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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Breather Hose Issue
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Message started by Gator1016 on 11/16/25 at 07:48:54

Title: Breather Hose Issue
Post by Gator1016 on 11/16/25 at 07:48:54

i guys. I was riding on my RR-1 Bobber (RYCA Kit for the S40) when I realized I was being soaked in gasoline. I looked down to see gas shooting all over me and the bike from under the tank. I discovered the Breather Hose has a hole in it, I am not clear on what it does as it simply hangs loose off the engine. I am planning to just cut it back behind the hole and cap it off again, but wanted to check to ensure I am not making a problem worse. I am not sure what the hose does. Thanks for your time.

Title: Re: Breather Hose Issue
Post by DragBikeMike on 11/16/25 at 09:38:57

Your breather hose MUST be open. Remove the cap/plug. The breather system ventilates your crankcase. Your crankcase will pressurize with that hose plugged/capped. Instead of a plug, you need a small breather filter in the end of the breather hose. Air flows out of the hose when your piston moves down, and flows into the hose when your piston moves up, hence the breather nomenclature.

The fact that you have fuel coming out of the breather hose indicates that your crankcase is fouled with gasoline. This is a common problem usually related to the stock petcock. But I can see you do not have a stock petcock, so I assume either your petcock is leaking, or you are leaving it turned on. Check your petcock to verify that when it is turned to the off position zero fuel comes out of the fuel hose at the carburetor. Once you know the petcock does not leak, make sure that you ALWAYS turn your petcock off when the motorcycle is not in use.

Your oil is contaminated with fuel. You need to dump the oil and refill to the proper level with new oil.

Title: Re: Breather Hose Issue
Post by J Mac on 11/16/25 at 17:32:34

Thanks for warning readers to turn off the petcock. I've seen arguments that a functioning float needle should allow one to leave the petcock on all the time with no penalty. That's never been my experience, especially in the sweltering Gulf Coast region in the summer. The bike is touchy and susceptible to flooding after baking in the garage in the summer. That's just the way it is. I could tear apart the carb and rebuild it as an experiment, but turning off the petcock is so much easier.

Title: Re: Breather Hose Issue
Post by Ruttly on 11/16/25 at 21:06:28

Probably want to change the oil , just sayin !

Title: Re: Breather Hose Issue
Post by Axman88 on 11/17/25 at 08:25:46

707B6345777B79711A0 wrote:

I've also found that regular use of the petcock helps it to function, when somebody really needs it, instead of damaging the internal seals, because surfaces have seized up inside, resulting in a leaking petcock, not one that is turned off.

Of course, these Suzuki petcocks with their vacuum diaphragms don't have an "off" position. I see that as a good enough reason to replace it with the "dumb" style, but one can also exercise their petcock by switching to "Reserve" setting regularly, which has the beneficial effect of moving any accumulated water out of the bottom of the fuel tank. A good time to do this is right after a fuel stop, when the nasty dregs can be diluted with plenty of fresh fuel, and the engine and carb are nice and warm to better deal with polluted fuel.

Title: Re: Breather Hose Issue
Post by ThumperPaul on 11/20/25 at 11:12:07

WHAT DRAG BIKE MIKE SAID! You gotta remove that plug from the crankcase breather! I can't believe somebody plugged it off! Wow!