Fuel petcock very tight to turn

[Treetall]

Hi all,

 

I'm a new owner of a 2002 RSV. The previous owner stated that he just put in a new petcock. I tried to turn it and it is super tough to do, btw I'm a big guy with tons of strength, so it's not me! :-) Almost need pliers to do it.

 

Can it be loosened? Could it be a bad new part?

 

Thanks in advance to any insight!

 

Patrick:canada:

[cowpuc]

Hi all,

 

I'm a new owner of a 2002 RSV. The previous owner stated that he just put in a new petcock. I tried to turn it and it is super tough to do, btw I'm a big guy with tons of strength, so it's not me! :-) Almost need pliers to do it.

 

Can it be loosened? Could it be a bad new part?

 

Thanks in advance to any insight!

 

Patrick:canada:

 

IMHO, thats not that uncommon, the design of the petcock internals are what make it tight. There is a nickle sized rubber flat washer with raised ridges on it and 1/8th inch holes in it to divert the fuel into different paths for off - on - reserve fuel flow. When it sets in any given location for a time, the raised ridges dry out (alcohol in fuels dont help this at all) and bingo, hard to turn. Personally, with it being new, I think I would work with some to break in the new petcock by rotating it back and forth a bunch to see if I could get it to loosen up some so if I ran low on fuel in traffic I could reach down and flip it to reserve. This is sort of gonna sound little crazy but I actually like to refrain from using reserve on my scoots and just use the off to on locations. I do this cause I like to reserve reserve fuel in the tank for a garbage gathering area. That is kind of a double edged sword though cause if ya get in a bind and need to use the garbaged fuel gathered in the bottom of the tank you really risk messing up the carbs with garbage.. I have found that not using the reserve fuel section of the tanks really helps if you are proned to doing a little off roading or riding dusty locations where the tank breather is sucking in dirty air as well as the normal ickies that come in fuel..

 

Puc

[bongobobny]

No, they should not be all that hard to turn. The First Generation Ventures ('83 - '93) was very hard to turn but not the Second Generation ('99 - '12). That being said, what Cowpuc mentioned might be the issue and might not. I have to wonder why the original one was changed as this is not a high failure part.

 

I guess you could remove it and see how it turns all by itself, maybe the P.O. screwed it up in the installation. Yes, it could have been defective, to begin with. They are a little stiff but should feel like a normal petcock.

 

You will find many schools of thought here as to whether or not to leave it on reserve or on. Sometimes the bike will start to sputter just before the low fuel light comes on so many of us run with it on reserve all the time whereas others will run it on the on position until the light comes on. There is also a rare issue of the fuel pump check valve not working resulting in a possible hydra lock issue which leads to a bent piston rod when attempting to start, but this is extremely rare as there are other factors that have to happen, mainly a stuck float or needle valve. Because of this many members insist on putting the petcock in the off position when shutting off the bike. This is not a bad practice I suppose...

[bongobobny]

P.S. there is a high instance of the stock fuel pump points failing, so many of us carry a length of gas hose long enough to go from the petcock to the carb bank. As long as you have at least a 1/3 to 1/2 tank of gas, the fuel will gravity feed well enough to get you home!!

[Freebird]

I agree that the second gen petcock should not be hard to turn. I've owned 3 second gens and they were all easy to turn. Something isn't right.

[Du-Rron]

Hi all,

 

I'm a new owner of a 2002 RSV. The previous owner stated that he just put in a new petcock. I tried to turn it and it is super tough to do, btw I'm a big guy with tons of strength, so it's not me! :-) Almost need pliers to do it.

 

Can it be loosened? Could it be a bad new part?

 

Thanks in advance to any insight!

 

Patrick:canada:

 

Take the screws out (22 in the pic) and apply some hi-vacuum grease/silicone grease (just a dab) to the topside of the valve. Lubricate the "packing" with a drop or two of 90W gear oil. Make sure everything is clean and does not have any junk in it. It will be hard to turn if it has a chunk of rust in it.

 

 

Oh yeah... take tank off bike with it almost empty and elevate fuel tap to topside before working on it. Don't let gas drool out of gas cap either, keep it UP as well.

[Rafterd]

What he said^^^^

[Treetall]

Great info from all you guys!! I'll start with playing with it for a bit, turning it multiple times, maybe it'll loosen up. Then if it doesn't work I will take it apart to see what's going on...I have always been a leave it in the ON position and never in 30 years of riding have I ever needed reserve....(probably spoke too soon!)

 

Cheers guys..awesome Forum page gotta pay my membership!

 

Patrick

 

[Rafterd]

Great info from all you guys!! I'll start with playing with it for a bit, turning it multiple times, maybe it'll loosen up. Then if it doesn't work I will take it apart to see what's going on...I have always been a leave it in the ON position and never in 30 years of riding have I ever needed reserve....(probably spoke too soon!)

 

Cheers guys..awesome Forum page gotta pay my membership!

 

Patrick

 

 

Heres what happens when you don’t have a reserve. Less than 5 miles south of Socorro New Mexico.

 

[VentureFar]

P.S. there is a high instance of the stock fuel pump points failing, so many of us carry a length of gas hose long enough to go from the petcock to the carb bank. As long as you have at least a 1/3 to 1/2 tank of gas, the fuel will gravity feed well enough to get you home!!

 

Bongobobny will you please elucidate on the bypass please. I want to be one of the many of us that carries that gas hose but I want to know him w it hooks up.

Thanks

VentureFar...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cowpuc]

Bongobobny will you please elucidate on the bypass please. I want to be one of the many of us that carries that gas hose but I want to know him w it hooks up.

Thanks

VentureFar...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I know you two varmints are talking the 2nd gen lingo here but just an FYI for 1st Gen riders on this same scenario.. You too should be carrying a length of gas line in your maintenance department for just this occasion. If a fuel pump failure happens to you out in the boonies you can pull the right side cover, bypass the one way valve on the tank vent, attach the extra gas line to the vent line leading up to the tank and blow enough pressure into the tank with your mouth (just make sure you have a long enough piece of xtra fuel line to go from the vent line to your mouth when sitting on the bike so you dont have to be bent over the side of the bike while your trying to ride thru the pucker brush ) to push fuel thru the pump and into the carbs.. IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry @VentureFar,,, I don't know nuttin about the 2nd Gens but I am sure Bongo will fill us in on that!!!!

[bongobobny]

Bongobobny will you please elucidate on the bypass please. I want to be one of the many of us that carries that gas hose but I want to know him w it hooks up.

Thanks

VentureFar...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's actually quite simple. It does require removing the fuel tank but that is an easy task. You simply attach one end of the hose to the petcock (don't forget to turn it off before you remove the stock hose) and the other end of the hose goes on the carb bank where the stock fuel line goes in. Gravity does the rest but you need to have at least a third of a tank of gas otherwise there is not enough weight of the gas for it to work properly...

 

For those that are not handy, I strongly suggest carrying a cell phone and membership in AAA + RV with the motorcycle coverage as well!