike sits for a long period of time, which I don't understand because since I've gotten it I've ridden it almost every day except for 3 or 4 separate weeks that I've either been away on business or vacation. Most of my riding is a short commute to work with occasional longer weekend rides. Has anyone else experienced this or are they just yanking my chain? Total cost for the job is going to be about $275, so I'm not sure whether it's worth fighting with them about it. He also said that I can avoid this happening again by using fuel stabilizer. I just want my bike back!!

Was this the dealer you bought the bike from? If so I would complain to the management. Because that means the bike sat at the dealer with gas in the carbs.

[rkfire]

That's BS! Floats stick open from a piece of junk keeping the float open. I had one other brand new suzuki where a small casting loose in the bowl finally jammed up the float. I took the carbs down myself tho, and found the obvious chard of aluminum. WAY too big for it to have gone thru the filter.

In your case, if YOU'VE left gas sitting too long and it's gone to varnish.....um, he would be telling you the pilots are clogged, mains, slides, etc etc are gummed up and they all need a cleaning. He didn't even suggest the carbs all need to be taken apart and cleaned out tho, did he? I'd think the least likely issue with old gas sitting would be the fuel valve to the float.

I told you before, I also bought a 03 leftover last summer, they admitted it sat 3 YEARS with gas in it. I suggest disputing the story they're telling you.

[Red01]

I suggest disputing the story they're telling you.

+1

[rmtcook]

Thanks guys. It didn't sound right to me either, but I'm about the least mechanical person I know, so I wasn't sure. I'll argue with them when I go to pick up the bike and let you know what happens.

[rmtcook]

So I caved. I'm sure if I'd really wanted to push it I could have, but for $300 bucks I got the bike back and it runs great, They drained the case, cleaned the carbs, installed fresh plugs, air and oil filter, fresh oil of course, and cleaned, lubed and adjusted the chain. The mechanic said there was crap in the carbeurator, which caused the float to stick, and I'm sure that was because the bike was sitting on the floor for so long, even though they insisted it had never had gas in it. They also told me that another guy had been in for the same thing and it had happened twice. The second time he didn't pay for it. So as long as everything stays good, I'll consider this my donation to the bike mechanics of America and keep this in my pocket if it happens again. Thanks for all your feedback guys.

[FastLarry]

Most dealers are crooks and should be called steallers.... FL