Strong smell of gas after done riding on a very hot day

cyman73

cyman73

Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
14
Location
Arizona
Bike
ST1300 (Winter Bike
Hello fellow ST riders. I have owned my ST1300 for about two weeks and I have a strange problem.

The outside temperature in Tucson, AZ was 104 degrees after work today (according to bike's temperature sensor). Needless to say the ride home was damn hot (but it's a dry heat). The heat coming from the bike was not helping the matter. My commute is approximately 20 miles and I parked the bike in the garage when I got home. Now, after 30 minutes in the garage, there is a strong smell of gasoline but I cannot find a leak. I did not notice any gasoline smell when I got off the bike. No puddle of gasoline under the bike.

I suspect that the heat has something to do with the smell because I experienced the same phenomenon a couple days ago after riding in the heat. I pulled the gas tank up to see if I have any loose hoses but did not find anything. I have ridden my bike every day for the past two weeks and the smell was not there when the temperature was in the mid 90s.

Has anyone else experienced this? The engine idles fine and has plenty of power. I get approximately 41 mpg in mixed street/highway commute.

Thank you in advance.
 
on the 1100 that is the typical symptom of a vacuum fuel shut-off valve failure. I don't know if the 1300 shares the same design as the 1100 in that regard, but its possible they are similar.
 
Gas fumes should be venting to the charcoal canister. Maybe a broken vent hose? Clearly the high temps are causing expansion of the gas.
 
MIne does the same...after a hot run, it usually smells for a bit after a ride. At one time, it smelled even when coolish- I am pretty sure I filled up the tank too far, and flooded the charcoal canister. It did eventually get better, but took a while. I now fill it on the sidestand, so I CAN'T overfill it.

I suspect you are just smelling the effects of gas being warmed up to it's expansion point, and small amounts of vapor are escaping the tank.
 
Mine does the same thing and it has done it for the 11 years I have owned it. The heat from the engine really heats up the fuel tank when it sits after a hot run and pressurizes the tank. I bet if you open the fuel filler cap you will get a good whoosh from it.

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Last edited:
cyman73 said:
Has anyone else experienced this?
Click to expand...

Yes I have had the same at times. I had used some injector cleaner that seemed to increase the odor. My thought was the catalytic reducing the final fuel.
Like you the ST goes into the garage and the previous post may be the answer with the hot engine heating the fuel tank.
I have not noticed any issue in the past 2 years.
I understand the hot dry heat. Worst was 118 and stuck in town traffic. ST stayed at proper temp, but could not touch my knees to the tank.:nuke1:
Ride safe and far. Maybe pass/meet on the AZ hwy:slv11:
 
Get this in Nevada in the summer, after a ride in the heat the gas tank sounds like a coffee pot percolating and there is smell of gas. Opening the fuel tank there I a whoosh and it needs to be covered with a rag or gas will spray out. Think it might be the tank vent hose is blocked causing pressure to build in the tank. Had that once on an old KZ1000. Mechanic in Vegas said it was normal, another said he never heard of it
 
Over the years I have had this happen on several of my bikes. The 2012 and the 2010 were the worst, until reading here one day that because of overfilling the tank will cause it.

Since then I have not tried to stuff so much gas into the tank.

I ALWAYS have the bikes on the centerstands to fill them. Once the gas gets up to the little bar at the lower end of the filler, I stop putting any more gas in it.

I have found that I still get some smell on really hot days, but nothing like it use to be.
 
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