Is pingel the ONLY aftermarket petcock?

[renobruce]

I appreciate the replies.

I have enough years under my belt that I agree that makeshift solutions and gasoline do not mix.

I was just curious if anyone found another brand of petcock to be satisfactory.

In a reply from a customer rep. at z1enterprises , he said the Custom Chrome referenced by renobruce would work http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1744 and the Pingel brand which is better quality would also do the job.

As has been posted elsewhere he said to be sure of the bolt spacing (50 mm in my case) when ordering the adapter.

So if somone has used the Custom Chrome or another brand, I would like to hear from them.

I'll probably try one or the Custom Chrome jobs when I finish my project. The price is certainly good.

If your petcock still works, you can adapt it to turn completely off. Just take the front ring off, file off the notches, and the petcock handle will now rotate 360 degrees. You can then turn it straight up, which will turn it off. On my Skunk I had to also trim the handle to clear the bottom of the gas tank.

[goggles]

Worth a try.....

I ordered the Custom Chrome. It should arrive this week. I will post my opinion on it when I get it on the bike.

I am waiting for my original tank to be painted by a firend. Unfortunately due to some personal diffuculties, he had to focus his attention elsewhere.

I found another tank but it did not have a petcock, fuel guage or cap. Trying to put all those together was getting expensive so I decided to go with the cheaper petcock. If it works well I will probably switch it to the original tank.

Thanks again for all the input!

[ryonker]

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1744

I have one on my 79 750 and it works great. The price is right too.

[ORourke]

This is not the place for ghetto hobo-tech halfass band-aid solutions.

Generally I agree, especially if you are coming off many years riding with a vaccum tap. Last summer I came across a bike parked on the pavement downtown with a manual tap in the on position, fuel was leaking from the carb overflow pipe onto the pavement. Mid summer sun and lots of smokers walking around, could have ended very badly.

That said, my GS is my first vaccum tapped bike, so it's a question of what you are used to, my first few days with the GS i'd turn the tap to prime (generally where off is on a manual tap) when I parked. If you want a manual tap, and keep forgetting to turn it off, stick a small note on your instrument panel...

[trippivot]

pingle is the best!! rated on total flow and can be rebuilt. OEM and genuine suzuki rubber is hard to beat, probably the best for most "street bikes". K&L rubber in OEM tap is not great but will work for a while.

those others from motion pro / generic chrome are 1~2 year temp solutions like the K&L stuff and you will be dealing with a fuel control problem again especially if your area changes the fuel mixture from summer to winter.

my opinion on the electric valve is negative-not my place to judge

your bike, your decision .

some of us have tried them all and dealt with stuff previous owner have hacked and cobbled together. having a lap full of gas or not enough flow on the highway sucks.

[tkent02]

Generally I agree, especially if you are coming off many years riding with a vaccum tap. Last summer I came across a bike parked on the pavement downtown with a manual tap in the on position, fuel was leaking from the carb overflow pipe onto the pavement. Mid summer sun and lots of smokers walking around, could have ended very badly.

That said, my GS is my first vaccum tapped bike, so it's a question of what you are used to,

If I rode only one bike I would always remember to turn it on and off, but that's not the case. Some are fuel injected bikes, some are vacuum petcock bikes, some with manual petcocks. Guess which ones I forget to turn on and off?
I don't like gasoline fires.

[850 Combat]

Good article in the Concours owners club newsletter this month on bent rods caused by vacuum petcocks letting fuel run into cylinders and creating a hydraulic lock when yoy hit the starter. I actually had this happen on a new (not 20 year old) GS 850 in the 80's. The very worst problem I ever had with a GS850 was caused by a bad new factory installed vavuum petcock. Yes, a manual petcock left on could have caused the same problem, but it did not.

No fan of vacuum petcocks here. No fan of carbs with no overflow either.



The solenoid is interesting, but I like reserve, too.