Yamaha 400 special 1980. Where should the petcock lever be when bike is turned off?

I have a 1985 Yamaha Virago 700, and I leave the petc-ck at RESERVE at all times. Silly me, I run out every couple of years, and the auto club has to come bring me a half gallon. It beats trying to switch it from ON to RES while I'm going at 70 mph, though.

Anyway, leave yours at ON or RES.

When your motorcycle is off, don't leave it at PRI. Use PRI only when you're going to start up your motorcycle after having let it sit a while, or after having disconnected the fuel line. As soon as the 'cycle is runnin again, then switch it over to ON or RES.

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Push-starting the motorcycle is a very last resort, and I mean it. If this is a kickstarter model, use the kickstarter. If it's an electric starter model, jump it from your car (do NOT have the car running when you jump off the car's battery).

If you absolutely must push-start the motorcycle, sit on the motorcycle, put it into fourth or fifth gear (by rocking, shift, rock, shift), hold the clutch, push it with your feet... it works best if you're going down a hill. Turn the motorcycle on, then when you're going at a fair clip (more than five or six mph), release the clutch. The engine will turn a few times, and if it sounds like it's catching, pull the clutch, and downshift for goodness' sake.

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RE:

Yamaha 400 special 1980. Where should the petcock lever be when bike is turned off?

My husband got this bike a couple weeks ago and we have no idea where the lever should be. The 3 choices are res (reserve), On, and pri (prime).

We have the workshop manual but not the owner's and all it tells us is how to rebuild or put together everything.

Any help will be greatly...

Up - res (reserve)

Down - on

Sideways - pri (prime)

Your model has what is called a vacuum petcock.

When the petcock is in the on or res position, the fuel will only come out if the engine is running (or the engine is cranking over).

A safety feature in case the bike is in a crash and the engine shuts off - no excess fuel to add to a fire.

The vacuum that the engine creates when running, sucks open a diaphragm in the petcock to allow the fuel to flow out.

The petcock will be off, when it's in the on or res position when the bike isn't running.

Pri - the fuel flows normally without any vacuum from the engine.

That position is used when the carbs are empty - like after a carb rebuild, engine work, or the carbs have been drained for storage.

1980 Yamaha 400

I have a 1978 Yamaha 400 and i just leave it in the "on" position, the "pri" position allows the fuel to flow with out the engine on which will flood the engine. the pri is mainly used to drain the fuel tank. to push start it, have the petcock on the "on" position, make sure the key is turned on, turn the engine stop switch to on,pull the choke lever out(on the left hand side of the engine), and push the start button. after it is started push the choke back in.

straight down is on,turned forward is reserve,back is off.

to push start it,turn key on,bike in nuetral,push untill your lungs give out,jump on seat,smash it into first gear and twist the throttle,have choke on if its required to keep the bike running when cold,good luck

Leave it on it only lets fuel flow after it starts

this is unclear and there are actually many possible answers to this question..