After alll the posts on petcock issues, I thought i'd take a look at mine and see what it was on, since buying my gs in January, other than checking too make sure it wasn't on reserve i haven't touched the petcock, so when I checked it I was suprised to see its been on prime the whole time i've had it, there has been no fuel leaks and nothing in the oil. I flicked it to on and went for a ride and it starved after a few k's and tried to stall the engine, flicked it back to prime and it was fine again. I think I should replace it, because if I understand correctly, you have no reserve when on prime ..... also its a safety from fuel getting past faulty carbs, when sitting ???
[attachment deleted by admin]
that or the hoses are all munted up?
Is the vacuum hose not blocked or pinched? You could turn it to "On" when not using the bike but that may damage the rubber inside the tap eventually.
i'll check the hoses, when on prime will fuel only leak out of it if there is an issue in the carbs??
another question :-) The baffle in my exhaust was loose, can't afford a new slip on right now, and was out for a ride yesterday and the baffle has blown out of it, doesn't sound much louder, but will that affect the fuel mixture, or anything with less back pressure?
It may affect the mixture, not too sure. Don't know if it's the right thing to do, but you can check the if the vacuum set-up is working by putting the tap in the on position and sucking on the vacuum hose. If the fuel runs out then its working fine.
Were you low on gas?
Did you switch to RESERVE instead of PRIME?
If it's been running on PRI for a long time and you switch to ON, maybe the gas in the ON line is funky or old.
True that fuel lines can get filled with gunk. Petcock could be dirty. ON fuel line could be pinched.
Get a full tank of gas then test ON and RESEVE. If neither work, possible the vacuum line is off or pinched.
FYI: PRIME and RESERVE use the same hose. PRIME bypasses the vacuum valve.
there was plenty of fuel in the tank ...... i'll take the 'on' hose off and check the fuel flow, make sure the lines aren't pinched or blocked. if prime and reserve use the same feed, then if I run it on reserve and have any problems it will show or eliminate if there s a vacuum problem. ??? is my understanding correct?
Look, I get it that the POTENTIAL for fuel leaks is there with no petcock or a vac petcock that is modified or left in prime. But do you realize just how many engines out there (especially small engines) do not have a petcock at all and are free gravity flowing? They never leak. The never flood the engine. They always keep just the float bowl full.
I'm just saying..........
You can run your bike on whatever setting you want. I just love when people run in prime all the time then run out of gas or run on res all the time and run out of gas. The only reason they give you the settings its 1. Prime to fill float bowls when the motors not running to help you not have to crank on the starter to get the bowls full to start. 2. RES so you still have gas to get you to the station once to run the tank lower then the ON filter tube holes. If you don't care about running the risk of running out of gas on the side of the road. Use whatever you want. I run ON all the time but also switch to RES and prime every few tanks to keep the gas fresh in those lines and make sure the petcock is working like it should. By leaving it on 1 setting all the time you asking for trouble when you decide to switch the setting.
Because we do not have a full gauge, you should be mindful of your fuel level anyway, just as you should your oil level before every ride.
Persons like myself who know the bike holds 5 gallons of fuel and gets on average 50 mpg, knows that before I get 250 on the trip, I better be getting some gas. But with my truck and bike, I'm constantly topping off my tanks anyway.