Pingel

[lakehunter]

Ok, had read about all the fuel petcock woes for a while. Never had any problems so I just filed the info away in the back of the old brain box. Then my 98 standard developed a pop sound in the exhaust when decelerating, classic vacuum leak symptom. Checked and sure enough found cracked / rotten vacuum lines. Ordered the shiny de-smog kit and carefully did the conversion. Boy did the pile of removed junk look like 10 pounds of trouble, then the fight with that 6 arm octopus air box re-install. I really wanted to thank all you guys who took time to load up your methods of doing these procedures. The hog tying of that octopus was a life saver ! Now comes as Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story". Re-adjusted everything after the de-smog, went ahead and did the conversion to manual operation of the factory petcock while I had the tank off. That seemed like a good idea at the time ... not so much in hindsight. Bike ran sooo much better after the de-smog kit. So after two months and a couple thousand miles I suddenly develop a loss of power just like running out of gas, switched to reserve position and she picked right up, figured I had just not gotten it full at my last gas stop even though the odometer said there should have been 30 more miles to go. Well, just a couple miles later same thing again, ended up wiggling the fuel selector to a position in between the detents to get enough fuel flow to keep running. Made it home and started checking, sure enough that stock petcock would not flow at on or reserve detent positions. On top of that my new fuel filter was partly clogged with what looked like shavings of the black rubber diaphragm in the stock petcock. After going back through this board on the petcock discussions I realized attempting a modification to that stock unit was a mistake for me, some of you have had good success with it but I just bit the bullet and ordered a Pingel. It arrived and was quality looking right out of the box, heavy duty stuff compared to the stock one. Put that on and replaced the filter and went for a test ride yesterday, the bike really runs great again. I suspect the problem had been creeping up for a while since my switch over to reserve had started deviating from the usual milage setting I use. Moral of this story is ... don't create more headache for your self trying to save a buck, invest in a good petcock replacement and don't look back. Especially thanks to all the great info on the board that helped get these bugs worked out !

[Valker]

Be aware of the MUCH shorter reserve miles with a Pingel. I get about 15-18 miles from reserve now.

[Chrisj CMA]

Be aware of the MUCH shorter reserve miles with a Pingel. I get about 15-18 miles from reserve now.

Once I got the pingel I stopped relying on the reserve.  I get a tad over 150 miles before reserve kicks in so now I still get gas like I did with the stock petcock around 100-120 miles and don't worry about reserve. It's wrong to think of reserve as "more fuel" it's just a reminder like an alarm clock.  Your wake up alarm doesn't give you more hours in the day it just gives you more time to get ready for work.  If you don't need/use the alarm to stop and get gas you still have the same amount of time to find it.  Just set the trip meter when you get gas on a STD or tour because we have no fuel gauge.

[h13man]

Pingle is my petcock of choice also. Owning nothing but "odometer" fuel gages one has tendency to pay attention to them. 150 mi. is my fill up set point.

[Avanti]

I have an Interstate and I always set my trip meter for refueling.
Unless you drive dramatically different between fuel stops, mileage is quite accurate for fuel stops. If it is not than it is time to find out why.   

[gordonv]

Sounds like you found the problem if it's working properly now.

A few things.

You had the tank off, so it sounded like you might have had a pinched vent hose, stopping fuel leaving the tank. You pop the gas cap and listen for air rushing in.

You mentioned fuel filter. In this case, a good thing, since it caught the diaphragm from the petcock. But depending how you installed it, you might have future fuel delivery problems. 1 rider had a problem only on the hwy in high heat (think Death Valley).

[mello dude]

My tank is sitting off now... should I just go ahead and install a Pingel?
Got a link to the part?

Thanks

[Chrisj CMA]

My tank is sitting off now... should I just go ahead and install a Pingel?
Got a link to the part?

Thanks

That’s up to you. I would do it, but that’s me. My belief is that it’s the exception rather than the rule that the OEM will last for years of reliable service. Some have lucked out. Many have had to deal with petcock problems.

Do you feel lucky?

[Cracker Jack]

My tank is sitting off now... should I just go ahead and install a Pingel?
Got a link to the part?

Thanks

Your call. There is a contingent on this board that thinks the OEM is a POS and you are playing with fire and a hydro lock is imminent if you don't change to a Pingle pronto.

Another contingent, including me and I think the vast majority on this board, that is still using the OEM and have never (to this Point) had a problem or indication that there is a problem and don't plan to fix it till there is a problem.

I've probably just jinxed myself.

P, S,  I see that the other contingent beat me to the keyboard.

[Kunkies]

Compatible Pingel Fuel Valve part numbers, 1000 series:
1311-CH straight, here:  http://www.pingelonline.com/motorcycle-fuel-valves/1311-ch.asp
1311-CHV vacuum driven, here:  http://www.pingelonline.com/pc_product_detail.asp?key=7D73717C12444045A0794C57A61DD042

Chrome - 22MM inlet 
5/16" fuel hose barb

If you choose not to go with the a vacuum, most would recommend a DanMarc fuel pump to mitigate the risk of a hydro-lock condition

Couple of other things to consider with a Pingel valve/petcock
1.  if you need to switch to the reserve, you'll need to practice reaching up underneath your bike while riding and finding the chrome lever to go to reserve, and
2.  Recommend a new vacuum hose to avoid any air leakage that could reduce fuel flow and performance.  Look here:  https://redeye.ecrater.com/p/2063941/pingel-petcock-vacuum-line-valkyrie

[IdahoRaider]

Have a Pingle on a Custom bike I built 20 years ago, still works like new. Very good quality and build. Good to hear they still make good stuff. They even look good too.

[dago mooserider]

Be aware of the MUCH shorter reserve miles with a Pingel. I get about 15-18 miles from reserve now.

I am embarrassed to admit this but, I have ran out of gas twice now after switching to a pingel ( I had the same diaphragm issue). Coasted to a station once and had to push that fat girl over a mile the other. The reserve means get gas now! I used to go 40 miles on reserve now it's half that

[lakehunter]

Sounds like you found the problem if it's working properly now.

A few things.

You had the tank off, so it sounded like you might have had a pinched vent hose, stopping fuel leaving the tank. You pop the gas cap and listen for air rushing in.

You mentioned fuel filter. In this case, a good thing, since it caught the diaphragm from the petcock. But depending how you installed it, you might have future fuel delivery problems. 1 rider had a problem only on the hwy in high heat (think Death Valley).

I agree with the pinched vent line advice, did check via the lift the lid observation. Also to confirm there was actually gas in the tank, like all of us at one time or another I have forgotten the odometer reset and run the tank lower than expected. Vent line is good and was replaced when I did the de-smog. Interestingly, I also put on a quick disconnect / filter kit that has a springy set of guides to keep the fuel line curved just right to do the loop needed for mounting a filter and keeping the flow straight to the carb fuel hook up. I have wondered about this loop being close to the engine cases, etc during low speed operation and heat build up, so far no evidence of heat affecting fuel flow and at highway speed, a quick feel of the components show cool to the touch so I don't think any thermal lock / fuel vaporizing issues were in play. I have had fuel vaporizing / thermal lock issues on other engines and that is a real possibility if fuel lines are run too close to hot engine parts. My initial problem occurred at highway speed. Since the swap to pingel I've done a couple hundred miles now with no problems. I did notice a improvement in full throttle runs, wonder if the old set up had been going downhill for a while and had limited flow at full throttle. I set the original petcock up and checked flow, it was very slow, not down to a drip but not a real stream of output. Pulled the fuel line loose and compared to the flow through the pingel just from curiousity, the pingel flowed at least three or four times the fuel of the stock petcock. Oh well, bottom line is the bike is back to road ready and I look forward to a few hundred miles this weekend without fighting a balky petcock ... and yes I will watch the reduced reserve capacity of the pingel. Thanks everybody for the info.

[Psychotic Bovine]

For what it's worth, I am running a stock fuel valve (rebuilt) and a Dan Marc fuel shutoff (very cheap insurance against hydrolock).

[RWhitehouse]

My buddy's Valk had the petcock crap out in the middle of a 1300 mile trip, had to pull the tank in a pep boys parking lot, toss the plunger, cut the diaphragm into a markshift gasket, and slap it back together. 01 model with about 50k and had already rebuilt the petcock once. He elected to just do it again and stick with the OEM one, ehh to me it's an easily mitigated risk but whatever. It was a major hassle and delayed us several hours, first trying to diagnose the rapidly worsening issue as it starved for fuel at lower and lower speeds, then going about fixing it.

My Valk came to me with a Pingel already fitted and it took me maybe a week to get in the habit of reaching under and flipping it off when I'm done for the day--I never bother if it's just for a brief stop.

Yes, the reserve is quite small. From gas pump math its only about half a gallon, where OEM gives you more like a full gallon. The Valk can easily suck through that in 15 miles if you're at a good clip, so