Bike running hot/ smells like gas

I was riding my bike today (1987 VFR700 F2) and I noticed that I was smelling gas. I thought that it felt kind of hot on my bike. So i kept a close eye on the temperature gauge, which never rose even to half way, but was up higher than I am used to seeing. Keep in mind this is a new bike and i'm pretty new to motorcycling. It was a hotter afternoon than we have had lately, but I still thought that the bike felt incredibly hot. I felt the frame, which was much warmer than i've ever felt before.

I think whatever may have happened may have happened last night. I was driving home in the cold, when suddenly everything just got kinda toasty. It felt like I was driving in a stream of warm air. I didn't notice any excessive heat from the bike this morning though.

I am assuming that most bikes would show hotter temperatures when stopped at a light or something, and cooler when they are moving, but i noticed that the temperature on the gauge would drop slightly when i got to an intersection.

I got home and decided that i better check the oil. The dipstick came out full and the oil still looks pretty darn good.

I don't know what else to check, or should i even be worried about it. I thought i was getting to know my bike pretty well and now this.

Is there any way that a leaking carb or something could make the bike run hot?

I know that the gas smell is probably a leaking carb. When i got the bike one of the carbs sprung a leak and the mechanic fixed it somehow without doing a whole rebuild.

Is there like a gasket kit that i can buy so that i can rebuild all 4 carbs? I am quite comfortable doing it myself because i have my best friend's dad to help and he has done complete rebuilds on a number of bikes.

I guess my biggest questions are, does it seem like the temp was unusual, or am i just imagining things (since the gauge never even went to half; just a small amound over what i'm used to; but it felt really hot)?

and

if it does seem unusual, what might be the cause.

ps. i checked the cooling system and it was full of fluid (probably just water, but i don't know; don't know what it takes) but I don't know how to check to be sure that it is circulating. Is there like a water pump on my bike that I don't know about?

 

Hmm had that bike, thing was the price from honda on the so called carb kit is like way outa site, so I did the next best thing, found a set of carbs on ebay. sounds to me with out seeing it is, it's within a reasonable temp, no doubt a float was stuck? did you see any gas? if it's just the gasket from the bowls being removed then you can get O-Ring stock and cut em to fit ,if it comes from the over flow then you need to get to the float seats. I'd run it some more and get a better feel for whats going on.

 

I don't remember exactly what the mechanic said was the problem with the carbs when he fixed the one that was leaking. I haven't taken off the fairings yet to see if i can see any gas, but if it's the same problem with the same or a different carb i know there will be gas leaking out of the carb.

I hope I am just being paraniod about the temperature because i smelled gas, aside from oil and the cooling system I Don't know what else could cause a rise in temp. I also don't know exactly what else i should be checking, or even if i checked the oil and coolant right.

 

Other things to check

Check you air filter for retriction; I noticed my 86' was running hotter than usual & had a gassy smell when I took it this spring. What I found was my air box on the intake side of the filter was packed full of insulation(mice). Less air w/ the same amount of fuel makes it run rich, if it is running rich it will generate more heat because of lack of proper air flow thru the cylinders. Also like RVFR stated you could have a float/needle & seat sticking. I know a lot of the Goldwing crowd I talk with like running sea foam through the first couple of tanks to clean the fuel system. You may try that before tearing down the carbs; from what I've been told the carb set up on these is a nightmare to work on. I've been a mechanic for going on 17 years(not on bikes) & the stories I heard where enough for me to beleive I was better off letting a professional do the carb work. By professional I mean some one who has done it several times before on the exact model your dealing with(with success). Not a back yard wrench that has rebuilt a few but not your particular set up or the newby or shop flunky down @ your local bike shop. My $.02, I've seen a lot of bikes rendered into parts bikes because some one decided they could fix the carbs themselves.