TOPIC:

I'm trying to fit an aftermarket petcock to my 1979 KZ750 twin. The original petcock has one outlet on the rear and one on the right side. The new petcock has both outlets on the rear.

That's making some slight changes in how my fuel lines are routed and one line seems to want to rest on the cylinder head.

I'm a novice shade tree sort of wrencher and I don't know how normal that is. I mean, that cylinder head gets pretty hot. It seems like it'd be a bad idea to have the fuel line touching it right? Or is that fairly normal?

It should be avoided if possible. Pic?
Steve

SWest wrote: It should be avoided if possible. Pic?
Steve

Tank and everything is off the bike at the moment so no pics.

But basically what's happening is that with dual outlets on the back of the petcock, it won't clear the top of the carb. So the petcock has to be rotated a couple degrees to one side. Not much, but enough that it pushes one fuel line so it rests against the side of the valve cover.

Here, this one isn't mine, but it shows the original petcock and typical fuel line routing.



With two outlets on the back of the petcock, the right one won't clear the top of the carb. I'm having to rotate the petcock a couple degrees. That's pushing the left fuel line into the side of the valve cover.

That's not too bad. Can you get a 1/4" elbo to splice it in to miss the valve cover? Another thing I was thinking is to drill the side to make a port like it should be and plug the old one. The nipples are pressed in.
Steve

Well, like I said, that one's not mine. Mine was pressing right up on the valve cover.

I think I got it sorted though. It's really hard to get a photo of it and harder to explain. But basically I swapped the lines.

Facing the petcock, the line coming off the right nipple goes between the throttle cables and feeds the carb on the far side. The line coming off the left nipple crosses over and feeds the carb on the near side. That seems to keep the line off the valve cover.

Three things are necessary for a fire. Fuel, oxygen and heat. You have all three. You should look for a petcock that will allow you to avoid touching your head with the fuel line.