octy dissassembly

[greg maz]

leaking octy, got membranes from petcock kit,
how do you get the middle plastic part out?
thx

[greg maz]

nobody seems to like that one - no reply
no one done it?
did I land the first of a kind thread? Type:"it's a small step for man..."
I sure feel alone in space now

[bikerphil]

octy

Just take those 4 screws out and seperate. It might be stuck so tap it a little. Remember exactly the position of the diaphram. You have to bunch 1 side of the diaphram up to get it thru the hole in the plastic piece IIRC. Good luck

[John]

That's an easy one

Just throw the damn thing as far as you can, and then don't go looking for it. Just do a search for eliminating the octopus. Many of us have done that.

[greg maz]

I would if I could - throw octy pissy out - but I fear on flooding bertha, especially with the leaking petcock of mine.
I read & know about the cross lines, will do if nuttin' works.

It sounds like you got some stories about the octy... I personally saw a fire hazard, some other told me it restricted fuel & left him stranded, whatelse?

Ah & thx dr.Phil

[bikerphil]

octy

If you rebuild that octy correctly, it should be fine. Just keep a close eye on it for a while to make sure it doesn't leak. I eliminated mine because I was unable to find the diaphram for it. I rebuilt it half-assed and it left me stranded temporarily. Also fewer hoses under tank to deal with (big headache). No automatic shut-off without it (occational flooding). Your choice. HTH.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Greg,

IF you have the petcock repair kit, THEN that should eliminate the leaking petcock problem!? The Octy is a PITA, some folks like it, others don't. There have been recent threads about rebuilding the OCTY. There is a vent in that plastic piece IIRC, so take photos, mark it with magic marker, something to help remember which side goes down/up as well as which side goes against the diaphragm, etc.! Some have had to replace the spring since the one in the kit was either too small, or not long enough!?

Other folks have not bothered with relying on the Octy, but have put an extra on/off valve in line from petcock to carbs, so that IF/WHEN the petcock starts leaking, AND the carb float needle valves ALSO leak, that the inline valve would prevent the flooding and possible contamination of the oil with overflowing gas! Of course you have to remember to turn the valve OFF when parked, as well as the petcocks!

Your choice! T.C.

[greg maz]

the leaking petcock is from a little round translucid washer gone awol

so I did the first oil change in over 15 years for this beast, and next morning grandma had pee all over.
It leaked from the octy, the carbs, the airbox as it should, then I cleaned and started it, white smoke coming out a bit out of one side, oil looking orangish in thru the "peeping hole"... the tank had seafoam and some marvel oil still in the gas...

is it serious doctor?

or I am going hypochondriac? After all the octy was in, it should have blocked the flow to the crankcase via the chambers.

[Dragon Tamer]

I find the octy to be a very usefull device to have. If you need something to throw at the neighbors cat use the octy. Then you don't have to waste any time going to look for it!
When mine failed it leaked gas directly into the vacuum line and some on the engine and the Fire Dragon got its name. The octy has been gone for some years now and I have not had a problem.
At first I shut the gas off every time I parked the bike, however although I could remember to shut if off I could not seem to be able to remember to turn it back on. An XS11 will run from two to three miles on what gas is in the carbs. They do have a sense of humor though and if there is no crowd of witnesses handy at that point they will run several additional miles until they find some. Then they quit!
I do not shut the gas off now unless I am going to park her for an extended period of time. At least for me this has never been a problem (that noise you hear is me knocking on the desk). Put in line fuel filters in the system and change them yearly or so. Of course you need to find out what else may be leaking on your machine FIRST!!
There was a thread here a few weeks back about installing an electrical valve in the system. I thought this would be a nice touch and will do so myself, right after I have a problem!

[mro]

it should have

So...
Your supposed to test it after putting in the kits
If has originall hoses...replace them too.
Then if all is good hook it back up to the carbs.

Seafoam etc seems to be good stuff, but if the carbs are leaking they need to come off/cleaned, new float needles and seats, check float height etc...


mro

[greg maz]

carbs are ok, they were wet because of the overnite drip. Lines were replaced after the first time I got it to run - that was scary too. Got old, the mouths were hard, one was kinked...

The tank didn't leak until I put more gas in. I don't think I'll be able to find the plastic washer by itself in commerce.

And the seafoam was from the previous attempt at getting the carbs right after their long hibernation. I ended up doing them 3 times, it's the pre synch trick that seemed to make them all work, now they are way out tho.

You guys don't think it got in the oil, good.
Dragon, what happened in your case, fire? Where?

[Dragon Tamer]

Greg,
Yup, FIRE!!!
Turned out to be not real serious but at the time it was right exciting! We had planned a weekend ride but one of the guys had the engine out of his bike (HD, go figure) so four of us rode over to his place on Friday afternoon to help him get it back together so he could ride along. After we got the engine bolted back in we discovered that he had not had the consideration to stock up on beer and so we informed him that he had a labor problem and headed back to my place. About four or five miles from home I started losing power and was hoping that I could make it all the way so I could get it figured out by morning so as not to miss the ride. As I slowed down to turn the last corner about two miles from home she kind of burped and backfired and one of the guys hollered at me "your on fire!!!" This will get your attention pretty fast. At the time all I could think of was the bike sitting on the side of the road two miles from home burned to a cinder. I thought that if I could get it home quick I could grab a fire extinquisher from the shed and put her out. (OK, I was thinking rapidly but probably not coherently) At the time I thought one of the carbs was on fire so I reached down and turned the gas valves off and wound her up as tight as she would go headed for home. Sounds good now but wasn't maybe the best idea at the time. Anyway I ran out of gas just as I rolled up to the shed, grabbed the extinquisher and put the last of the flames out.
When my heart rate returned to near normal I turned the gas back on to see where it was leaking and discovered that it was the octy I ripped it out. At this point I thought that the fire was just right at that point but the guys kept insisting that most of the fire had been coming out of the left muffler. The only thing that we could figure was that the octy had been leaking gas right into the vacuum line and flooded out the cylinder and the raw gas had gotten ignited by the hot muffler. Amazingly there was only superficial damage to the bike. Couple of new vacuum caps, one piece of vacuum tubing, a new spark plug, and some cleaning and she was good as new.
The only real damage was to my ego because all I heard that whole weekend was about my "fire breathing dragon" and didn't I know that dragons breathed fire out of the FRONT end, not the rear? They also all seemed to agree that it had been real nice show and would I do it again please. NOT. One trick like that is enough for this old fart.

[trbig]

I don't think I'll be able to find the plastic washer by itself in commerce.

Then find the thickness of plastic you need (Milk jug??) and make one.

[greg maz]

lol tamer

eventho this would seriously piss me off if it happened to me... since "dragon tamer" is already taken, it'll leave with somthin like "nut roaster" for a nickname...


TRBIG: awesome trick for the nylon washer.

It turns out the leak is not from the missing part (which I will replace, nobody screams) but it is happening when one valve is placed at the perfect 90 degree, and not when just a wee bit less. I read about the inner washer having to be bent for more pressure, will check that out too

last one:

I replaced the forks since PO crashed & dumped it, they came thru the mail all soaked in their juice, how many of you are familiar with the seringe procedure for filling them up? XJ air shocks