Leaking petcocks

[QTreiber]

Hello,

The two vacuum petcocks of my 1979 XS650 Special II are leaking: one lets fuel flow even when the engine is not running and the other one drips on the outside.

Would it be best to simply get non-vacuum petcocks (from MikesXS?) or should I get a rebuild kit for the existing petcocks?

Thank you,
Armin

 

[weekendrider]

There are those that like the vacuum petcocks and others that don't.
You can get yours working (as designed) correctly with some time and care.
You could also do some other things.
Two of which is in this wiki thread.
http://en.650wiki.org/index.php/5.02.1_Vac_Petcock_Conversion
Mikes manual replacements also work well.

 

[deadchef]

i prefer non vacuum with manual shut off. i turn the fuel off everytime i shut the bike down. helps insure i don't walk out to a pool of gas on the ground or flooded engine. if you're 50 miles from home and your engine is full of gas, you're not going anywhere until you change the oil...

 

[5twins]

You might be able to fix the ones you have for free. Take the face plate and arm out and flip the rubber disc over.