Petcock on or off?

[greenmonster]

I read on a kawasaki forum that if you store or dont ride for extended periods, and if your bike is carbed you should turn the petcock to "off". My owners manual doesnt address this issue. For storage it says to empty the carbs AND the tank, and coat the inside of the take with a light film of oil. Never done that before!! Always used Sta-Bil. Seems theres pros and cons on this practice. Ive never done it as a rule. Does it depend more on the year and model? Your thoughts? Here is a quote from the thread...

"I'm not sure what year/model manual you are looking at but the vacuum petcock that Kawasaki puts on the majority of it's bikes does exactly that when the engine is not running. The vacuum operated valve in the petcock will close when it doesn't have vacuum to it so I'd guess from that fact that they think it's a good idea to have the fuel off when the bikes not running."

[Doc]

On your bike I don't think it matters.

But for extra insurance turn it off and run the bike till it dies.

[greenmonster]

Thanks, Doc. I neglected to say that I ride through the winter months, so the bike may sit for several weeks between rides. So I dont run the bowls empty as I would if I were to do a long term storage. I figure the sta-bil in the gas will keep the bowls, etc. from gumming. But as you said, for my bike it may not matter whether the petcock is shut off or not.

[catch2otwo]

also you said "oil the inside of your tank" i dont think that would do much. if you coated the whole inside of the tank, im sure over the course of a few months the oil is going to come off the sides and the top anyway. seems like it would be a better idea to fill the tank with stabiled gas to store it. just the way i was taught.

[greenmonster]

also you said "oil the inside of your tank" i dont think that would do much. if you coated the whole inside of the tank, im sure over the course of a few months the oil is going to come off the sides and the top anyway. seems like it would be a better idea to fill the tank with stabiled gas to store it. just the way i was taught.

Sta-bil the gas and top it off is what I do too. It is my owners manual that says to drian the tank and add a coating of oil. Never heard of doing that, and Im not about to start!

[jdobelbower]

excess oil will work its way to the bottom but steel is porous and will absorb the oil instead of condensation which will keep it from rusting however full tank of gas is more than fine you should shut it off because the floats could stick and you could come out one day to find the tank empty and the crankcase full of gas or it all on the floor