No fuel leaks that you know of? Evaporating fuel shouldn't be significant enough to affect your gas mileage. They are there whether the bike is in use or in storage.

When I used to leave my petcock in the ON position, I had this minor leak where the fuel hose attaches to the petcock. It's a very slow leak but I can smell gas when near the bike. I cut off the end of the hose to get rid of the worn end that isn't sealing well. These days, I still keep the petcock in the close position when the bike is not being used, just to make sure gas doesn't flow out even if there is a leak in the vacuum valve.

 

no leaks - doesn't smell like gas, ever. might all be in my head.

 

like i said its just my bike.. my carbs run a little rich so the reserve limits the fuel recieved and i get more miles.. just deal with it

 

Not sure what you're on about, but reserve shouldn't be limiting the amount of fuel flowing through the petcock. Even if it did, the float bowl would run dry as a result which I guess technically would lean out your mixture (by a huge amount).

 

yeah - reserve does not affect the flow rate form the tank to the carbs whatsoever. when you start sputtering in the "on" position, you flip to reserve which allows you to access the last ~3 tenths of a gallon of fuel left at the bottom of the tank, to get you another 10-15 miles down the road to a gas station.

 

Flipped 40 thousand on mine last year. Need to put a few bucks into it this year, but nothing major, thank goodness.

 

Good habit to get into to turn off your petcock every time even if only stopping for a few hours, if you have a faulty petcock and bad float needle seat you could fill that cylinder full of fuel and next time you start you get a hydraulic lock on that cylinder (fuel doesnt compress) and wreck your engine. Small chance maybe but but there have been a few posts of this happening. I have 18000 miles on my 92, can not muster the enthusiam to check my valve clearances even though im sure they have not been done. Maybe this winter....! or the following winter.....

 

I just bought mine, it has 26k on the clock and hasn't been ridden in 6+ years.