New leaking petcocks

[mrkprsn]

Peeps,

I've bought two sets of expensive repo petcocks (Orlandi and OMG) for my ducs last year. I wen to use them this spring and In both sets one of the petcocks leaks. I purchased them from the well know websites that sell Ducati single parts. There is no mechanism to return them and I have disassembled and re assembled and I still get a drop per minute or so leak out of each one.

Has anyone else had problems with brand new repo petcocks? Am I better off just buying cheap Chinese ones on Amazon even if they don't look like the originals?

Thanks, Mark

[Duccout]

Hi Mark,

I have not tried your fuel taps so I cannot really comment except to say that there is a lot of reproduction rubbish out there. Is there any way of modifying them to stop the leaks? Are they sealed by 'o' rings? If so you may be able to change the 'o'rings for Viton ones that are resistant to fuel. Standard neoprene ones will swell and distort.


Good luck,

Colin

[LaceyDucati]

Mark

The OMG taps are known to be problematic due to their design. Damien Birch at bevel rubber has come up with a method of modifying the twin taps and replacing the rubbers. All taps available are probably affected by Ethanol fuel longer term, I have seen replacement viton seals on Ebay, whether that solves the problem...... Ethanol fuel is a disaster for many Classic bike components.

Regards Nigel

[bw_nh]

Good morning all-

I have an older chrome petcock (original?) that leaks- Last summer, I did purchase some new flat internal seals for it, but have been unable to re-assemble that petcock with the new "slightly-thicker" flat seals. I plan to try again soon, as spring/summer is coming. (although, at the moment, it is snowing here in New Hampshire, 6 inches on the ground, with another 6 or so expected before this storm ends.)

But my question/observation is about the "ethanol=bad" idea... I regularly drive a 1970 MG Midget, and regularly use 10% ethanol fuel, and have never had a problem. Also, our 1970 boat is powered by a 1985 Suzuki 2stroke motor (carbs w/oil injection), and again, I have been told many times... "don't use ethanol fuel" in it... but I DO use 10% ethanol fuel, and can not report problems with seals/gaskets, fuel lines or anything rubber. I DO get some odd waxy-bits sediment in the float bowls sometimes, which can clog the main jet, requiring flushing/cleaning, but I really don't think it is ethanol related. I haven't used the Ducatis (scrambler and Mach1) enough in the past 30 years or so, to judge by those... but hopefully THIS summer, I will use them more.

I just have to wonder if the "ethanol=bad" thing is a myth...

Sincerely,
Bob Woolner
Hillsboro, New Hampshire USA

[Bevel bob]

Its no myth. You wont have a problem till you DO have ,then you will understand . A friend who builds specials worth about£30K to 50K each has had the expensive alloy tanks perforate in the bottom . Acid/water fallout from ethanol eats alloy and steel . Not too bad if you use the fuel up .You must not leave it in if laid up. Empty tanks and flush with some race or Avgas fuel. And allow to dry ,or rince with an avgas/two stroke oil mix. Damp atmosphere makes it far worse as tanks breath in and out.

[mrkprsn]

It depends on where you live. In the north (like New Hampshire) where the riding season and hot humid summer season are short, you might not have the same conditions as say Florida where the riding season is year round and the weather is mostly humid. Motorcycles and boats are open fuel systems and alcohol will attracted moisture. Cars have larger main and pilot jets and don't seem to be as affected. Small displacement engines seem to have the most problems.