Hey folks, the '03 Springer I bought last week has the Mikuni 42HSR on it. The previous owner told me that with that carb, you don't need to worry about moving the mechanical petcock from On to Off. It's a real habit of mine having had a few other Harleys.

That said, I know there's nothing WRONG with moving it to Off when it's just parked, but why would the Mikuni carb itself make that unnecessary? The previous owner was a nice enough guy, but he's been off on a few other 'facts', so I thought I'd ask the experts!

Mike

 

Thats insaine....The carb doesn't have a auto shut off.....man the things people say!!

 

He also told me that the engine dyno'ed at 112 HP with just the Mikuni and Samson Big Gun pipes. So as you might imagine, I heard most everything else with some degree of scepticism :-)

 

I wonder what he tells his wife...........Lord Forgive me!!!

 

I'm not sure what he tells her, but she did think the bike was 15 feet long ... Now I know why she might be so confused :-)

 

The only time I ever turned the petcock is when I needed reserve. Never turned it off and never had problems.

 

I never turn mine off.

 

I hardly ever turned the stock vacuum operated petcock off. And with my Mik and a pingel (none vac operated) petcock, I turn it off every single time I remember too, which should be more often. You never know when a piece of debris will keep the needle valve from seating.

 

I don't trust the float valve. Once I left the petcock on and it filled the crankcase full of gasoline. And when I started the engine it puked it all out through the remote breather. What a mess to clean up.


MikeyB

 

I've seen that a time or two