Petcock Dial Positions

[Knapdog]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but as far as I know the petcock positions are.....
 "Across" for OFF,
Pointing "Down" for ON,
Pointing "Up" for RESERVE.

Is it possible that after cleaning the petcock out and fitting new diaphragm etc, that I may have these settings in reverse? I ask as so far I haven't ever needed to change from ON to RESERVE whilst riding, but have been filling up around the 150 miles mark.
Yesterday the tripometer was showing 180 miles and I was expecting to have to flick the petcock dial to UP any time soon. At 189 miles I decided to fill up.
If I inadvertently have ON and RESERVE reversed then I've been running on RESERVE all the time, meaning that if the bike starts spluttering then I have truly run out of fuel.

[Chrisj CMA]

Yes how you described is right. If you hear/feel a click when it goes to each of those positions you have it assembled properly. However, if you select any position but DONT get it clicked it. It can be sucking from the reserve even though it looks like it’s “on”

[Knapdog]

Yes how you described is right. If you hear/feel a click when it goes to each of those positions you have it assembled properly. However, if you select any position but DONT get it clicked it. It can be sucking from the reserve even though it looks like it’s “on”

Thanks Chris.
Are you saying then that there is only one way to put the petcock back together so it's "impossible" to get "ON" and "RESERVE" stopped over?
If that's the case then I'm more than happy to be getting 190 miles before having to switch to Reserve.

[Skinhead]

If you look at the end of the shaft on the petcock and the selector knob, it has a corner rounded off that is supposed to insure correct clocking between the selector knob and the petcock.  It is not a very robust design, so it could be possible to assemble this joint correctly.  I'm not sure if yours is incorrectly installed, but that would be the first place I'd check.  I usually turn the petcock shaft all the way clock wise or counter clock wise and then do the same to the selector knob before assembling it.

[Chrisj CMA]

Yes how you described is right. If you hear/feel a click when it goes to each of those positions you have it assembled properly. However, if you select any position but DONT get it clicked it. It can be sucking from the reserve even though it looks like it’s “on”

Thanks Chris.
Are you saying then that there is only one way to put the petcock back together so it's "impossible" to get "ON" and "RESERVE" stopped over?
If that's the case then I'm more than happy to be getting 190 miles before having to switch to Reserve.

You can most definitely connect it wrong but it will not function properly if you do. I’m also saying that getting it in between setting can make it draw fuel as if it’s on reserve.  

[hubcapsc]

Is it possible that after cleaning the petcock out and fitting new diaphragm etc, that I may have these settings in reverse?

I guess you're saying you installed a "cover set" kit... ?

It is more probable that something went wrong with that.

After you rebuilt a petcock, there's several ways to test that it will
hold a vacuum before you reinstall it... one is here:

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/petcock.htm

-Mike

[Knapdog]

Is it possible that after cleaning the petcock out and fitting new diaphragm etc, that I may have these settings in reverse?

I guess you're saying you installed a "cover set" kit... ?

It is more probable that something went wrong with that.

After you rebuilt a petcock, there's several ways to test that it will
hold a vacuum before you reinstall it... one is here:

http://www.valkyrieriders.com/shoptalk/petcock.htm

-Mike

Thanks, Mike.

If I had fitted the diaphragm the wrong way around, and I'm pretty certain I haven't,  what would be happening?
If I inadvertently forget to turn the petcock to ON when I set off then it's not too long before the bike starts to stutter and I have to reach down to get the juice flowing.

[Chrisj CMA]

Sounds to me that everything is right as it should be with your fuel valve and possibly you accidentally caught the switch between setting and ran all the gas out the day you went over the normal mileage. It happens 

[RonW]

As already said, it's impossible to install Knob 7 incorrectly due to the rounded corner. What's a massive tragedy though is
searching high and low for Screw 22 on the ground. Dunno know for sure, but isn't turning the fuel knob anti-clockwise to 12 o'clock
an industry standard?

Also, whenever removing the fuel knob, it should be positioned horizontal (OFF) or fuel is gonna start spilling
out when the fuel line is disconnected. There is no way that the fuel knob should not be horizontal with fuel in the tank when removing the tank.
Things can get kinda hectic.

[Knapdog]

Sounds to me that everything is right as it should be with your fuel valve and possibly you accidentally caught the switch between setting and ran all the gas out the day you went over the normal mileage. It happens 

Agreed. Could well be the case. Thank you very much.

[Knapdog]

As already said, it's impossible to install Knob 7 incorrectly due to the rounded corner. What's a massive tragedy though is
searching high and low for Screw 22 on the ground. Dunno know for sure, but isn't turning the fuel knob anti-clockwise to 12 o'clock
an industry standard? Also, whenever removing the fuel knob, it should be positioned horizontal (OFF) or fuel is gonna start spilling
out when the fuel line is disconnected. There is no way that the fuel knob should not be horizontal with fuel in the tank. Things can get kinda hectic.

Ron,  thank you for the trouble of supplying pics to help.
I've taken the petcock switch off today, checked that the petcock itself goes down, across and up and fitted the plastic dial accordingly.