Petcock handle hard to turn

[Calvin Blackmore]

My 550L has the larger (read longer) petcock lever and that's very easy to move. Maybe that's why they changed them??

mine works fine once moved
it wil be loose for a long time but if you top off nd have to go to reserve the damned thing is nearly seized

I took it apart once big big mistake
walked grease araound the palstic cone but it didnt stay too long must have got disolved by the gas

lasted a while though

I wonder if any fine debris form fuel or fine rust gets twixt the plastic cone and it mating surface and acts like an abrasive?
maybe the o rings and newer fuels dont match
but hell it was doing it since it came off the showroom floor.

[prosolar]

Glad to hear there's a solution. I keep my 1100G in reserve since the fuel gauge works, but it sure would be nice to be able to turn it by hand!

[Odinist]

Calvin, 5 points for using the word "twixt" on a motorcycle forum.

[Calvin Blackmore]

Calvin, 5 points for using the word "twixt" on a motorcycle forum.

gosh sorry it is my favourite word
I once used it in logging a Remedy Database trouble ticket.
The guy who got the escalated ticket was also amused by my usage.

He was a total stranger but came found me and and said he actually had to look it up for a definition.

The ticket is now festering in an archive somewhere.....
alas!

[Steve]

Took the petcock back apart and found the problem. There is a tapered-cylinderical plastic piece that rotates when the lever is turned. The plastic piece is wedged into the petcock body very tightly - too much so in the case of my petcock. I clearanced the plastic piece by sanding lightly so it doesn't bind up so much. Lever turns freely now.

I have not had the problem (yet) with a GS, but I did have it with my Kaw Voyager 1300. I took the petcock apart and found pretty much the same thing, except that both parts are pot metal. Polished them a bit with a worn-out Scoth-Brite pad (stolen from the kitchen sink) and it then moved more like it should. Nice to know that the GS petcock is similar.

.

[Odinist]

HA!! REMEDY!!

I bloody hate that program (I do IT for the FAA, it's the system we use). It's so f'n slow. What's worse is the Remedy database guys swear up and down it's not their problem.

Have you ever seen The Chronicles of George? It'll crack you up, seriously.

http://chroniclesofgeorge.nanc.com/

[spyug]

After reading this thread I decided to look at mine since it hasn't moved off the on position since I got it 3 seasons back. Well surprise, surprise, it didn't move. Frozen solid. So I sprayed it down with liquid wrench but so far nothing.

I think I need to put some vice grips on it but I'm afraid to as I'll likely "torque" it off. I just know that's what will happen with my luck.

I guess I'll leave it alone this season and look at it over winter storage.

Cheers,
Spyug

[twiggy2cents]

if it is the small style you can take the front off on the bike and then take a screwdriver and wiggle the white plastic piece back and forth slightly(not too much it can come out) and oil up the oring on the front piece and put it back together and it will be back to original hard to turn

[Nessism]

if it is the small style you can take the front off on the bike and then take a screwdriver and wiggle the white plastic piece back and forth slightly(not too much it can come out) and oil up the oring on the front piece and put it back together and it will be back to original hard to turn

Bought a new small handle petcock recently and it turned like butter; they are not supposed to be hard to turn.

[Mysuzyq]

It's probably an inherent issue with the vacuum actuated petcocks.....they typically see much less movement, compared to the mechanical items that are switched on/off whenever the bike is ridden and parked. On my bike too, the petcock does not move that freely....awkward switching to reserve, on the fly, with riding gloves on. I've never had it apart....just gas up before 280 kms, when it usually begins sputtering a bit, ready to hit reserve.
The petcock was like this, even when I bought the bike with only thirteen miles on it, so it's safe to assume the problem is age, not mileage related, since it sat for 20 years.

Tony.

[cyclefvr2]

mine is hard to turn as well, i hate it when they get like that, im sure a good cleaning would fix it, and a buffing wheel,with mothers polish but im lazy at the moment lol

[chef1366]

Get a pingle!!!!!!

[twiggy2cents]

rephrase that to 20-30 years of age original

[Steve]

Chef, why bother with a Pingel when STOCK works so well?

[Larry D]

Some just leave the petcock on reserve all the time. I'm not so sure I agree with this. The petcock never moves and "freezes" in that position. I like to run my tank to the reserve, switch it, then fill up and turn it back to on.
It "uses" the mechanism the way it was intended and keeps it easy to turn.