Ducati Monster Forum

I did a search and nothing came up.  Has anyone ever (I know you're out there) removed the vacuum petcock from a <2000 Monster who would care to share their experience.  I'm going to do mine as soon as I get back from a work trip and although I understand the theory and the basics, I'd like a little first-hand experience it it's out there.

TIA

Daivd

Just go to a PU dealer and buy a 5/16" Pingel style manual shut off and install it in place of the vacuum shut-off. You can put it wherever you want by extending hoses as necessary. CRASH, from TOB, had his installed inside the airbox with the lever on the outside. It was very clean.

It really is simple. Let me know what details you need.

petcock is just an inline device that redirects fuel. just cut it and connect the two tubes together. there is no reserve tank on the Monster so no need to worry about that.

Why do you want to remove it anyway?

Wouldn't that let all your gas run out when the bike was shut off since the fuel flow is by gravity?

I thought petcocks had to be turned off when the bike was turned off (never owned a non-FI bike).

The vacuum petcocks are known to fail allowing raw fuel to flow into the intake manifold that supplies the vacuum.

A shut off device is desirable so as not to rely on the float needles to do the job. It's most important when transporting the bike as the float bowls can overfill allowing raw fuel to flow into the engine.

Thanks man, I'll call you when I get home and do it.  I'm sure I'll need to "gush" over the paint job anyway.  ;DEver hear of someone who's floats failed and filled their cylinder with gas?  Air compresses, liquid gasoline doesn't.  Guess what happens wen you hit the starter.

Paranoia?  Possibly, but I've had a couple of issues personally and heard more than a few recent disaster stories lately.  Mostly I want to eliminate the OEM vacuum unit to avoid an issue down the road.  I definitely want to avoid coming home to find a half-tank of gasoline leaked onto my garage floor.  Had it not been for the  building code regulation requiring water heaters being placed at least 2 feet off the floor, I could have quite possibly come home to a smoldering heap of a home and garage.

 :o

thats not good. I didnt know they were prone to failure like that. It does sound like a good idea to remove them now you bring that up.
Luckly I never had an issue with mine...

Fuel injected bikes don't have them.

Was talking about my 95 900.

Ya I switched my 01 m750 to a mechanival petcock.  Only problem was after 3 years of not having one it took me a bit to get used to shutting it off after a ride.  After 3 times coming out and the bike would not crank because the cylinders were full of gas I finally started remembering.  This wont necessarily lock the engine up as many people think.  If it has been sitting long enough to completely fill the cylinders then there is not enough room for the starter to build up steam and cause any real damage.  It is a pain the but though.  You have to take out the spark plugs and slowly bump the starter over until all the gas squirts out of the plug socket then let everything dry and clean the fouled plugs.

I have the opposite problem.  Forgetting to turn them back on and having the engine die after about 45 seconds.  No big deal if you're underway, but it really sucks when it happens when you pull into traffic.   :o

What's a PU dealer?  Im in the seattle area and would like to pick up a manual petcock locally so I can work on it this weekend.

Any ideas?

pu = Parts Unlimited 

Cyclegear is a Parts Unlimited dealer (as are larger dealerships and larger independant shops).



As an interesting aside:  On the CBX's, there are 6 carbs.  6 float bowls full of gas.  Parked on it's sidestand, should carb #1's needle and seat fail, ALL 6 float bowls drain into cylinder #1.  Because of the # of cylinders, number 5 (IIRC) actually fires and because #1 is full of fuel and hydro-locks....the crankshaft actually twists.  Hello engine rebuild!  I'm happy w/my V-twin when I think about that...