The Hodaka Club Forum

Is there a special trick to threading the new petcocks I bought into the tank so that they line up with the shut off valve facing out when they are tightened ? I can't seem to make them face out,only in when I screw them into the tank.With the first set I bought having the wrong threads & now this problem with the new petcocks I'm going CRAZY !!! The petcocks are the new reproduction pot metal ones,not brass. Bike is a 1973 Wombat

Extra fiber washers or sand your existing ones thinner will allow you to index them so that they face outward

Option B. Snug them down properly and let the chips fall where they may. Even if the valve handle faces inward I can still reach it. Then I smartly tell myself that I prefer inward-facing handles because they are less susceptible to snagging, impact, or other mayhem and move on to the next thing. I also like my sockets arranged so that the big one is on the right which I'm told suggests a deeper underlying problem with me. Beware!

Thanks for the tips Matt. I figured that putting more washers on would do the trick. As far as turning them to the inside, I used to do that to the bikes when I raced motocross back in the mid 70's. I too like my sockets arranged as you do !!! The weird thing is the old petcocks screw right in the correct way every time.

Here I did a video on just that, lining up your petcock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPIzn4lju3Y

href="http://youtu.be/aPIzn4lju3Y">youtu.be/aPIzn4lju3Y

All is good. I ended up using the old fiber washers & a bit of sealant and it worked fantastic.

Excellent Mark. To paraphrase The Captain, "Keep the big socket on the right".

To get my Petcocks clocked Perfect, I add 1 or 2 Holley Needle and Seat Gaskets. They sell them made from Nylon and Paper. Works for me! Joe Ormonde.

???? "Keep the big socket on the right" ????

Keep the rubber side down - Yes. Still tryin' to figger out, "Keep the big socket on the right" . . .

Ed

Its like the "big socket" is the "rubber side" and the "right side" becomes "down". That's how we roll here in Mattyland.