Saved my second Valkyrie

[Chrisj CMA]

So. A couple years ago a friend of mine told me he tried to start his Valkyrie and he heard the dreaded clunk. Since I warn all Valkyrie owners about possible hydrolock and the classic signs, he called me right away. Long story short I told him to order a Pingel because his petcock was obviously leaking in all settings and after cracking open the carburetor that let fuel into the cylinder it was obvious and quite exciting actually to visually see that the float and needle valve were not operational so he ordered a needle valve and float. Put it all back together and the hydrolock was solved and no damage to the engine.

So last week another friend with a different Valkyrie had let his set too long. He had a hydrolock and fuel leak from one carburetor. It was so bad fuel was just pouring out of the exhaust while trying to start the engine. No way was it starting. So once again the first thing he did was to call me lol Jeff will know what to do. So the carbs come out and we crack that carb. The float was so stuck I thought it was going to break before it busted loose. And once again just like on the previous bike. The petcock was leaking fuel in all settings once I disconnected the fuel line. So there was another visual of the two faults causing the hydrolock.

The second guy is selling his bike so he ordered a new OEM petcock so he could retain the fuel selector switch. He also ordered a new float and needle just to be safe. With the new parts installed and the carbs cleaned by the dealer ($600) we put it all back together and no more hydrolock and no engine damage

This stuff is serious. Listen closely each and every time you start your bike. Anything fishy STOP. It’s usually subsequent tries that cause engine damage.

[Bighead]

I always just bump the starter before going all in.

[RonW]

copy dat.

[Bagger John - #3785]

When I store my Valks for any length of time (say, winter layup) I drain the carbs via their drain screws and leave them open. The tanks are filled completely and Marine Sta-Bil is added.

Never had a petcock leakage problem - 5 Valks over 19 years of ownership - until last year. The second I/S I've owned lost about 2 gallons of gas over an 8-month layup. I rebuilt that petcock and ran the bike until fall, at which time I laid it up for the winter.

Found about 1 gallon missing this spring. Note that my other Valks have never lost any fuel during storage, so it appears the stock petcock's main valve is faulty.

Off it comes soon, and on goes a manual petcock w/ Dan-Marc shutoff. Even then, the drains will be left open for long-term storage.

[Avanti]

In each case is the stuck float on the same side?

[Chrisj CMA]

In each case is the stuck float on the same side?

One was a stuck float and one was a float not working properly.  No they were not on the same side