Turning off Gas

[Nightsbane]

They talked about this in the MSF course. Should I turn off the gas each time I am done riding? Or should I only do this when not driving for extended periods. The MSF guys said to do it even when heading into a restaurant to eat, and I thought that sounded perhaps excessive.

Thoughts?

[grego]

nightbane
there is no off on a gz...only reserve,prime and on.. the gas is sucked out of the tank by the engine. i found that out when someone was telling me how to remove the gas tank.....and sure enough when i removed the hose nothing came out...also was informed to get a can of seafoam which is a gas treatment and follow the directions on the can. double it the first time and then a normal dose depending how much you use the bike. am sure someone will help me out here and explain it better am a newbie myself.

safge biking grego

[blaine]

Originally Posted by Nightsbane

They talked about this in the MSF course. Should I turn off the gas each time I am done riding? Or should I only do this when not driving for extended periods. The MSF guys said to do it even when heading into a restaurant to eat, and I thought that sounded perhaps excessive.

Thoughts?

I think this is one thing that they teach wrong,and should be updated..Petcocks now days are vacuum operated,and shut the fuel off automatically.Even the petcocks that do have a "off" position,rarely need to be used.My bike is 21 years old and the petcock is vacuum operated,and has no "off" position.
:cool:

[geezer]

all bikes are different and as a general rule yes close the valve. it prevents bad carbs from being able to flood your engine full of fuel. but no not on the gz you cant

[blaine]

Originally Posted by geezer

all bikes are different and as a general rule yes close the valve. it prevents bad carbs from being able to flood your engine full of fuel. but no not on the gz you cant

Please explain how the vacuum operated petcock on the G.Z. is different from that on all other bikes.How do you "close the valve" on a petcock with no "off" position?
:??:

[geezer]

you mean how the gz petcock is different from other non vac petcocks? sure, leaving a normal one open wil let fuel flow past it if you have a leaky needle valve, depending on carb placement (above, Below, Next to the intake manifold) fuel will drip past into te cylinder, past the rings and into the crankcase. even th vac ones can fail if the diaphrame goes

[blaine]

Originally Posted by geezer

you mean how the gz petcock is different from other non vac petcocks? sure, leaving a normal one open wil let fuel flow past it if you have a leaky needle valve, depending on carb placement (above, Below, Next to the intake manifold) fuel will drip past into te cylinder, past the rings and into the crankcase. even th vac ones can fail if the diaphrame goes

Agreed.But I was talking about a vacuum operated petcock,which the majority are now days.Also I have never seen a non vacuum petcock without a "off" position.
:cool:

[alantf]

Originally Posted by geezer

non vac petcocks?

There is no such thing as a "non vac petcock". A petcock, by its very nature, is designed to switch from "no flow" to "flow" by engine vacuum - thereby making it unnecessary (impossible) to have to switch off. This is why it was designed - so that you didn't have to fiddle with the valve every time you switched off. Older bikes did not have the benefit of this modern invention, so we had a simple on/off valve that we had to switch off every time we parked the bike. The two things are entirely different, so somebody on the course is YEARS out of date. I just hope it wasn't one of the instructors, or I'd be wondering just how much knowledge he actually had. :sad:

[blaine]

Originally Posted by alantf

I just hope it wasn't one of the instructors, or I'd be wondering just how much knowledge he actually had. :sad:

"The MSF guys said to do it even when heading into a restaurant to eat, and I thought that sounded perhaps excessive."
The instructor needs to be instructed. :roll:

[geezer]

i missunderstood you blain sorry. my fzr is a non vac petcock. what are you trying to say alantf? are the valves that are not vacuum operated have a different name?