cali stone/ev petcock remove, and Q?

[s1120]

OK, so since I have my tank off doing hoses, and air filter, I was thinking of draining the tank, and making sure there was no crud in there. It looks good, but you never know, and the bike is new to me. So is there any kind of a seal on the petcock at all? Or does it just unscrew?  Also wile it seems to work fine, Im thinking next winter when I go through the bike agean, ater my first season of riding it, of replacing the electric one with this...  http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30&products_id=39

Is this just a on and off petcock, or does it come with a RES also? Thanks!

[troyhamilton]

i had the same question on my bike.

[s1120]

and wile im here, I read about the moat drain...   I cant see the hole from the top, so how do I pour something in it to see if its free?  I was planning on running a guitar string up from the bottom... 

[lti_57]

OK, so since I have my tank off doing hoses, and air filter, I was thinking of draining the tank, and making sure there was no crud in there. It looks good, but you never know, and the bike is new to me. So is there any kind of a seal on the petcock at all? Or does it just unscrew?  Also wile it seems to work fine, Im thinking next winter when I go through the bike agean, ater my first season of riding it, of replacing the electric one with this...  http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30&products_id=39

Is this just a on and off petcock, or does it come with a RES also? Thanks!

on my Bassa on the  first day of a 9 day trip my solenoid  took i crap i fixed on the side of the road, and went on my way.
so to me, replacing that with a mechanical valve is the way to go. And it is a on/off no reserve on most FI bikes

[s1120]

on my Bassa on the  first day of a 9 day trip my solenoid  took i crap i fixed on the side of the road, and went on my way.
so to me, replacing that with a mechanical valve is the way to go. And it is a on/off no reserve on most FI bikes

OK, cool thanks. This bike only have 9k on it, and this year will be kinda a shakedown cruze for the bike AND me. Ive been off 2 wheels for over 10 years, and just got the bike in Dec, so my plans are to just get some time and miles on her. Get my skills back up to speed, and work out any bugs on the bike.

I did get the petcock off. Tank was nice and clean. no rust, or crud or anything. A tiny big of fuel jell at the vary bottom of the petcock, but I don't think the last owner put many miles on it wile he had it. All in all im happy with it. I just gotta clean the moat drain, then Ill get it back together.

[pehayes]

The Moat Drain on my 98EV is a little dimple in the 6 o'clock position of the fuel filler.  (Sorry, my tank has a vinyl cover.)  The drain is a coiled tube down through the tank to exit through the bottom/center of the tunnel.  The coil is necessary to allow for expansion/contraction of the tank body.



The tool I use from below is a 13" section of control cable core with soldered tips driven by a slow electric drill.  The solder keeps the cable filaments from fraying.  A longer length just tends to twist and knot up.





IIRC, the petcock has a dual thread, righthand/lefthand like a tunbuckle with a plastic seal between.  Turn the central nut and it draws the petcock body up against the exposed stem of the tank.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Wayne Orwig]

So is there any kind of a seal on the petcock at all? Or does it just unscrew?

As mentioned, most petcocks have a left/right thread arrangement. You hold the petcock from turned, turn the nut, and it unscrews from both ends.
Then there is a hard nylon(?) washer in the center that seals it. Since it is not pipe threads, thread tape and pipe goo aren't much good.

[s1120]

thanks for the pictures Patrick!  OK, so i dribbled some light oil down that hole and it came out the other end... so im clear. It did come out dirty, so ill run the guitar string through it, and hit it with the blowgun before I put it all back together. 

[Tom H]

Another thing that you can clear it out with is a short length of speedo cable inserted in the bottom end of the hole. As mentioned, chuck it up in a drill and turn it slowly, works like a drain cleaning machine.

Tom

[Kiwi_Roy]

thanks for the pictures Patrick!  OK, so i dribbled some light oil down that hole and it came out the other end... so im clear. It did come out dirty, so ill run the guitar string through it, and hit it with the blowgun before I put it all back together.

I'm guessing your bike has been kept indoors. I bought an EV that had been outdoors all it's life and the drain tube was well clogged with rust and so was the fuel filter from the water that found it's way into the tank. I used Patrick's method to clear the drain. The light oil will keep it clear and prevent tank rust.
If you ty-wrap the petcock wires to the valve body they won't snap off where they exit the solenoid and it will last the life of the bike.

[s1120]

I'm guessing your bike has been kept indoors. I bought an EV that had been outdoors all it's life and the drain tube was well clogged with rust and so was the fuel filter from the water that found it's way into the tank. I used Patrick's method to clear the drain. The light oil will keep it clear and prevent tank rust.
If you ty-wrap the petcock wires to the valve body they won't snap off where they exit the solenoid and it will last the life of the bike.

IIm thinking it was kept inside.. I did have a lot of dry rotted hoses though...  but all in all I would say it spent more time in, then out. Someone already tie wrapped the wires on the petcock.