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I'd be rebuilding the carbs now, rather than waiting until Winter.
After riding the 850T between snow/rain storms, decided to take the 650 (v65sp) out. Since I'm too cheap to buy two batteries, switched it over from the T, put some air in the tires, and rolled it out of the garage to check the oil since that side of the bike was against the wall. When I unscrewed the oil cap, a plume shot out, covering the apron with a gas/oil mix. So put the plug back in, got a pan, and drained a couple more quarts of the pungent liquid. At first I thought I'd forgotten to close the petcocks last fall, but no, they were in the off position. So I guess I need new petcocks. MG sells a repro pecock that's pretty inexpensive, anyone have experience with them?Later I talked to my mechanic neighbor and he says he always closes the petcocks on his Harley, even when he stops for just a few minutes. And in the fall he drains the gas from the tank. I always filled it up cause I thought there'd be less problems with fumes and gas degradation over the winter. Anybody have thoughts on that?
And that's because what exactly? The bike ran fine last fall, there was no sign of float needle problems then. What's your opinion of the BAP petcocks. They seem to be the only ones readily available and were not highly rated on another forum.Thanks, Jon
petcocks galore: https://www.treatland.tv/new-puch-peugeot-motobecane-vespa-moped-parts-s/88.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=88&show=99&page=1&f-petcock=66
The tips of your float needles could be worn out or just dried out and not sealing. If you want, you could wait and see if they seal. I would just replace them. Fairly easy and fairly cheap.Quote from: Antietam Classic Cycle on May 24, 2019, 08:38:18 AMBecause the float needles and/or floats obviously aren't doing their job and riding it like that could lead to far larger issues. I've used the BAP petcocks on a number of projects and haven't had any issues with them at all. Here's the link to the forum that talked about BAP petcocks. Maybe just the style for Nortons was bad?https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/bap-petcock-warning.11643/My neighbor, who's been a mechanic for 40 years and has worked on everything from airplanes to heavy equipment, was adamant that the carbs were probably ok since it took 6-7 months to leak down. But I probably won't ride it until they're fixed. As long as the 850's running, it's NBD, just one more project on the list!
Because the float needles and/or floats obviously aren't doing their job and riding it like that could lead to far larger issues. I've used the BAP petcocks on a number of projects and haven't had any issues with them at all.
But they aren't okay. It was proven by the crankcase being full of fuel.Btw before you crank the engine pull the plugs and spin the engine-don't do it with the plugs still connected!If you don't do this you risk hydrolock and bending a rod.
For fuel to get into the crankcase, BOTH the petcocks and the needles and seats are crying out.If you needle valves are rooted, then there’s nothing to stop the float bowls overfilling when you’re riding.
Well, all the umming and arring in the world will mean nothing much, because it’s all conjecture.You could fill the tank and put @ couple of hoses on the taps, turn them on and see what happens, but you’re gunna’ have to trace the system through anyway.The beaut thing about these sort of dramas, is that if you work through methodically, you can SEE the problem.
OK, I get it. Don't ride bike, bad for engine. Will fix, eventually, when the more pressing projects are done. Summers are short up here and work on stuff like that gets prioritized. But I will pull the plugs and check for gas in the cylinders. One interesting thing was that when I tried to drain the rest of the gas from the tank, nothing came out when the taps were turned on, but then about a quart drained when I turned to reserve. Shouldn't it all have drained out if the petcocks were leaking?
Even though the fuel usually exits from the same spigot on modern petcocks, Main and Reserve intake circuits on a petcock are separate circuits. It's not odd for one to work properly and the other to fail- probably more common than for both to fail at the same time. At least that's what happens when mine have died in the past. Sounds like the reserve circuit still works. That's why fuel remained after the rest of it leaked out via the main circuit and fell to/below the level of the petcock's main circuit intake stack/tube.Check to see what's bad so you don't waste resources or short summer time, but I would also recommend not riding this bike until you have this problem sorted. Good luck.
Well that's often true, sometimes when fixing things there's a eureka moment when it all becomes clear, but other times, not so much. But that's a good idea to check out the petcocks before removing them. Thanks, Jon
Yeah it’s funny isn’t it.Sometimes you have apparently conflicting symptoms that could have a hundred causes, but when you find the reason, EVERYTHING that you saw suddenly becomes perfectly clear. The cause will always make sense of the symptoms..But.The symptoms won’t always make sense of the cause.
That's true, mechanicing in general can be kind of zen like, but don't want to go too far down that road. Never could finish reading that book. Jon
Yes but if a book is written and nobody reads it..Does that mean it does not tell a story...Grasshopper ..?
That's what the pictures are for...
On my Cal III the petcock has no reserve. Just on and off with the control being in the R side cover. I gutted it and made a block off plate. Then I installed the aforementioned Briggs shutoff valve.
Good luck with your repairs!
Quote from: Huzo on Today at 01:54:16 PMYes but if a book is written and nobody reads it..Does that mean it does not tell a story...Grasshopper ..?That's what the pictures are for...On my Cal III the petcock has no reserve. Just on and off with the control being in the R side cover. I gutted it and made a block off plate. Then I installed the aforementioned Briggs shutoff valve.Good luck with your repairs!
I put a set of these BAP petcocks on my refreshed V50 II. They work flawlessly and are inexpensive. Curiously, they are identical to the OE petcocks fitted in 1980 - so it must have been a good, solid design, no need to change.http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30&products_id=682
This has been my experience a well.
