Topic: petcockless cb350f?

[cbcoker]

I am constantly having leakage problems from my petcock. it is either the seal around the bowl, the rubber washer behind the lever or the bowl itself so rounded off that it leaks from its corners. since petcocks seem hard to find, at least in portland, oregon, i was thinking of doing a straight shot from the tank to the in line fuel filter to the carbs. does anyone have any experience in this bold act of defiance? a shut off switch somewhere along the way might also be good if possible but for now I just want to see if she'll run and need to not be leaking gas or trying to turn a rounded off piece of potters metal a 1/8th inch to stop the leak. i was also thinking of permenetly jb-welding a socket on to teh end of the bowl so as not to worry about rounding off the metal. any suggestions, advise, heresay, rumors or any other disinformation is appreciated...thanks s

[SteveD CB500F]

I wouldn't dare leave my 500 with the fuel tap turned on - it pisses fuel from the overflows at the slightest opportunity!

With no tap you'd have to be damned sure that the floats were working properly.

[Bob Wessner]

I'm not familiar with the design of the 350 petcock, but is there anyway to adapt some "universal" petcock for use? I know Dennis Kirk carries a couple as I suspect do others.

[comcrx]

cyclexchange has universl petcocks for less than 30 bucks

[KB02]

I'm not familiar with the design of the 350 petcock, but is there anyway to adapt some "universal" petcock for use? I know Dennis Kirk carries a couple as I suspect do others.

cyclexchange has universl petcocks for less than 30 bucks

If you can't / won't use a stock petcock, then aftermarket is the way to go. You definately want something in place. Dennis Kirk would be my first stop, personally; But, like COMCRX said, there are other places out there, too.

[byidesign]

There are a couple of places that you can get bebuild kits for them ,
   Randaks cycle shack {Google search ] is one, specializes in old gold wings, but the innards fit. also Bike Bandit, and
   a couple on Ebay from time to time. 
       I replaced one from my local honda dealer, {he actually had one still in the bag.

[keiths]

I agree, don't eliminate the shutoff completely.
After replacing ever other part of my petcock, I got a new spring washer from Honda for a couple of bucks and it fixed my leak. You can also fix the original spring by heating it up red hot and  quenching it in oil (be careful - safety glasses). They lose their spring after 30 years.

[Tim2005]

I'd definitely keep a petcock too, as well as the other reasons mentioned it's gonna be a real pain every time you want to take the tank off to do the tappets or whatever. Are the 400F ones the same? I noticed one on UK Ebay yesterday.

[Gin Rickey]

I used a few toothpicks and a small rotary tool to scrub 20 years worth of varnish from my petcock (carb and choke cleaner, too)...and I was lucky that the rubbers were all making good contact (not falling apart and dry-rotted.  I suppose a rebuild is the way to go, but for now, a little cleaning seems to have done the job.  And if you're leaking and don't want to go the way of a (looks quick and easy) rebuild kit, I bet you could fashion a washer from a used fuel hose with a knife and be on your way...at least to get things running (for a little bit).  I guess it seems like such a small and quick thing to take care of, why not do it?  I'd proably go with the much more experienced posters, but I thought I'd offer up an idea, anyway.  Good luck.

[paulages]

i wouldn't do without a reserve personally, but vicious cycle has in-line fuel switches. how do you plan to go from the tank fitting to fuel line?