I try to remember to turn mine off all the time.  Best idea is to establish a habit of reaching down and turning off as you pull into your neighborhood or head up a long driveway; some place where it becomes habit.
As far as the float sticking, ya just never know if/when it may happen which is why I try to always turn off the domesticated male chicken.

I always turn it to the OFF position. I don't allow the carb to drain prior to putting it in the OFF position, buy I do let it idle for about 15-30 seconds while the bike cools down.

verslagen1 wrote on 10/17/16 at 14:35:21:




Yes I meant to say 660, now when you say if it turns black, are you saying it would happen very quickly and abruptly?

I don't turn my petcock off during the stops I might make while on the ride - but I do turn it off at the end of the day.  There is an intersection about 1/2 mile from my house, and when I pass it I turn the petcock off.....and when I hit my driveway the bike is running out of fuel.  By doing this I don't have much fuel in the carb to gum up or corrode things if I can't ride for an extended period.

If your tank is clean, and your carb is working as it should - there won't be any fuel flowing through the carb....but things can happen and it is best to get in the habit of turning the petcock off when you are done riding.

I'm rolling like Dave on this one.  My habit is to leave it on during "ride time" and turn it off for storage. And I always check to make sure it's on before I put the bike in gear.  

This is an old habit I have from my motocross days.  I would always check the petcock before riding and several times at the starting line if I were racing.  To the point of being obsessive compulsive.  I'd check it ten times in 2 minutes or something silly like that.  lol

Running out of gas on the road doesn't worry me much (though I'd rather not in traffic), but on the track always worried me.  Running out of gas or mechanical failures were always on my mind when jumping.  

Unfortunately, my worst fears were realized when a kid I watched grow up racing passed in an accident.  He was down south practicing one winter about 10 years ago.  A good rider who would qualify for a few AMA Pro Supercross and Motocross events every year.  He took a break and forgot to check the petcock before he went back out on the track.  His bike cut out on the face of a triple jump and he didn't make it.  He was a little younger than me, I think he was just 27 when he passed.  Sad day.

ero4444 wrote on 10/21/16 at 21:04:25:


Oil turns black when there's a little bit of carbon in it and it don't hurt it none.

What I meant by that comment is, check it daily.  if one day it goes from half way to all black so you can't read the level, then you got gas in it and it's over full.

I am just new here, so new, that I haven't even ridden mine newly purchased used one yet (other than the test drive before purchasing it).  I was wondering what the positions of the petcock are.  Obviously, RES means Reserve, ON means On, but what does PIC (if I remember correctly) mean?  It is the last usable position so I am assuming that this means OFF !!

Am I correct?

Also, years ago I worked at a Honda dealer.  Once, a guy came in who had forgotten to turn off his petcock.  His crankcase was plum full of gasoline!

Turn it off every time you park your bike!!