Saddlebag handle detent problem..... and a very strong gas smell after shutoff!

Hello I'm a noob to the ST1100 and as such need some help with 2 small problems. I took one saddlebag latch off to clean and lube the lock and while doing so a piece or pieces which were a detent mechanism decided to take off across the garage floor to never be found. What piece or pieces do I need? If anyone has part #'s I'd appreciate it. My second problem is a very strong gas smell which starts several minutes after shutoff. Where the heck is it coming from? the bike runs beautifully and never misses a beat, but I can't park in the garage because of the overpowering smell. I know this isn't uncommon, so what do I look for? Other than those 2 small things, I'm very pleased with the bike's overall ride quality and performance. My '94 has just under 60K on the clock and appears to be very clean under the Tupperware. Thanks for your time and help. Mike in Mansfield Texas

The two likely places for the fuel leak are the fuel hose or the carb overflow. The overflow might be more likely and due to a bit of crud in a float valve inside one of the carbs. To rectify, you'd need to pull the carbs off and then remove the float bowls, floats and then the float valve for a clean out.

I had a fuel hose leak on my bike just due to age, where the hose connected to the Y fitting near the carbs. This was easy to see and fix.


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I think there's just a small ball bearing backed up by a coil spring in there. I think finding substitute parts on-line or better yet at your local hardware store might not be too difficult. You could try searching the OEM parts fiche at www.partzilla.com (or one of the other on-line OEM parts sources) to see if they are even available separately. I suspect they are not though and if they are by the time you add shipping to the cost the hardware store option might be best.

With respect to the fuel smell, a common failure point for the ST1100 is the vacuum operated petcock under the top shelter. The rubber diaphragm degraded resulting in a small leak. It smells pretty powerful as the petcock is mounted on the air cleaner assembly to the right side of the filler cap and the fumes escape from the gap in the fuel door literally right under your nose!

B' B's will deal with the ball bearing aspect and a spring from a click pen will work

check the link below, parts number 2 & 55

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/1994/ST1100+A/SADDLEBAG/parts.html

Both under a buck each

Regarding the gas smell, I had the vacuum petcock failure and it had that symptom, STRONG gas smell after shutting the bike off. Bypassing the valve is easy when you look at it, if you have any questions ask back here. Also, check your #3 plug (right rear) for fouling, if the petcock fails and allows fuel to travel up the vacuum line you'll see soot on that plug. I think there's more than one failure mode so this may not apply, but its an easy thing to check while thinking about it.

I pulled the vacuum valve assy. today after a 240mi ride. Easy-peasy modification and hopefully this'll fix the overpowering aroma of gas in the garage. Thanks. Mike in Mansfield TX