Modded fuel tap?

[vic-vtrvfr]

Got some tinker time this afternoon.
Was gonna put fuel & battery into the bike & try to fire it.
When connecting the tank, I noticed that the breather outlet on the tap has been removed & the port at the bottom has been bunged with a hi tech piece of wood (don't think it's a factory feature!)

Pardon my ignorance, but is this indication that the tap has been modified to remove the need for vacuum like I've heard members talk about? Or that someone has just fecked about with it (I won't even mention what they'd done to the clutch cable...)

Thanks for the help
Vic

[Neosophist]

Got some tinker time this afternoon.
Was gonna put fuel & battery into the bike & try to fire it.
When connecting the tank, I noticed that the breather outlet on the tap has been removed & the port at the bottom has been bunged with a hi tech piece of wood (don't think it's a factory feature!)

Pardon my ignorance, but is this indication that the tap has been modified to remove the need for vacuum like I've heard members talk about? Or that someone has just fecked about with it (I won't even mention what they'd done to the clutch cable...)

Thanks for the help
Vic

Perhaps a bit of both, maybe tap was knackered so it was bodged.

for the sake of 4 screws remove the tap cover and inspect

[vic-vtrvfr]

Ok Neo, thanks for the reply.
What's the benefit of doing the mod?

[Dynamohum]

More disadvantages in my case I have an engine that's knackered that had this mod although the modded tap was not the sole cause but along with a sticking float valve resulted in a flooded engine fuel mixed with the engine oil not good.
The tap mod is usually done on race bikes to avoid fuel starvation better flow has no advantages on a road bike at all.

[vic-vtrvfr]

Cheers Dave, bike will prob see very little use when it's done so might be safer to look for a replacement tap.
I'm not too keen on the bodgery I can see so far - that bit of wood is typical

[speedy231278]

has no advantages on a road bike at all.

Unless your bike has come to a complete stop by running out of fuel despite the tank being half full because the diaphragm has decided it can no longer be bothered to stay open, in which case you can either do the HRC mod or fork out £35 or so for a kit containing a new diaphragm and lots of bits you don't need as well.

There is nothing unsafe with a modded tap as long as it is performed correctly and used accordingly. It is bad practice not to turn a fuel tap off even if it has the safety vacuum diaphragm arrangement in place. It is a backup system as belt and braces - the idea of having an 'off' position is that you use it when fuel is not needed to flow.

I did the HRC mod to my tap longer ago than I care remember, and make sure I turn the fuel off every time. Of course, there is the outside risk than on the odd occasion you might forget to turn the fuel off, you'll find that Sod's Law dictates you find a stick float valve has conspired to fill the cases with petrol, but that's not the tap's fault, and a stuck float valve probably means the carbs needed attention long ago.

My bike, while looking like a pile of shit on the outside, is maintained at least to the Honda requirements, if not even more religiously, and I've never had an issue. I have to a few occasions forgotten to turn the fuel off, but it's not like taking the dipstick out is very hard....

Yes, I know saying that means I'm now doomed to find a petrol filled engine next weekend..

[speedy231278]

I'm not too keen on the bodgery I can see so far - that bit of wood is typical

Is it covered in modifications we wooden like the sound of?

[Dynamohum]

The incident I had involved an hrc modded tap that still flowed a bit even in the off position along with a sticking float valve on a bike that hadn't been run for a while.

The great man himself rick oliver wrote in a magazine article that this mod in his opinion was the worst thing you could do on these old bikes. That in its self is good enough for me shame I read it after the event

[Delboy]

I have ran this mod for 4 years, no probs, always turn tap to 'off' when ever I stop, force of habit.
The 'shall I shant I' has been done to death, this mod suits me it's up to the individual to make his/her mind up.
T i a

[Neosophist]

Many more worn taps will still drip slightly even when set to the off position, Honda uses a nice springloaded ball-bearing to seal the taps, which is why it has that nice click to it instead of a rubber gasket that gets moved around a.la Kawasaki taps.

If you have a leaking float and have modded the tap to bypass the diaphram then if you don't run the bike often you can fill the engine will petrol.

Or if you forget to turn the tap off.

Providing the bike is maintained ok, you check the vaccum hose every couple of months for wear as part of routine maintanace then I would rather have the vaccum tap on the bike.

Maybe if will break after 20 years of use like in the case above, which is a bit of a balls, but it is only like having a bad puncture when your out an about, sometimes these things can't be helped and after 20 years of heat / petrol soaked service the diaphram did well.. many of the 1989 bikes, including mine are on the original diaphram without issue.

In the OP's case.. instead of shelling out for a new tap, get it apart and inspect it, you can get a rebuild kit including new diaphram for less than the cost of a 2nd hand tap.. the diaphram is the main part that can fail, so you should be set for another 20 years if you do that and won't have to worry so much about leaking floats and remembering to turn the tap off every time you park up.