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This. Is. Ridiculous.
Let's say your car tires wore out after 80,000 miles, but they worked very well the whole way. Would you:
A) Head to your local tire shoppe and replace them with the same kind of tires?
or
B) Curse them for daring to ever wear out, swear you'll never trust rubber tires again, then carve replacements out of granite?
C) Buy 50 pounds of used chewing gum from a guy on eBay, then spend three weeks in your garage with a hair dryer and a putty knife trying to retread them?
D) Fill the tires with cement so they won't lose air, carve a tread pattern in the remaining rubber, and drive on?
E) Buy a set of tires from a semi truck, then lift and modify your car so they'll fit?
F) Adapt a set of treads from a WWII surplus tank?
G) Bypass the need for tires by inventing a levitation system just like Star Wars.
Like any rubber item on any vintage vehicle, petcocks are a maintenance item with a useful lifetime of around 20 years.
A vacuum petcock is perfectly reliable for a couple of decades, then it will need to be replaced with a new one from Suzuki because the thin vacuum diaphragm will begin to deteriorate. Replace it at or before the first sign of trouble, and you're done until at least 2028.
Replaced. Not rebuilt with one of the dubious kits floating around on eBay, not arsed around with homemade chewing gum remedies, and not bypassed.
Replacing with a manual petcock doesn't make any sense to me either. A Pingel costs more than an OEM replacement, and unless you have a 100% reliable brain, you risk flooding your engine with gas every time you park the bike. The float valves in GS carbs are not designed or able to hold back gasoline on their own. Even if they're in perfect shape, they will seep enough gas in a couple of days to create a dangerous and expensive situation.
Let's say your car tires wore out after 80,000 miles, but they worked very well the whole way. Would you:
A) Head to your local tire shoppe and replace them with the same kind of tires?
or
B) Curse them for daring to ever wear out, swear you'll never trust rubber tires again, then carve replacements out of granite?
C) Buy 50 pounds of used chewing gum from a guy on eBay, then spend three weeks in your garage with a hair dryer and a putty knife trying to retread them?
D) Fill the tires with cement so they won't lose air, carve a tread pattern in the remaining rubber, and drive on?
E) Buy a set of tires from a semi truck, then lift and modify your car so they'll fit?
F) Adapt a set of treads from a WWII surplus tank?
G) Bypass the need for tires by inventing a levitation system just like Star Wars.
Like any rubber item on any vintage vehicle, petcocks are a maintenance item with a useful lifetime of around 20 years.
A vacuum petcock is perfectly reliable for a couple of decades, then it will need to be replaced with a new one from Suzuki because the thin vacuum diaphragm will begin to deteriorate. Replace it at or before the first sign of trouble, and you're done until at least 2028.
Replaced. Not rebuilt with one of the dubious kits floating around on eBay, not arsed around with homemade chewing gum remedies, and not bypassed.
Replacing with a manual petcock doesn't make any sense to me either. A Pingel costs more than an OEM replacement, and unless you have a 100% reliable brain, you risk flooding your engine with gas every time you park the bike. The float valves in GS carbs are not designed or able to hold back gasoline on their own. Even if they're in perfect shape, they will seep enough gas in a couple of days to create a dangerous and expensive situation.
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