How and Why You Need to Rebuild the Vacuum Petcock on Your Motorcycle

Step by step process on how to rebuild almost any style of motorcycle vacuum type petcock.
A close look at typical internal parts that may fail and how they may negatively impact your motorcycle engine . Another key element to remember about vacuum petcocks is that the prime setting is used to bypass the vacuum feature .Its is not meant to be left in that position .The prime setting is typically used only to fill empty carburetors if you run out of fuel. Once the bike has started remember to reset the petcock into the on setting . Unlike what I did at the beginning of this video .

To learn some very interesting facts and tips about your motorcycle chain ,that many people do not know ,but should .Click the the link below ,you'll be glad you did .

[TRyanLearnBikes]

To learn how to fix the number one most common issue of carbureted motorcycles click the link below .You will be glad you did.

[SpyderWayne]

Even though I haven't seen or used a petcock in the last few years, I knew I'd enjoy this video. Your wit continues to shine, and the cocky humour with your pet rooster... priceless 😳😁🤣👍

[rolandkeith]

I made comment about the Marantz Tuner Amp in view of this clip. And nice quality work here as always, by the way and a very helpful How too! video. I collect vintage Hi Fi and a have a fair collection at hand.

[justinb]

Thanks bud! My tail pipe is pouring out, after being blown away from learning about how silly its issues were. Lol Braap braap

[alainmaurice]

I just followed your tutorial to renovate my petcock on my DR650 - 2002. It will help me a lot. The little details you show make all the difference.
Thank you very much
Alain

[louisdegroelard]

You are An amazing YouTuber. Love your style and fluidity. Thank you very much for your nice videos!

[RonHei]

Love your videos! They’re funny, knowledgeable, interesting, useful, entertaining and awesome. Thanks! Oh, the video editing is killer.

[FerRrocha]

A side from having super usefull information, the way is all explained is amazing. Big fan of the video. It should have way more likes !

[rickc]

How do you only have 6.5k subscribers? your video content and quality is among the best....

[linksgarage]

I need to learn how to make thumbnails like this. Brilliant!!!!

[williamstarkes]

You really know your petcocks. Nice tribute to Sydney.

[adamhorner]

Vary helpful it's surprising how meny videos u can watch without anyone fully explaining

[juhaposo]

Leaking petcock and needle valves are the problems what I have found also in my veteran 125cc 2-stroke bikes. It's really irritating to find petrol everywhere it shouldn't be. As a matter of fact I renewed petcock's seals of 2-3 bikes I own, but the problem continued, until I realized the petcock spring needed re-organizing/stiffening. Watching videos like this from Ryan pays - it makes You better understand what lies behind the problems and You are not alone with these irritating problems getting Your bike again on the road. Getting new petrol valves from EBay is frusthrating because some of them aren't sold anymore, anywhere, for example: Yamaha RD 125 1974 Teihin carbs. I have thought by now that it would be better for me instead trying to find any new ones, but instead try to find and buy a pair of matching Keihin carbs instead. In Europe (I actually have a new repair kit to them) Keihin carbs repair kits are much easily available. Though, I'm still interested if someone have these and is willing to sell buy those new Teihin petrol valve needles. Thank's for the video, I found it most interesting!

[PurpleMonkeyWaffle]

Nice rebuild Ryan. Its great to be able to keep these bikes alive thanks to rebuild kits continuing to be made. If only the manufactures still made the parts we ACTUALLY need lol. Like stators and flywheels!@!@

[MrShrimpy]

You should have more followers. Great stuff.

[Trikekid]

Great video! Your intake and exhaust valves must have booth been open for the gas to fill up the exhaust.

[fcdevreugd]

So I'm also that idiot that left it on PRI for 8 months. Bike doesn't want to start at all. Also thinking about checking the petcock vacuum. How did you get it to run after?

[conniefelice]

I have a vacuum petcock. Two valves one for air one for the gas. It's a screw in petcock my bike doesn't want to turn over so now that's got a 14mm so I can take this one out and turn the gas valve on

[choppergirl]

This piece of absolute Honda Shadow safety grrbage will leave you stuck at home, stranded away from home, or worse, have you tearing your bike apart trying to figure out why your bike isn't cranking. My vacuum pump does not have a Prime setting, it has ON, off, and REServe. Everything is groovy until your carb bowl is empty. It's not cranking because your fuel line is bone dry even though you have the petcock on and the fuel tank full and no matter how much you turn it over it's not creating enough vacuum to activate it. I want this P.O.S. OFF MY BIKE. Someone recommend some old skool aftermarket part that fits and can screw direct into the tank that is just a traditional petcock.

Where that metal tab is at 9:00, I have an open pipe venting to atmosphere. Maybe there is a tab on the other side, that is getting stuck like your rare case scenario, maybe there is not, I don't care.

If you cover this vacuum leak exit with your finger and turn the bike over, it will allow gas through. If it's uncovered, sometimes it will, sometimes it won't (like mostly in the morning when it's cold).

If my petcock is in the ON or RES position, it better gd be flowing fuel, no questions asked, no monkey business, no non-sense safety part that can break and halt all fuel going to my motorcycle leaving me turning over the motorcycle until the battery is dead.

This is a case of design where newer was not better, but was way worse.

[xzouix]

Good info! I rebuilt my yamaha xv535 with a rebuild kit (fewer parts - only the rubber ones - the kit didn't come with the metal parts that you call "essential", so i only replaced the rubber parts (btw. my petcock has only "on" and "off", no prime option, and the reserve button is on handlebars). Anyways, I rebuilt the petcock because it was leaking. I swear i did everything right, all the parts went to the right place, the petcock doesn't leak anymore. However, the bike now keeps shutting off, and only runs when i switch to "reserve" . Can you give me any suggestion what could be wrong? Thank you!