Do you shut your fuel off?

[fergie]

do you have to turn your fuell off at the tap? used to do it relgiously with bikes of old,but is it ncessary?

[Hitcher]

Tap? What tap?

[WRT]

Off road - yes, always.

On road - tap, what tap? Haven't had a road bike with a fuel tap since about '00 - but on the road bikes I've owned that did have one, I never turned it off.

Edit - Hitcher, you beat me to it ;)

[vifferman]

No.
No tap.
But (however) the fuel pump in the tank shuts off when the rail's up to pressure and trips the fuel cut relay.

Is it necessary? Only if there's something wrong; on old bikes with stuffed/dirty needle valves in the fuel bowl(s) leaving the tap on might result in all the petrol escaping (eventually) or leaking into the sump, but then a better option is to have that fixed.

[Coldrider]

Newer road bikes (1993) onwards do not have to have the fuel tap turned off, they are run with a vacuum or fuel pumps.
Trailies as someone else stated probably so as the gravity pressure is put on the needle seat, but will only be an issue when the seat is worn or there is a bit of *hit stopping it from seating, leaving fuel pissing all down the MB onto the ground.

[WRT]

The dirt bike doesnt leak when sitting by itself, but I figure why take the chance when its bouncing down gravel roads on the back of a trailer?

[vifferman]

Newer road bikes (1993) onwards do not have to have the fuel tap turned off, they are run with a vacuum.

That's actually been around for longer - my '85 VF500 had a vacuum-operated fuel tap (as well as manual). The trouble is that if the diaphragm goes, the fuel can leak around/through it anyway.

[NotaGoth]

I always turn my fuel tap off when my bikes parked up... It got drilled into me by my old lady (don't ask why) Now its just habit...

[McJim]

My Ducati has a fuel tap that requires you to lift the tank up to get at it. Either that or you train a small monkey to climb into the frame and do it for you.

Manual says to only turn it off in transit or if the bike is stored for a long time.

[Coldrider]

1987 CBR 600 had fuel pumps, with the electrical contacts emmersed in the petrol, (no air to gas & burn), but some of them burnt to the ground in the USA of course. I had a 1993 one, pumps had been dropped for vacuum.

[cynna]

i never turn mine off because i always forget to turn it back on. lame excuse i know but.........

i have never had a problem with leaving it on so cant see any reson why not to

[imdying]

A fuel tap? How quaint!

[surfer]

A big fat YES, turn that sucker off dude.

I don't have a fuel pump or vacumn pump so it is all down by gravity.

If you leave the tap on when you are not using your bike you run the risk of fuel filling up the carbs and then dribbling down through the cylinders into the engine itself. When it gets to settle in the engine it mixes with the oil and you end up with an oil/petrol mix to lubricate your moving parts. If this happens and you leave it like this without changing the oil then you will wear your engine out quicker and possibly sieze it up. You will know a bit before a seize as the engine will make loud banging sounds as metal tears on metal.

Every now and then have a feel of the viscosity of the oil, if it feels gritty you have petrol in there and you should change it.

As to leaving the tap on because you forget to turn it on when you get going again instead try hard and remember. So you stall it a few hundred metres up the road and lose a few cool points trying to figure what what is up until you finally click and remember. Better this than stuffing up your engine.

So my 2c worth turn it off.

[avgas]

Yeh i would still do it if i had a tap.
Learnt my lesson well on the RG with carbs as flooded and china. 4000 kicks later and she still wouldnt start.
I had to kick another 2000 times with the tap off to clear and then she went.
Ditto with the GB and ZXR.
FZ and the 955 were the only bikes i didnt have a tap

[Cave Cleaner]

do you have to turn your fuell off at the tap? used to do it relgiously with bikes of old,but is it ncessary?
Everyone has their opinion on that matter, but from my point of view, if I am using the bike every day, I leave it on. If im not using the bike every day, then i will turn it off while its sitting there.

[Coldrider]

1993 CBR600 handbook stated quite clearly no need to turn the fuel tap off due to the vacuum valve.
Kawasaki ZX9 handbook doesn't mention (or care).

[breakaway]

It had to be done on the RG, the bitch flooded one night and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what why it wouldn't start. Took over 9000 kicks to start it.

Never done it on the CBR.

[davereid]

A big fat YES, turn that sucker off dude.

If you leave the tap on when you are not using your bike you run the risk of fuel filling up the carbs and then dribbling down through the cylinders into the engine itself.

Dead right - bling coming.

If your bike has a manual tap use it. If you don't, you rely on the float valve in the carb. If it leaks fuel will leak, and it may leak into the engine, or on the ground to be set alight by a careless smoker.

On a 2 stroke, the carb is at the top of the crankcase. If the port is open raw fuel gets into the engine. Only happens once, as the enine hydralics and you get to buy a new one.

[breakaway]

Only happens once, as the enine hydralics and you get to buy a new one.

.....what?

I tried to dechiper it but got lost. "Engine hydraulics and you get to buy a new one"?

What? :lol:

[Transalper]

I'll assume you really don't know what it means when an engine hydraulics and try answer the question...

It is when your cylinder fills up with fluid, be it petrol or when off roading often water after a dunking in a river for example.
Then you try start it with out draining first and results are you bend stuff inside thus requiring major repairs or just go get a new engine.
Unlike an air/fuel mixture, the engine can not compress a cylinder full of fluid.


I had an old GS500E once and a VFR400 later that both leaked fuel in to their sumps if I didn't turn off the tap overnight.
I heard the next owner of the GS500E didn't fix it and forgot to turn it off a few times killing the engine.
I still leave my taps on most of the time, I have faith in my needle valve bits... for now. (transalp has vacuum and CRF230, DR650 IMS taps are manual on my bikes)

[xwhatsit]

.....what?

I tried to dechiper it but got lost. "Engine hydraulics and you get to buy a new one"?

What? :lol:

`To hydraulic' is a curious verb known only to mechanics. It's a shortening of hydraulic-lock, or probably a bastard spelling of hydro-lock.<hints id="hah_hints"></hints>

[Transalper]

....or probably a bastard spelling of hydro-lock.<hints id="hah_hints"></hints>bling for that man, that's brilliant, google hydro-lock and you get your answer, i had tried googling Engine hydraulic and got nothing useful i could copy past here to answer the question.

[The Lone Rider]

I have an "On, Off, Reserve" knob on my 1994 cruiser. I was told you only use off when you are storing your bike. But the guy could have been full of it.

[Waylander]

Hmm, 1985 bike, not only no tap but electronic reserve switch.

[breakaway]

<post>

Ahh I see. Cheers for the explanation. Even found a wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolock :D