Bike running hot/ smells like gas

[ichi]

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?