ST Owners? Side Stand Parking?

Well, I took the KZ1000E1 ST over to Castroville yesterday and got it inspected and then got my new license plate! I parked in front of the county office on a very slide slope with the kickstand side of the bike a bit on the low side of the slope. I had put gas in and rode about 20 miles to get to Castroville and when I got gas, I put the bike on the sidestand and didn't fill it to the top but stopped short of a full fill up (new paint jobs tend to make you cautious). Anyway, parking on a very slight side grade and some warm Texas sun made the gas come out the filler cap a bit.... drooled down the side of the tank. It wiped up but it seems that the ST leans a LOT when on side stand. Anyone put a longer sidestand on one? Anyone else noticed this issue? Honestly, I stopped filling at 2 or 3 fingers below the top!!!

Post edited by: wiredgeorge, at: 2006/11/02 09:04

Yep, see something like it pretty often...

Not sure which gas cap is on your tank, not sure that it really matters.

I've got the screw-type cap on mine, and also leave some space below the top when filling, yet when filled anywhere near the top, a little dribble will invariably show - especially when parked on the side stand.

My guess is that gas sloshes up into the cap vent - the outlet for which is under the lip - then runs down over the cap gasket and filler neck.

Never have figured out a clean fix, I just keep paper towels in the saddle bags and give it a quick wipe.

This in no way really answers your question, but the ST uses the same gas cap as the MKII which I have 80,000 miles of experience with. I got my MKII with 500 miles on it, noticed if I filled it even remotely close to full if I rode hard or parked in the sun gas would spill out of the cap. Everything looked fine with the cap and I never had this problem ever on a KZ650 so I bought a new gasket, no help, bought a complete new cap from Kawasaki, no help. I just learned to either never fill it full, never park on the sidestand and never in the sun even on the centerstand. I had times when the tank was probably a gallon or more down and I parked to find gas spilling down the tank, sometimes even strangely enough I'd find gas running uphill up the tank. I guess gas fume vapors turned to liquid? Dangest thing I've ever seen. Sorry no help, but I never could find a way around this on my bike.

If you take any gas tank or gas can and put it in direct sunlight and it isn't vented properly, it will drool gas all over the place... maybe the venting is the issue? It seals REAL WELL I think... better than the caps on my KZ900s. The gas cap is identical to the MKII I think so I guess I will just start parking on centerstand and not filling it all that much. I think the tank is bigger than on my KZ900s which are about 3.8 gallons on the one... not sure about the other as it doesn't have the correct tank. Thanks!

Post edited by: wiredgeorge, at: 2006/11/02 09:05

answered your own question i think.

Hey! What the heck are you doing out riding this thing around and not posting any pictures of the finished project!
Back on topic... my ST does the same thing with the filler cap... I just don't fill it up to the top anymore.

Post edited by: KZReeder, at: 2006/11/01 20:51

If you look in the project folder you will see lots of pics!

My 82 twin as most 82 twins seem to lean over lots , I just happen to have a kick stand off a KZ550 that had less angle to it , No longer but less angle , I installed it so it is much better now. I wish the weather was that warm around here ,, we just had time change and the cooler weather is here to stay .. Yucky Yucky Yucky :sick: