Will leaving your petcock on reserve hurt your motorcycle?

Answer

In addition to what has been said, modern bikes have vacuum petcocks that shut off (safety) when the engine stops. Leaving the petcock on 'prime' will bypass and flood. Leaving on reserve will drag the crud through. And you really don't want to be paying for carb/injectorservicing.

Best tip: Set petcock to ON. Fill the tank and set the mileage trip meter to zero. Every time the trip meter reads 100 miles, or the range of your bike (whichever is less), fill the tank and reset the trip to zero.

Answer

I don't know if (although I doubt) it will hurt your bike to leave the petcock on reserve, but if you don't have a gas gauge or an "idiot light" to remind you that you are running out of gas, it may hurt YOU to push your bike a few miles to the next gas pump! Besides, if you are not willing to operate something on your bike as simple as the petcock, maybe you should ride something with four wheels and an automatic transmission.

Answer

It may hurt if you don't have the engine running. ie. If you leave the gas turned on when you park your bike for any length of time. On some bikes, the gas may slowly fill your crankcase, diluting your oil and cause other bad stuff to happen.

Answer

It's generally not a good idea to leave the petcock on 'reserve' because in using it that way, you're always getting to the bottom of your tank, where any impurities, paint chips, rust, debris while fueling, etc. lies.....By only using 'reserve' when it's absolutely necessary, and then filling up as soon as possible, you never get to all that nasty stuff in the bottom of your tank. You should always shut the petcock OFF when the bike isn't running. That way, if you have any leaks in your fuel system, you won't end up with 4 or 5 gallons of gas on your garage floor...The gas stays in the tank(s).

Answer

If u leave the petcock open there is a chance the fuel in the carburetor could overflow the float bowl. The fuel could risk damage the gaskets and build up gum in the passages in the caburetor causing it to clog the carburetor. and if u mistakeingly leave the ignition on the engine could backfire and ignite the fuel. Its better to turn it off to save unused fuel any way.

First answer by Intruder1400. Last edit by Compendium. Contributor trust: 104 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 100 [recommend question]

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