[Thfireman]

Ref: Fuel Petcock, 2004 VS 650 Classic

Being new to the VStar world I am used to fuel injection on my Goldwing. It has been years since I have had to deal with fuel shut offs. Today is an example when I warmed the bike up and it sputtered and died. A few minute later I realized I forgot to turn the fuel back on. The manual says to turn off fuel when you are not running the bike.

My question is why do you need to turn the fuel off? And how many of you leave the fuel on unless you are storing the bike for the winter? And when its time to store the bike away for the winter is it OK to run the carbs dry

 

[lesblank]

In case of a stuck carb float that could flood your engine with fuel, catch fire, etc, is good enough of a reasons to me. The stuck float actually happens pretty often.

 

[Jspree]

The only time I turn the fuel off on my 650, is when I take the tank off for repairs. For you poor people who can't ride year around I would say put seafoam in the fuel, start the bike , shut off the fuel, run it out, then cry all winter , I post pictures in the winter riding to the beach .

 

[Thfireman]

In case of a stuck carb float that could flood your engine with fuel, catch fire, etc, is good enough of a reasons to me. The stuck float actually happens pretty often.

Good point. Thanks!

 

[Thfireman]

The only time I turn the fuel off on my 650, is when I take the tank off for repairs. For you poor people who can't ride year around I would say put seafoam in the fuel, start the bike , shut off the fuel, run it out, then cry all winter , I post pictures in the winter riding to the beach .

LOL, Thats just wrong. We can ride pretty deep into the winter here. But I get cold and Im not a happy boy when my skin freezes. I guess I ammore of a fair weather rider.

 

[Jspree]

I guess I ammore of a fair weather rider.

I have posted this before: The difference between a Motorcyclist and a Biker.
A Motorcyclist looks at the weather to see if he is going to ride.
A Biker looks at the weather to see what he is going to wear.

 

[Thfireman]

I have posted this before: The difference between a Motorcyclist and a Biker.
A Motorcyclist looks at the weather to see if he is going to ride.
A Biker looks at the weather to see what he is going to wear.

LOL, I guess im somewhere in between. I check the weather and dress appropriately, but if it says 35 degrees and rain Im planting my butt next to the dog and eatting junk food.

 

[Jspree]

The only time Trish and I absolutely will not ride , is when they say Ice on the Bridges. We will not ride on ice.

 

[JimCanaday]

Count me in with @Jspree. I've never cut off my fuel petcock and I ride to work every day unless there's snow or ice on the roads. My record low commute was either 6 or 9 fahrenheit, depending on which weather site I checked.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Yamaha Pat]

I've ridden 450,000 miles over 45 years carb and injected and have never turned my petcock off. No troubles here.

 

[Deeksvstarclassic]

I always leave mine on un less it ts to pull the tank or run the carbs dry for winter. Which leads me to a question. How come when i run the gas out i can run with the enricher (choke on) it will still run? How does it get gas with the valve off?

 

[Jspree]

The enricher as you call it ( I call it the choke) , reduces the amount of air, not add fuel , thus making it a richer mix. Same amount of gas/ less air/ fuel rich mix.

 

[Boog]

I always leave mine on un less it ts to pull the tank or run the carbs dry for winter. Which leads me to a question. How come when i run the gas out i can run with the enricher (choke on) it will still run? How does it get gas with the valve off?

If the bike will still run after moving the petcock to off, then you need a new petcock as it is not stopping the fuel. Regardless of choke position. I had this problem on an EX500. It is usually an easy swap, but it should work correctly in all positions. And at off, zero fuel should be allowed passed the cutoff.

 

[Lorax]

For you poor people who can't ride year around ... then cry all winter , I post pictures in the winter riding to the beach .

You're cruel man... just cruel.

 

[Jaguartech]

In case of a stuck carb float that could flood your engine with fuel, catch fire, etc, is good enough of a reasons to me. The stuck float actually happens pretty often.

Destroyed big end connecting rod bearings from fuel contaminated oil..........almost as expensive as a fire.

 

[Scrumdown]

After the fire November of 2018, I cut mine off just about every time I stop. It scared me enough to do that.
In fact, I turn off the petcock & let the bike run for a few seconds before the hitting the kill switch.

Seeing flames near you family jewels is damn scary. Plus, being on fire 23 years ago and needing a skin graph is more than enough for one life time. I don't want to go through that again.

Ride smart! Ride often!

 

[Jspree]

You're cruel man... just cruel.

This is your first winter with us, I give Deeks ,RedBird and NorthernRider a hard time allllllll winter long, I grew up in snow , I just got smart and moved away from it.

 

[Lorax]

This is your first winter with us, I give Deeks ,RedBird and NorthernRider a hard time allllllll winter long, I grew up in snow , I just got smart and moved away from it.

I'll be the first to admit I get to jonesing for a ride almost as soon as I put a bike up. But after a month I'm usually preoccupied with holidays and such. And then comes January and I start to thinking about how long till spring comes. Torture. But there's a bittersweet pleasure in being denied a good ride because when THAT day comes - when I can put the battery back in and start her up for a cold spring ride - oh how SWEET IT IS, the anticipation has peaked and I get to feel the cold air on my face and feel the sunshine against my skin again!!

 

[SmittySmithsonite]

I thought the V-Stars had vacuum operated petcocks? If so, they'll have a "PRI" setting for "prime", but no "off" setting. When there is no engine vacuum (engine not running), they are off for all intents and purposes. As soon as vacuum is applied, they open.

I was fairly certain anything built after the early 80's had this ... although I've been out of the bike loop (mechanically) for almost 2 decades. Lost interest in all the "new" stuff after 2005.

 

[lesblank]

The Vstar fuel petcock is NOT vacuum operated. It's a simple ON, OFF and reserve setup. Totally mechanical.