odd carb goo

[drlapo]

my 85 BMW R80 was not firing on the left cylinder yesterday
good spark but I put in new plugs anyway
pulled the carb bowl: almost dry
no fuel flowing into the left carb
pulled the fuel lines, no problem there = lots of flow
removed the floats and needle valve
there where 6 "things" blocking the flow at the needle valve
I blasted them out and they looked liked grains of sand but I crushed them with my fingers; kind of gooey
nothing in the right carb
I replaced the fuel lines
runs great again
I've never seen that "goo" before
WTF?

[pikipiki]

Do you have a side stand? Something to do with bike tilted to on side float chamber in one carb near empty fuel evaporates off with hot engine also a little oil/gunk can drain in from the air box that got there from engine breather, residue builds up over time. Should be fine for a while now. Don't really know about you particular model of bike.

[oldbike54]

 Dried up alcohol .

  Dusty

[jas67]

Dried up alcohol .

  Dusty

No.    Solids from the gasoline after the volatiles evaporate.
Those solids could also contain dirt, rust from the fuel tank or other steel fuel system components, or solids from deteriorating rubber fuel lines or other rubber or plastic fuel system components.

[oldbike54]

No.    Solids from the gasoline after the volatiles evaporate.
Those solids could also contain dirt, rust from the fuel tank or other steel fuel system components, or solids from deteriorating rubber fuel lines or other rubber or plastic fuel system components.

 Well , maybe ... but I still like my answer better 

  Dusty

[Triple Jim]

Maybe it's worth putting some small inline fuel filters right before the carb inlets.

[drlapo]

The bike is parked on the centerstand and the gas is a week old
I suspected the fuel lines were deteriorating and replaced them