Petcock Settings

[H2O]

Have a buddy that owns an '07 RSV and we were discussing why the owners manual states to turn the fuel petcock to the position when the motor is off.

 

My buddy never moves his from on except for when/if he...........

Was interrupted inadvertently hit submit.,,,,,anyway,

He never turns his off.

I always do mainly because of an experience with a fuel leak several years ago on another make of bike.

He says there's no point to shut it off because it has an electric fuel pump so fuel won't flow through it when it's not running.

Any other reasons pro or con?

Edited September 4, 2015 by H2O

[videoarizona]

I believe the reason for turning the fuel off when not using an RSV is because the tank is higher than the carbs. If one of the floats sticks open, the fuel will drain down into the motor. Could cause some serious grief.

[vzuden]

That is correct and I had it happen. Rode the bike to the office, stayed late, was the last one to leave, hit the starter button and it wouldn't turn over. Loud clunk only as the starter engaged the flywheel and couldn't turn the engine over. It was Friday night so after I got a ride home and went back to if Sat am. The first thing I did was pull the plugs. Left rear was dripping with fuel so I had pretty good idea really quick what was going on. After I pulled the other three I turned it over and blew all of the fuel out. I opened all four carb drains one at a time and flushed fuel through them with the pump. The crankcase didn't appear to have any fuel in the oil so I waited till I got home to drain it. Plugs in and it fired right up and thankfully no bent rods.

I don't leave the bike sit at all with the petcock on. Made it a habit to turn off before I get off and don't even think about not doing so

[M61A1MECH]

There have been numerous reports of hydrolocking of Royals , more the past few months than I have seen in the past 16 or 17 years I have been participating in forums like this. There have also been at least two reports recently of Royals throwing rods thru the cylinder walls , those may or may not be related to fuel dripping in the cylinders although I rarely did it when I owned my Royals, it is a good idea to allways turn the petcock off when parked.

[bostonlawman2003]

Wow, I have always been in the camp that leaves it in the on position basically from March to November, only turning it off when putting her up for her winter hibernation. Never realized the potential issues that could occur from doing this. I will have to try and get in the habit of turning the gas off every time I get off the bike.

 

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