pet chicken, fuel chicken

[joepua]

Hey guys,

Is the pet chicken the same thing as a fuel chicken? lol I've been looking to see if my bike has one, and it turns out it has a fuel chicken... weird thing is... it doesnt say on it where the 'OFF', 'On' and 'Reserve' are.... is this normal? I've got a 2004 GS500F

[scottpA_GS]

Yep... the same...

Sometimes people replace them w/ aftermarket...  there should be one on the tank as well.. 

[gsJack]

Petcock and fuel chicken are the same thing and are mounted to the frame on the left side.  There is a seperate fuel shutoff mounted to the bottom of the gas tank for use when removing the tank.

My 97 and 02 GS fuel cocks were both labeled with positions for ON-RES-PRI.  The 04 and later ones should be marked too and the positions are also shown in the owners manual.

The Off, Reserve, and Prime positions were different between my 97 and 02 GSs and the levers turned in oposite directions.

Edited to correct typo.

[joepua]

From doing some research, it looks like the only options I have are RES-PRIME-ON... My guess is I am currently on 'ON', I was hoping I could turn it to 'OFF' for the winter, but it doesn't seem like there is that option for me... is this normal?

[joepua]

Oh, btw, my bike was bought used, and never got an owners manual...

[fred]

From doing some research, it looks like the only options I have are RES-PRIME-ON... My guess is I am currently on 'ON', I was hoping I could turn it to 'OFF' for the winter, but it doesn't seem like there is that option for me... is this normal?

It is a vacuum operated petcock. As long as you are not in Prime, the fuel is off if the engine isn't creating a vacuum (ie. running).

[beRto]

From doing some research, it looks like the only options I have are RES-PRIME-ON... My guess is I am currently on 'ON', I was hoping I could turn it to 'OFF' for the winter, but it doesn't seem like there is that option for me... is this normal?

I think gsJack's post has a typo - his "OFF" should actually be "ON". Your petcock is normal.

Read the wiki for a description of the petcock operation:
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/Petcock

For storage, leave the petcock at "ON"

[joepua]

ahhh... great thanks!

[joepua]

Hey guys,

My pet chicken is definatly missing the label that tells me which way is RES-ON-PRIME...

Is there a way to find out the directions w/o take the bike apart?... currently the arrow for the switch is pointing UP... I have no idea what setting that is...

[beRto]

Hey guys,

My pet chicken is definatly missing the label that tells me which way is RES-ON-PRIME...

Is there a way to find out the directions w/o take the bike apart?... currently the arrow for the switch is pointing UP... I have no idea what setting that is...

arrgh, I lost my first reply attempt. Let me try again...

Are you sure you have an OEM petcock? In the following thread, galahs posted several photos of the inner workings of the 04+ petcock: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=37366.0

In particular, this photo provides the information you were looking for (ignore the grinding part  )

[joepua]

I took a picture of my petcock.... it looks like a stock pet chicken.... any ideas on why the label isn't there?

edit: pic didn't show up

[joepua]

I took a picture of my petcock.... it looks like a stock pet chicken.... any ideas on why the label isn't there?

edit: pic didn't show up

[joepua]

anyone?

[gsJack]

Looks like the labeling doesn't show because the lightly stamped letters were painted over.  Sanding the paint off the plate Roberto shows above should expose the lettering.

[joepua]

Thanks gsJack, i will give that a try. I think the plate might be totally missing, I'm not sure why anyone would remove only the plate..