Gas getting mixed into Oil - Carb rebuild

Hi Experts,

I have a new to me 2013 RSV with 8k miles on it and when I changed the oil, I smelled gas in it. I went ahead and filled it with new oil + filter and post riding some 150miles I found that the oil level has slightly increased. After doing some research online, I found out that I have the gas getting mixed into the oil and must get the carb rebuild. The previous owner did not ride it much for a yr (Only some 1200 miles) and that could be the obvious reason for this to have happened. Now the question is, do I rebuild the carb completely or could it be some oring that needs to be changed. I have the tools and can do the task that does not need an expert level of experience. Could some one help answer the following questions that I have

1.How hard of a job is to rebuild the carb myself? or should I go with a mechanic?

2.Is there a complete rebuild kit available? I found a few online, but not sure if its the right one?

3.Does some one have a complete list of parts needed for the rebuild?

4.Was not able to find a video online, is one available with any of the members here on how to remove/install the carb and rebuild it?

Appreciate your response and thanks in advance.

I am located at North Carolina, USA and if there is anybody nearby willing to extend a help, that would be much appreciated!

Adding a pic of the oil level. Right one is how it was after the change with 3.5qts and the left one is after the ride. Its slow but the level has increased after 120 odd miles. Other than the rising oil level, I dont have any other issues with the bike. It starts good, idles good and runs great, no missing or back firing. Just that I am worried about this gas mixing up with the oil. The gas milage also seems to be good as I got ~42mpg on the highway.

One think I have noticed is that after a ride when I park the bike back in the garage, it used to smell of gas, may be this is an indication of some issue.

you need to run seafoam through them carbs

and turn off the gas shut off valve when you're not riding it:parrots:

you need to run seafoam through them carbs

Did you meant that I do not have to rebuild the carb and just the seaform will fix it?

seafoam it will clean the varnish out of the 4 carburetors. and shut the petcock off on the gas tank to keep the gas from leaking into the motor and causing hydrolock when your not riding it

Sea Foam works wonders. Before I would rebuild them I’d try it. At minimum, one full can, if not two, per full tank of fuel. Ride it 50-60 miles. Let it sit over night. Ride it again. And before any of you guys start hollering, you can run Sea Foam 50/50. Be expensive, but you can. Get in the habit of turning the fuel valve off after every ride.

Goid luck.

I'll throw out some food-for-thought just in case the fuel valve suggestions above turn out to not be the issue.

1. That would depend on your level of comfort working inside a carb, these CV carbs are not terribly complicated but still some carb experience or some help would probably be a good thing.

2. NEVER EVER EVER, not even once, use Chinese parts in the carb, means avoid all the unbranded/odd brand Ebay stuff, especially anything coming shamelessly out of China. OEM suppliers besides a Yamaha stealership would be Boats.net, Morleys Muscle (Vmax guy) with tons of OEM items in stock. Many others I cant recall pre-coffee.

K&L carb kits are made in Japan and not China, so yea, worlds of difference and they are quite a better bargain than OEM. I'm not sure if this is the exact same kit for your application but you should be able to look your bike up on the K&L site and make sure your getting the right kits. https://www.ebay.com/itm/V-MAX-1200-VENTURE-VENTURE-ROYALE-1300-NEW-K-L-CARBURETOR-REBUILD-KIT-18-2879/401434328009?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D60042%26meid%3D4272aff3d6a747548967d8861b64b525%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D202777674100%26itm%3D401434328009%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

3. All should be in the kit unless you need to replace floats, Jet Block Plugs or Diaphragms. Some sellers sell just parts, others kits, look at the complete kit and you will get an idea what it should include. I dont believe it would be cost effective to buy the parts loose and not in a kit unless you only need one or two things.

If your lucky you might be able to disassemble the carbs and see what is needed after a visual inspection, my guess is there is problem other than the carbs themselves. If your getting 42 US gal and it's running well it would seem odd that it's rich enough to put that much gas in the oil in only 150 miles. It's getting there somehow. I would suspect a stuck float or something but MPG and performance would suffer. Based on the info given I hesitate to automatically condemn the carbs without looking further.

Is there a history of ethanol fuel in this bike? If it was stored with ethanol then you may have some sludgy corn-squeezings in the carbs.

Make sure there is nothing plugging up the carb overflow tubes.

Do you ever smell raw fuel while riding, or while the bike is sitting, warm or cool?

Could read the plugs and do a compression test while they are out, see if all cyl are consistent. Damaged or worn rings/cyl can sure introduce raw fuel into the oil, but with your mileage it sounds unlikely. Still maybe worth a look before starting to buy parts.

If you remove the carbs and split the rack they will need to be synchronized after the bike is reassembled. No big deal but should not be overlooked.

Sea Foam works wonders. Before I would rebuild them I’d try it. At minimum, one full can, if not two, per full tank of fuel. Ride it 50-60 miles. Let it sit over night. Ride it again. And before any of you guys start hollering, you can run Sea Foam 50/50. Be expensive, but you can. Get in the habit of turning the fuel valve off after every ride.

Goid luck.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely try this out first before I tear apart the carb.

I'll throw out some food-for-thought just in case the fuel valve suggestions above turn out to not be the issue.

 

1. That would depend on your level of comfort working inside a carb, these CV carbs are not terribly complicated but still some carb experience or some help would probably be a good thing.

 

2. NEVER EVER EVER, not even once, use Chinese parts in the carb, means avoid all the unbranded/odd brand Ebay stuff, especially anything coming shamelessly out of China. OEM suppliers besides a Yamaha stealership would be Boats.net, Morleys Muscle (Vmax guy) with tons of OEM items in stock. Many others I cant recall pre-coffee.

 

K&L carb kits are made in Japan and not China, so yea, worlds of difference and they are quite a better bargain than OEM. I'm not sure if this is the exact same kit for your application but you should be able to look your bike up on the K&L site and make sure your getting the right kits. https://www.ebay.com/itm/V-MAX-1200-VENTURE-VENTURE-ROYALE-1300-NEW-K-L-CARBURETOR-REBUILD-KIT-18-2879/401434328009?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D60042%26meid%3D4272aff3d6a747548967d8861b64b525%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D202777674100%26itm%3D401434328009%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

3. All should be in the kit unless you need to replace floats, Jet Block Plugs or Diaphragms. Some sellers sell just parts, others kits, look at the complete kit and you will get an idea what it should include. I dont believe it would be cost effective to buy the parts loose and not in a kit unless you only need one or two things.

 

If your lucky you might be able to disassemble the carbs and see what is needed after a visual inspection, my guess is there is problem other than the carbs themselves. If your getting 42 US gal and it's running well it would seem odd that it's rich enough to put that much gas in the oil in only 150 miles. It's getting there somehow. I would suspect a stuck float or something but MPG and performance would suffer. Based on the info given I hesitate to automatically condemn the carbs without looking further.

 

Is there a history of ethanol fuel in this bike? If it was stored with ethanol then you may have some sludgy corn-squeezings in the carbs.

 

Make sure there is nothing plugging up the carb overflow tubes.

 

Do you ever smell raw fuel while riding, or while the bike is sitting, warm or cool?

 

Could read the plugs and do a compression test while they are out, see if all cyl are consistent. Damaged or worn rings/cyl can sure introduce raw fuel into the oil, but with your mileage it sounds unlikely. Still maybe worth a look before starting to buy parts.

 

If you remove the carbs and split the rack they will need to be synchronized after the bike is reassembled. No big deal but should not be overlooked.

First of all, thanks for taking your time to pen down all these details.

One thing I have noticed is that after every ride, when I park the bike back in the garage, I smell of gas. If this could make you think of anything else, yes. I want to try out every possible thing before I tear apart the carbs. I have no prior experience working on the bike carbs but I can follow instructions and I have a good set of tools. I used to do the work on my truck and thats the kind of experience I have. Now about the history of ethanol fuel in the bike, I am not sure. I am the third owner and the first owner did some 6.5k miles and the second owner did some 1.5k miles (in close to 1yr). So I guess with the second owner its been sitting for quite some time and not used much. This could have caused the issue that I am seeing. The bike was 450miles away from home and when I got the bike, I did see that the oil indicator was showing full on the glass. The owner said he changed the oil soon after he got it and he didnt ride much. I rode it back home 450miles with out any issue and I did another 500 miles before I changed the oil this weekend.

I'm thinking the carbs are a bit sludged up. And, with some luck and patience, you can get them clean by riding more, adding Seafoam, spraying carb cleaner down the throats and let it sit for an hour then ride her....IE...try and clean up as much as you can without taking the carbs out. @CaseyJ955 has good info.

You can also try some carb cleaner up into the bowls by taking off the drain tube, opening the carb drain screw, and squirting it up in there.

Lots of ideas on cleaning the carbs...search the forum. Don't forget to look below the pages as you search. The site recommends other pages similar to what you are searching for listed below. WARNING: This is a lot of fun, following the threads recommended...but can take days reading all the stuff!

But most important....ride her. Watch the oil level and go. Sitting is hard on any mechanical beastie...and with the crap gas we have...a carb bike makes it worse.

Always turn the fuel off when the engine is off. I like Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA for carb cleanup. Add a whole bottle to a tank of fuel and let her rip.