Fixed leaking petcock; Don't buy a new one yet!

[gzlocal]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

Great post. Shout back from Raleigh!

I especially liked the part regarding the Nitrile o-rings. Though I did not understand why, I knew I could not just throw any O-ring into it. Nicely explained!

I also like the detail regarding testing! :puke: :lol:

If you would like to edit your post to include my images, that's fine. It would allow you to shorten your post a little. I'll also be editing my post to advise people to read yours.

The subsitute feul cock was great info too. From the pic, the gasket between the fuel cock and the tank looks a little thicker and who knows, it might change the reserve tank a little but 18 dollars??!! I would strongly consider that next time.

Try to update this in maybe a year or so to state if it has had any problems and if it is still working. I wonder about the bevel issue as I'm sure you do. Does Suzuki MAKE a beveled o-ring or does it sitting in there change its shape?

So a quick update. I've had the o-ring in the petcock for about 2 weeks, and I have had no issues at all. The bike doesn't leak, and doesn't starve for fuel under full throttle, so the o-ring is sealing and unsealing completely normal. I also disassembled the petcock to check the o-ring's shape, and it seems to have a tapering to it now, although not quite as much as the original o-ring had. Which leads me to believe that the o-ring may never have been tapered from the factory, and may very well just do that with age to a point where it will no longer seal correctly.

[Gz Rider]

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[gzlocal]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

Man that is some cold Sha-zit! The funny thing is it seems to me someone on this site was once lost trying to find the plug. Your thief/vandal had to know what they were doing. I really though alantf figured it out. I guess not.

Yea, tell me about it. I would rather have my hindquarters whipped than go through that again. I wish it was my own stupidity (which I'm VERY guilty of VERY commonly). Now I'm paranoid to drive it there on a daily basis. Way to screw up my entire plans for buying the bike in the first place.

New plug only cost me $4. So to whomever stole it, I would like to publicly announce that I do not condone behaviors straddling that borderline upon pure evil incarnate and insanity. So as a personal message to my unseen vandal, :fu: :fu: :fu: :fu:, from all four of my appendages.

[alantf]

Sorry, but I'm still not convinced about the vandal theory. Like GzRider said, you've got to know exactly which plug it is, then contort yourself into an uncomfortable position under the bike, then undo a badly designed plug with the correct wrench. I've often convinced myself that there's nothing I've forgotten (like torquing it up tight) then having doubts, some time later, & finding out that those doubts were well founded. It's just one of us fallible human being things.

I reckon a vandal is more likely to do something easy, like one did to mine. Chop the starter motor cable, which is quick, easy, and unobtrusive to do.

[mrlmd1]

Nice friends you have Alan. :cuss: :mad:

[gzlocal]

Originally Posted by alantf

Sorry, but I'm still not convinced about the vandal theory. Like GzRider said, you've got to know exactly which plug it is, then contort yourself into an uncomfortable position under the bike, then undo a badly designed plug with the correct wrench. I've often convinced myself that there's nothing I've forgotten (like torquing it up tight) then having doubts, some time later, & finding out that those doubts were well founded. It's just one of us fallible human being things.

I reckon a vandal is more likely to do something easy, like one did to mine. Chop the starter motor cable, which is quick, easy, and unobtrusive to do.

Well, all I know is all you need is a 17mm socket and a 3 inch extension to get to it. I think those are pretty common tools in any cheapo socket wrench set and are pretty commonly carried in vehicles. I know I have a set in my car, and if I was looking to raid someone's ride or cause mischief, that would probably be the first thing I'd have in my trunk, so I don't think it's all that far fetched.

Besides, what is more evil? Cutting your starter wire so you immediately know something is wrong with your bike and can't go anywhere, or draining your engine oil hoping you don't notice the puddle and then driving away only to have your engine seize while riding, destroying your bike as well as the skin on your lower body when you lay the bike down? Parking is terrible at UNCC, and seeing a small motorcycle taking up an entire parking spot is enough to set someone off. I know that for a fact, I've seen it happen. Girl actually let the air out of this guy's car tires because he beat her to a spot. Crazy.

But, for the benefit of ALL doubts, it had to have "fallen" out in the parking spot as I said before. There was NO oil trail, not even a drop. It's not like it would have fallen from the Empire State building, so it would be in the immediate vicinity of the bike. It was not. I looked everywhere in, around, and near my spot. So, if that so happened to be the case of the plug spontaneously falling out, someone still picked it up and made off with it. Unless it did happen to fall out while riding and my bike magically doesn't sling out oil when running with no plug. If that was the case it magically would have fried the perp when he got close to my bike.

Moral of the story is, I now have a hex bit oil plug, which is not a commonly carried tool of destruction. So whether you believe it or not, the whole ordeal sucked, and from my assessment of the situation when I was there pointed entirely to an outside act of intervention. I will always admit when I am wrong (or more commonly stupid), but since it was my first oil change on the bike, I double checked everything. I only changed it two days before, and I clearly remembered double and triple checking everything, even down to the oil filter orientation. In this case, I was the victim of an unseen cretin. Plain and simple.

[gzlocal]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Nice friends you have Alan. :cuss: :mad:

Yes, such considerate "friends" to chop your starter cable. I haven't looked, but can those be fashioned out of like normal small battery cables or is it semi-proprietary?

[Gz Rider]

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[Gz Rider]

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[gzlocal]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

I think GZlocal explains his reasoning for his suspicion well. It's possible that the stars all aligned just right and it just fell out but I have seen instances of businesses druming up business through vandalism. Two examples that come to mind are tire companies throwing nails on the road (I once saw a business caught doing that) and a glass company driving around neighborhood breaking windows.

I might ask other riders at the school if they have had or heard of similar experiences. I might also look for the tell tale oil puddles that would cause.

I KNEW that guy that sold me the plug at Ridenow looked suspicious! I bet he's the one who boinked my plug! :yes: lol

Because of winter not many people are riding, but some I've spoken to have had things randomly happen to them in a similar fashion. Caps go missing, cables get cut, tires get poked. I think/hope it was an isolated incident. Random things like that happen all over campus. Most people I know that ride bikes have Ninjas or Sportsters, and they have alarm systems. But good fortune does not have a habit of following me around.

I found a plug from a Mercedes I think that was the same thread size. It is a 14mm Allen head bolt. I matched them up with the one I bought at Ridenow. My buddy worked for a trucking company, and these types of bolts are common on diesel trucks. So he swapped me one. I know you can get them online pretty cheap, and I know some motorcycles use those to begin with. I'm not sure what the sizes of the threads are, I can look them up and post them if people wish. That way you can cross reference them with plugs online if anyone wishes to make a swap.

And I hope the tire company wasn't the one I buy my tires from...I seem to pick up a lot of nails...