Gas leak from engine, hole in case?!

[balky1]

Geez, I'm so lucky here in Croatia with 100% gasoline. My bikes used to sit full for 2-3 years with absolutely no problems.

[4everFJ]

Geez, I'm so lucky here in Croatia with 100% gasoline. My bikes used to sit full for 2-3 years with absolutely no problems.

Being part of the EU, Ethanol infested fuel will soon come to Croatia as well...... 

[balky1]

Geez, I'm so lucky here in Croatia with 100% gasoline. My bikes used to sit full for 2-3 years with absolutely no problems.

Being part of the EU, Ethanol infested fuel will soon come to Croatia as well...... 

I was actually wandering how it still didn't. 

[ribbert]

I've been starting her up every few weeks - maybe a month at the longest.

There are many reasons why this is not good practice, this is one of them. Multiple, consecutive cold starts without riding it is the worst thing you can do to an engine (the only positive perhaps is the joy of hearing it running in the middle of a long cold Winter!)

Why is that? The carbs were already in dire need of cleaning, and have stuck open even during regular summer riding. Just wondering why a half dozen or so cold starts during the winter is worse than letting it sit?

My advice was not generally about the carbs, although had you ridden it after starting it chances are the fuel issue would have resolved itself by the first corner. Not bothering with detail here, but the main reason I don't like reading about this habit is that 90% of engine wear occurs on a cold start. Ever wondered why taxis, courier vehicles, buses etc get such incredible engine life?  It's because the cold start to mileage ratio is so high.
If interested, I'm sure the net has plenty of info on cold start damage to engines.

If you could somehow bypass starting an engine cold and go straight to running it at operating temp, you would increase it's life expectancy many times over.

IMO

Noel

[ribbert]

The first Yamaha with the alternator behind the cylinder was .......

Thanks for the info Hooli, It wasn't a matter of if I was corrected, but by whom.

Incorrect information on the internet, dang, who would've thought?

Noel