1200S Leaking Gas and Won't Turn Over

[Rainrider]

2003 1200S 10,900 Miles. Left it sitting for about a week. When I took it off the centerstand a mixture of water and oil spilled out of the overflow tubes onto the garage floor. Then starter would not turn it over. Battery is showing 12.9 volts. After several tries got it to turn over and it started and ran fine.
The only thing I did when it was parked that might have introduced too much fuel was twist the throttle a few (2-3) times to check freeplay.

I have started it 4-5 times since with no issues.

Any suggestions?

[ventYl]

i am not sure :/ the fact that something (fuel) spilled on the floor in conjunction that you were not able to turn the engine over would normally mean that your carburators are leaking fuel into cylinders.

but!

in such case you should not be able to turn the engine over until you e.g. pull out spark plugs and get fuel out of cylinders (liquids are known for being hardly compressible).

so: try to check if oil level didn't raised since you last checked it and/or if the oil doesn't smell like fuel.

if yes then you probably have problem with your fuel tap tightness and you should rebuild it or swap it for new one.

edit: if above is true maybe compression check would be good to see if your engine has still good compression. engine with good compression should hold the fuel in cylinder no matter what (for several weeks and even after attempts to turn it over).

[Rainrider]

Thanks for the response.

Opened oil fill cap and no smell of fuel. Lifted fuel tank and removed fuel line from fuel valve in "on" position and it flowed like a river.
Ordered a rebuild kit which should be here Friday.

Hopefully all I need to do is install the kit, change the oil and ride blissfully away.

The oil level is perhaps a tiny bit above the full mark on the sight glass when on the center stand so maybe a little fuel got into the sump but I can't smell it? Should I drain a little oil to confirm?

Maybe just enough fuel leaked into one of the cylinders to make it temporarily hydraulically seize? It did poof a small amount of white smoke upon start up which I had never seen before.

[ventYl]

When I had this problem, no fuel spilled from overflow tubes yet one (at most two) cylinder was seized so even after a week (until I had time to take a look at it) started wasn't able to crank the engine. I don't understand what happened but changing the oil will be definitely a good idea (several bucks compared to engine overhaul).

[Rainrider]

Pulled the plugs and although #2 and #3 had a little bit of black soot, did not smell like gas.
Guess I'll just proceed with the rebuild kit and oil change and assume that I dodged the bullet.

Just a little nervous because I leave Sat for a 1700 mi trip to Az.

Thanks for your time. I'll post the result in case you're curious.

[ventYl]

Results are good for future visitors guided here via search engines.

[Rainrider]

Just closing the loop on this one. I installed the petcock rebuild kit with no issues and installed an in-line fuel filter for peace of mind. Changed the oil and filter twce and just completed an 1800 mile ride from Seattle to Tucson. no problems.
Bike used no oil on the trip despite crossing several passes at a brisk pace and 90 degree plus temps for most of the trip.
Guess I dodged the bullet. I recommend that anyone with an older bandit at least take a look at the condition of your fuel valve and put a kit in it if there's any doubt. BTW the diaphragm looked to be in good shape. I suspect that in my case it was just the spring that lost tension.
Of course I installed the whole kit anyway.

[pawnee]

My Bandit hydro-locked at one time. I rebuilt the petcock then ordered another stock one and problems persisted. Bought a Pingel, no issues ever again.

[Rainrider]

Looked at the Pingel but didn't trust myself to remember to turn off the gas every time. This used to be the norm back in the day, but it's just not a habit anymore, especially because I have other bikes.
That said, if I do continue to have issues I'll switch it out. Right now the bike is sitting in Arizona waiting for me to return next month. Hopefully there will be no surprises when I get there.