In article , (Xlar54) wrote:
Riding along, things were fine...then stop. Started again, and died.
Noticed much white smoke. After looking closer, gas was coming out of
the air filter like crazy. Disconnected the gas filter from the carb,
letting the gas drain out. Took out the air filter, cleaned up, went
ahead and changed the oil, checked the plug. Nothing seems wrong.

Then I put the gas filter back on, and saw the air filter chamber
start to fill up with gas again. Help! What causes gas to come out of
the air filter chamber? I just got this thing fixed - am I doomed to
bad luck this year?

Bad float or float valve in the carburetor. Get a carburetor rebuild kit from
your dealer: it will have both parts in it, and new gaskets as well.

More detail: There's a valve in the carburetor that controls the flow of fuel
into the carburetor. A float, hinged at one end and free-floating at the
other, is supposed to push that valve shut when the fuel reaches a certain
level. This is not happening, due most likely to one of two causes: either the
rubber seal in the valve is worn out (allowing fuel to come past the valve
even when it's fully closed), or there is a hole or crack in the float, which
causes it to sink instead of floating like it should, and thus never closing
the valve.

Either way, you have to tear the carburetor down to repair it. It's not rocket
science, but it's kind of a pain. The rebuild kit with new float, new valve,
and new gaskets probably won't cost over twenty bucks, and if you're at all
handy with tools, you should be able to do the job in a couple of hours at the
outside. Or you can pay your dealer to do it, but I bet they charge you a
hundred, and can't get to it for two weeks.

If you do this yourself, it helps to have access to a source of compressed
air, to blow the passages in the carburetor clean. Not vital, but it helps.