Wednesday night was Bike Night and Trobaritz rode behind me to show off her new bike. Parking has been a little difficult in the downtown core since the farmer's market moved just down the street. We circled the parking lot and grabbed the first spot we found along side an older, customized Honda 500 Silverwing. We hopped off our bikes as our neighbor pulled up behind us on his Honda Helix. We were removing our helmets and he strolls over and asks "So why do you shut off your petcocks?"
"Ummm, I don't know.....habit?" This was a legitimate question and made me think. Both of our bikes are less than three years old so with vacuum feed, shutting off the petcock isn't as important or necessary as it was 20, 30, or 50 years ago. It made me laugh to think that simply out of habit I taught Brandy to do the same thing I was taught as a kid. It's good for her, it'll make her think two blocks down the road when her bike coughs and sputters to turn on the petcock, quickly. I feel better about shutting the fuel line off, it just makes sense and it is a good habit. The fuel tank is above the motor, water flows downhill and as any motorcyclists knows, gravity works.
Because it'll seem like a waste of time until something goes wrong -- and then you'll really wish you had done it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAlso: with the emphasis that the manufacturers are placing on cost-cutting these days, if the petcock was useless, wouldn't they have gotten rid of it by now?
New Honda Rebels come with a screwdriver. Yes, in the singular. I'm sure that saves them a few cents.
I turn mine off every time. The Savage petcock didn't use to have an off. I modified it so it would because the vacuum system for it wasn't working too well. I actually replaced it recently with a petcock from an ATV that was a direct swap. No need for modification.
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