fuel petcock

found out the hard way today that my fuel petcock may be messed up lond story short ran out of gas on the way to work. left house fuel on on position started to run out so reached down and put petcack on reserve and still ran out of gas only good part was in site with a fuel station so just pushed bike over and put fuel in 3.188 gals so it must have been bone dry put back on on position startd right up whent to work.

now any ideas on fixing or am i french and put petcock in wrong position the handle goes to the back right? if it makes a differents the petcock has a vacuume hose on it (still not shure why it has one)

thanks guys

French I guess.

The vacuum hose is an indication that you have a vacuum operated petcock. When working properly, this device prevents fuel flow when the engine is off, as long as the short end of the lever is pointed at ON (run) or RES (reserve). The PRI position will allow fuel to flow with the engine off, which is often helpful when trying to restart a bike that has run out of fuel or after a carb rebuild.

Based on what you wrote, I'd guess that the rascal was on PRI rather than ON or RUN when the bike quit running.

Legal disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned a KZ550. My assumptions are base on ownership of various liter bikes.

will have to look closer at petcock i guess

The gas/alcohol mix sold is very nasty on rubber pieces of motorcycle fuel systems like the rubber tipped float valves,the diaphram of vacuum petcocks and other "O" rings.

i am a nuchel head been runing bike in pri posision so that exsplains why i ran out of gas but now i know thanks guys

Are you sure the petcock reserve tube it not getting clogged from bottom tank debris ? I had that happen to me but it was a none vacuum type. The normal "On" fuel tube gets the fuel at a higher fuel level than the reserve and not from the bottom of the tank, the reserve gets fuel all the way until the tank is empty. Therefore, the 'On' doesn't get clogged but at the same time the reserve can. Found out the hard way back in the early 80's driving (flying) across Alligator Alley at 2:00 in the morning. Had to have my buddy shine his bike's headlight on my tank while I took the petcock apart to clean the screen. Back then, there were no gas stations (nothing, only gators) for the whole 80 mi stretch. Once fixed, I was able to use my reserve for the last 20 mi. to Naples. Good luck.

I hope that solves the problem. With these old bikes, we all love a cheap and easy now and then.

easy fix a been running it on wrong setting on petcock