[ST] Poor Gas Mileage / Leaky Colder Fuel Connector / Etc

["Garry Simmons" <garrysimmons@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I put the stock exhaust back on my 2002 Sprint RS and loaded the latest tune for the stock pipe. My gas mileage improved a little, but it's nowhere near the 50-ish I used to get. So I yanked the gas tank to take a look at the air cleaner, figuring it was due for a good cleaning (K&N). 

I had a full tank of gas and after disconnecting the Colder (Team Triumph) fuel fittings, I continued to get gas weeping out the female connector that screws into the tank. Weird. Made a bit of a mess emptying the tank into a couple gas cans, but now that the tank is almost empty I can at least consider working on it. Could it be extra pressure from a full tank of gas pushing it past the valve or is the valve thingie inside not working correctly? Thoughts? I can't say I've smelled gas leaking when the fuel Q/D is attached or anything. There was a bit of a greasy film on the tank below the plate all that stuff bolts to, so perhaps it's time for a new gasket. Those tiny bolts have like 5 Nm of torque on them. Maybe one is just a little loose from when the local mechanic swapped my fuel filter out during the 36K service. 

So I continued on to the air cleaner and sure enough, it looks pretty dirty. I'm assuming that is culprit. We'll see. Off to the local Advance Auto for some K&N cleaning fluid and oil. 

Since the air cleaner was out, I figured I might as well check the plugs too, so I yanked the air box base and pulled the plugs. They all OK. Bit of carbon where it seats, but the electrode is either off-white (maybe a bit lean) or light tan. Certainly not black/etc, so I guess I'm not running horribly rich. 

Any thoughts on other stuff to look at, check, etc while the bike is somewhat apart? I'd like to get up to maybe 45 MPG during commutes and 50+ on steady rides. 

Garry
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