Fuel starvation?

[CUBuffs]

I had De Ja Vu all over again with my bike shutting down on the road.

I took it about 5 miles to a friends house with no problems. On the return trip it died on me about 1/10 mile after getting on the road. I primed the carbs for about 5 seconds and started her up again moving back to the "on" position. After about another .3 miles it died again, so this time I selected "pri", started up and hit the road. After about a mile I thought I could smell gas so I moved the petcocks back to "on" and managed to get home without it killing again.

I know it's not the tank vent cap because I cleared that out when this first happened a couple weeks ago. Should I now check the Octopus and how is that done?

[DiverRay]

It sounds as if you may have had a backfire at startup. That will sometimes blow the vacume tube off the fitting, usually at the carb. Just check that to begin with.
Ray

[CUBuffs]

Ray,

My tubes are/were alright. I found the vacuum test in the clymer manual and had to fight to get the tube off the intake boot in order to test the vacuum.

I tried sucking on the vacuum tube with the forward fuel lines disconnected from the petcocks which were in the "ON" position. On 1 out of 5 tries I was able to get a little fuel to come out and I was sucking hard.

[CUBuffs]

Funky stuff happening

In anticipation of pulling off the octo I had taken off the tank. I got to thinking that maybe I didn't have enough gas in the tank when I did the vacuum test so I put the tank back on, hooked up the two rear vac lines running to the octo and put more gas in the tank.

When I switched the petcock to "on" fuel poured out both lines that would normally be attached to the forward fitting on the petcock. The vacuum line to the #2 intake boot was still unattached.

Am I having petcock problems and octopus problems at the same time?

[DiverRay]

You could have an "all at once" moment.
Do a search on the octopus, and you will find the links on how to bypass the complete mess. As I have two STANDARDS, I don't deal with the octo. I do know that yuo may have some "junk" that is blocking the octo, and maybe it has killed the rubber seal in the petcocks.
Just an ed-u-kated guess from an en-gi-neer.
Ray

[CUBuffs]

Thanks Ray,

I would like to save the octo if possible. I have taken the 4 screws out but not sure if I should just "pull" all the pieces apart. Don't want to break anything if possible.

[DiverRay]

There is another thread with an answer. here is a clip:
ps the part # was KL185100 from oldbikebarn.com for my bike. it comes with all of the gaskets for both petcocks and the vaccumn diaphram to rebuild that octapus thing for $32.
That shoud help out, with a COMPLETE cleaning, you should be ready for a few more years.
Ray

[CUBuffs]

Hey thanks Ray. I think I'm going to try cleaning it and if that doesn't work then I will order those parts.

Question is: can I just pull the pieces apart after I took out the screws?

[DiverRay]

Yes, it should come apart. Be CAREFUL, as the rubber diaphram is old, and it WILL TEAR easily. If you stick a small phillips driver into one of the screw holes, just into the first part, and then pry, you should be able to seperate the parts without doing much damage.
Check the TINY vent hole on the back side of the diaphram. If it's plugged, the diaphram will not operate like it should. You may have no fuel, or always on fuel.
Ray

[CUBuffs]

I can see all the separate pieces but everything is still attached by the "something" in the center. You are saying I can just pull it apart but do it gently?

[DiverRay]

You should be able to seperate all the metal pieces, with a plastic piece in the center. The rubber diaphram will try to stick to one side.Judt be carefull, as without the kit, if the diaphram tears, your out of riding.
Ray

[CUBuffs]

Membrane's were stuck

I found a thread that mentioned the membranes on either side of the plastic piece. I had to use a razor knife and WD40 to separate the membranes from the metal before I could pull them apart.

I didn't find anything unusual but cleaned as much as possible. The vent hole was fine however it appears that over time the membrane has been sucked slightly into the vent canal. Not sure if that's a problem. Anyhow I have put it all back together and will test it out tomorrow.

[CUBuffs]

Petcock leaks in "Off" position

With my tank sitting on the garage floor and petcock set to off it is slowly leaking gas. When the tank is on the bike I have not seen any leakage. Am I going to need a rebuild kit for the petcock?

[Ken Talbot]

Yes, you're probably going to need a rewbuild kit for the petcock. However, before you do that, you could try flipping the rubber gasket over, and gently polishing the flat furface on the inner part of the handle that contacts this gasket. The gasket has a number of holes in it, and each one has a small lip. The lips get worn off from the valve moving back and forth as you operate it. Polishing the face of the valve helps ensure is is smooth enough not to grind off the lips around the holes. Flipping the gasket over brings the unworn lips from the other gasket face into use. Sounds a bit odd to read about it, but it will make sense once you open it up and have a look.

[CUBuffs]

Ken, thanks for the tip but didn't work for me .

I did as you said and after reassembling the petcocks gas began to pour out even faster than before.

I got on Bike Bandit and ordered the rebuild parts today. BTW, it was alot cheaper than buying the rebuild kit from Old Bike Barn