TOPIC:

Time for another inane petcock question.

Z1 has some Zook vacuum petcocks , 44mm spacing. I measured the bolt spacing on my SR petcock, and as far as I can tell they're 44mm apart.

Should I be able to use the Suzuki petcock on my bike? I love vacuum operation, but as it stands I've tried two rebuild kits and the durned thing just doesn't want to stop leaking.

Is there anything I need to worry about? Different fuel line sizes, etc.?

Chet,

I am no help, but if you give this a try let us know how well it works. This seems like a possible answer to my own petcock issues.

Good luck.

I just placed the order, so we'll see when it gets here. Steve@Z1 said to watch for clearance issues, but it looks like there's a fair bit of space on my 650. Your '79 should hopefully be the same, so I'll post an update with pics when I get the petcock.

In short, it worked.

Okay, so I finally got around to getting some fuel line and installing the petcock I'd ordered a while ago. I also added an inline filter.

For comparison, the new one is on the right:



The installation went fairly well, although the vacuum outlet did hit the frame because the new petcock doesn't hang nearly as low as the original one did. I grabbed a grinder and notched the frame to accomodate the vacuum line.

Just kidding! I unscrewed the back of the petcock and flipped around the vacuum port towards the front of the bike. The fuel outlet cannot be moved, but there's just enough clearance for the fuel line, as the picture shows below.


Original petcock:


New Suzuki petcock from Z1:


Note how snug the new one is against the tank. I routed the fuel line across to the right side of the bike, where I mounted the inline filter so I could see it easily. You can't see the inline filter well in the photo, but you can see the hose clamps on it. You can also see that I haven't yet hooked the fuel sensor back up. I'm not sure yet whether I want to shave down the fuel pipe on the petcock -- it looks like it makes half of the tank the reserve, so I'll have to see how it works out to ride with.

Now that it's installed I really want to ride, but I have a brand new tire on the back and I'm not sure I want to break a tire in while it's raining...

Those are some fine looking photos you took there.

I have still yet to get myself one of them digital cameras, hence the reason I don't have a pic of my bike posted yet.

I'm going to give it a try myself, and I'll let you know how well it works on the old '79.

The one thing I can suggest is, after seating the tank into place on the bike, reach in from the right side and make sure that the fuel line is nestled between the airbox and the frame. That'll give it the least bending, and so reduce the chance that it'll kink shut sometime down the road.

I like the fact that these petcocks don't have that 90-degree swivel piece to fall out or leak. It's a solid design -- somewhat less flexible, but hopefully it should be reliable.

In your pics it looks like your vacuum line is clear. Did you use clear fuel line for that, or was that specific vacuum line that just happens to be clear?

The vacuum line is clear. I picked up 20' of it at Home Depot for about $3. Take an old section of tubing along to compare, but I believe it's 3/8" inside diameter.

Clear tubing is good for a vacuum line because you can make sure there's nothing where it shouldn't be -- the petcock that came on the bike was letting fuel into the vacuum line, and I wouldn't have noticed if the line hadn't been transparent!

I'm not sure whether it's fuel-resistant, so I stick to the reinforced black rubber stuff for actually carrying fuel. It's marketed as fuel injection line by the local big-box auto parts store, and it's meant to carry pressurized fuel. It's probably overkill, but better too much than too little.

Okay,

I too went with the Suzy petcock from Jeff at Z1, and it worked like a charm. I had a bit of a problem getting my old one off. Let's just say I spent a good half hour today cleaning gasoline off my garage floor. But, the good news is all the old oil and grease stains are gone!

Anyway, I think this fix may be good for anyone out there with similar problems. My pic is not as good as Chets' were, but you get the picture. I too had to do some minor re-routing of the fuel line, but no big deal.

Okay,

I too went with the Suzy petcock from Jeff at Z1, and it worked like a charm. I had a bit of a problem getting my old one off. Let's just say I spent a good half hour today cleaning gasoline off my garage floor. But, the good news is all the old oil and grease stains are gone!

Anyway, I think this fix may be good for anyone out there with similar problems. My pic is not as good as Chets' were, but you get the picture. I too had to do some minor re-routing of the fuel line, but no big deal.

Post edited by: giftofthegods77, at: 2006/03/13 19:38

That nasty looking yellow line is an overflow hose (I think). I didn't really notice how ugly it was until I posted this pic...perhaps I better change that, huh?

Post edited by: giftofthegods77, at: 2006/03/13 19:42

Good stuff! I was wondering today whether you'd decided to do the swap. I'm glad it worked out for you!

Did you have to flip the vacuum port around to the front also?