My brother in law beat me to the project and he rebuilt the carburetor this afternoon. He brought the bike down tonight to test run it (I live next door). No more gas being purged through the overflow but still some backfiring just off idle.

Here's the thing - since my last couple of posts, the battery is no longer holding a charge. The bike needs to be jumped every time it is started even if it has been running for a half hour or more. Also - there is a short somewhere...when we were working on the bike tonight my brother in law managed to push the rear brake line until it contacted the engine cover (tranny cover) - which caused an arc...

Since it won't hold a charge...anybody think it might be the stator? Should I be thinking that big? There hasn't been any electrical work on the bike so I question whether it is a new short.

 

You better get out to the garage and pull the battery. This is what happened when my battery shorted out against the battery box. My brake line tossed some sparks, then it glowed red and burst into flames. It was squirting flaming brake fluid up and out. If I wasn't there it would of burnt my bike, garage and house to the ground. I wasn't doing anything with the bike.

Just Saying.

 

Holy s***! Did you figure out what caused it?

 

You can see the hole in the red sleeve that cover the end of the positive cable had worn through. (third pic) Also the protective molding along the top of the battery box had slid down. It happened a couple years ago. I have since repaired it so it wont happen again.