Hi group, I recently cleaned the carbs and the bike is running great. It is about to get cold here so I won't be using it for 3 months or so.

My bike still has the original fuel pump.

Is it ok to shut off the petcock until it dies or would this eventually damage the fuel pump (from running dry)? I could empty the bowls from the drain screws, but I rather not if possible.

Also, is it possible to prime the carbs without cranking? My pump does not come on by just turning the key.

Thank you in advance!

 

Everyone has their own ideas on this but for me I would do both. Shut off the petcock and run the carbs dry. Then I would open the bowls to allow for any residual fuel that may be there. I would fill the tank with fuel afterwards and put stabil or another product in there. Then next spring I would drain thy and put in fresh fuel. Having fuel in the tank helps prevent rust.

there should be a way to get your fuel pump to run in order to prime the carbs. On my model there is a flat connector near the seat seat on the right side. Jumpering the black to the black/blue kicks the pump on when you turn the key to on. Hope this helps.

 

Ok, thank you for your reply. I need to look at the wiring on mine. I don't see a flat connector but hopefully I have one as well. I just fixed the stator chain tensioner and I rather crank as little as possible so I don't have to deal with it for a long time (read PITA). Thanks again!

 

I'm guessing that there's a way to do it on your bike too since yours and mine are similar in function. The way I figured out how to do this was in the factory service manual. Section 18 (on my bike) tells you how to troubleshoot the fuel pump. Jumpering the two wires is one of the steps. I just adapted that to the process of filling the carbs with fuel as you can almost drain a new battery getting a bike to start without doing this after having empty carbs.

 

Found it in my manual as well on page 4-16. Thank you for pointing this out. I should've checked there first. My bad.

Here are the instructions:

"Disconnect the fuel pump relay wire connector, and temporarily connect the black and brown/red wire terminals at the main wire harness connector with a jumper wire."

Once you turn the ignition on, pumping will start.

Thanks you!

 

Awesome. Glad you found that it will work for you. It does make life much easier.

 

Yes, and no more cleaning carbs every couple of years...I hope anyway.