The petcock on my Vulcan 500 does not have an "off" position. How would I go about removing the tank without a major spill?

 

no off? doesn't seem right

either way to remove the tank you need to clamp the hoses from the tank going to the petcock before removing them from the petcock.

small vise grips usually work fine for me.

 

yea... my buddys yamaha doesnt have an off.... thats crazy... no vise grips? maybe ya got something to plug the line and use the hoseclamp to keep it in...

 

tanks with out a off position usally are vaccume fed. so for fuel to come out the petcock there would have to be a vaccume.

 

eric is right,, vise grips could possibly tear the line... but they make plastic hose clamps for this reason.. your local napa or advance should carry them just for a couple of bucks

 

There should be thre positions on the tap - On, Res(erve) and Prime.

A tube from one of the carbs provides vacum when the tap is set to On or Prime. In either position the tanlk can be removed as the lack of vacum turns the tap off. No need to plug or clamp the line. No fuel flows if the engine isn't running.

Prime is needed to start the engine if it's been standing long enough for the fuel in the carbs to evaporate. It allows fuel to flow freely to refil the carbs before the engine is started. Don't remove the line with the tap set tp Prime.

Rob

 

This is correct Just remove the tank. As long as its on "On" it will not drain unless the petcock is bad.

 

Much to my unpleasant surprise, the petcock on my Virago dribbled when I unhooked the line from it. I disassembled the vacuum diaphragm assembly and cleaned it, and it works fine now. If you get some dribbling, it may just need to be cleaned. In my case it saved me about $70

 

Thanks guys

 

One small but significant typo in my post. The fuel is shut off when set to On or Res. Set it to Prime and petrol will come out.

Rob