fuel taps/petcocks

[steptoe]

they were off the E  tank I thought they were good, till the left started leaking out of the tap on reserve pos,, must have been done by p o

[excess.11]

I was under the impression these were previously working taps that you decided to refresh just for the hell of it.?

so after cleaning 4 sets of taps for EV and General, I thought I might as well do my own and put a kit thruogh them, noworries easy enough,

                                             

[steptoe]

as it happened a phonecall  from Timbo to say he was visiting and one to Errol had 3 minds confuzzling over the taps on saturday,
I showed them what was happening and we pulled them apart again,  we made sure all bits did what they were supposed to,  made sure all that needed to be lined up was lined up and re-assembled,, and it leaked, right on cue,

this next time before we dismantled the @#%^&^%$# ing thing we blew compressed air through so as to dry it and proceeded to suck and blow through with my mouth turning the tap as we went,,,

turns out in the on and reserve possie we could suck and blow through with ease, in the prime position we had blow but no suck,

it turns out somehow somewhere a right hand tap/spigot had been placed in the left hand body, replaced with a borrowed tap and all good,

problem solvered,, and  yes we did a video on the pitfalls, will be up shortly

[pgnz]

the vacuum spigots have little one-way flappers in them  if you can blow thru them they're dodgy

[steptoe]

here goes,,
Jeff, sorry they are for the 78 tank,

as stated both taps have been cleaned just short of buff polishing, all surfaces are clean and clear of any electrolosis looking gouges or pitting,
brand new rubber bits through out in both,
springs stretched in both, sucking on both hoses actuates the diaphragm on each, no twisted/contorted rubbers everything sits sweet

except for something in 1 tap

sure they're sweet but will have to double check on the positioning of the small holes,

pulled apart and re-did 3 times before posting 

theres a video building,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I can feel it

[pgnz]

yo, likely springs just to weak to push the oring tight, stretch em' good or throw in good springs from ballpoint pens, they work sweet

[Eveready1100]

ps there's TWO plunger sizes, the shorter ones ain't gonna work on standard taps

have discussed with my partner in crime, there are only 2 diaphragms ?? one for the std taps and 1 for the octty, not hard to confuse because of the length ??

Hi Irish, Geoff and I had already compared the length of the plungers as we were putting the kits in to the taps. They were the same size as the old ones. I'm guessing that maybe an O-ring got twisted as the valve got inserted into the petcock body

[pgnz]

still nothing tricky or hard about the mikuni vac-taps, they're a SIMPLE spring and plunger with an o-ring sealing a hole.  that's it.   primo quality, primo convenient, they're automatic, new ones probably cost 5hundy each..  find a modern plastic bike with as classy a taps as the xs ones,  hehe no chance.. everything's a cheapo shortcut nowdays,  ps there's TWO plunger sizes, the shorter ones ain't gonna work on standard taps

[Jonesy :-)]

Excellent advice indeed from a wise xs man, I"ll be going with the pingel taps too if mine misbehave again.

[AussiXS11G]

dear oh dear - just bite the bullet and get rid of them in favour of an on/off/reserve fuel tap......
Pingel make a nice one - end of problem

http://www.pingelonline.com/prodcat/fuel-valves.asp

[excess.11]

What type of petcocks are they?
You ve got so many bikes and things going on I m not sure what ones you are talking about.
On the standard ....there s a little hole that needs to be lined up on the diaphragm .....try stretching the spring a little so you get more tension to close the diaphragm.
Does the diaphragm rubber seem stiffer than what you have taken out?
What brand kit did you use?
Pics are always the way to go with issues.......along with what remedies you ve already tried.

[Jonesy :-)]

I had the same disappointment of leaking taps after giving them a birthday too. Mine weren't as bad as what you describe. Mine was cured by the off position mod on the fuel tap. You say you lay it flat on the bench and it leaks? What happens when stood upright? Can you feel the diaphragm working when suck/blow on vacuum port? Is the vent clear? Any robber build up on the conical valve seat?
Not much help, but you gotta start somewhere with the questions

[steptoe]

so after cleaning 4 sets of taps for EV and General, I thought I might as well do my own and put a kit thruogh them, noworries easy enough,

                                              BUT there's always a but,,,,,

 1 tap leaks, the other no,, brand new seals, polished surfaces and pours fuel like no diapraghm, it's not on the bike yet, lay it flat on the bench and away it goes

 have discussed with my partner in crime, there are only 2 diaphragms ?? one for the std taps and 1 for the octty, not hard to confuse because of the length ??

 any ideas

[Stevexs]

Cheers 14 k is expensive  I could build a flash boat for that

[excess.11]

There was an outfit for sale in SA that had a wheelchair access sidecar attached.
It was nt cheap but still may be for sale.
Mmmmmm $14,000 not cheap ........was the asking price.