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[mcdonaldroadcapt]

Why after riding my 2008 CVO Ultra do I get a strong gasoline odor after I park it in the garage? Not new situation but today it seemed really strong after bike was closed up an hour or two after the ride. Makes no difference whether I have refueled or not prior to ending the ride. No odor at all after bike sits overnight. Only right after riding the bike and parking it in an enclosed garage. Just wondering. Normal?

[grc]

Right after a ride the engine is very hot.  That heat transfers to the fuel tank and fuel, and the hot fuel expands and increases pressure in the tank.  When that pressure exceeds the "blow-off" pressure setting in the fuel cap vent system, the vapors are vented.  On a California bike, or any car, those vapors go to a carbon canister and are eventually released back into the intake system when the engine is running again.  On a 49 state Harley those vapors are just vented to atmosphere.  Thus the fuel odor in the garage.  This tends to be worse with a full tank.  If it bothers you, or if you have electrical appliances in your garage that could ignite fuel vapors, you might want to let the bike sit outside for awhile after a ride, or at least leave the garage door open.

Jerry

[mcdonaldroadcapt]

Thanks for info. Makes sense. Will leave garage door open for a couple of hours after rides.

[Phantom309]

That is normal and Jerry is right on except I disagree about it being worse with a full tank ... I find it to be just the opposite. Just for this reason I got in the habit of topping my tank off right before I put it away and I don't have that smell anymore. My theory is when you park it with anything less than a full tank there is more space inside the tank for vapors to accumulate and vent through the cap ... take up that space with some cold gas out of the ground a few miles from home before I park and the problem was eliminated for me. For the times I'm in a hurry and don't top off I'm treated with that awful smell if I put it away hot.

[grc]

The reason I said it could be worse when full has to do with the fact that you can get actual liquid fuel pushed out the vent hose to form a puddle under the bike.  Been there, done that.

Jerry

[Rooster]

The reason I said it could be worse when full has to do with the fact that you can get actual liquid fuel pushed out the vent hose to form a puddle under the bike.  Been there, done that.

Jerry

Yep

[Phantom309]

The reason I said it could be worse when full has to do with the fact that you can get actual liquid fuel pushed out the vent hose to form a puddle under the bike.  Been there, done that.

Jerry

I gotcha, my bad and I'm guilty of that once myself. I used to fill my bikes standing upright,all the way up to the neck until I got every bit in there I could .... I'm just anal like that. That's all well and good to fill like that if you're not going right home to park it. Guess where all that gas went when I leaned it over on the kickstand, walked away and came back later to be treated with a nice puddle on the floor! Since then I always fill it on the kickstand and never had that happen again. 

[brassspike]

Thanks guys! I was wondering why mine did that sometimes and not others. Now I can impress the wife by not smelling up the garage!