Draining Fuel & Fuel Tank Filter (Early Models)

I wanna take a moment and show you how to properly drain fuel from your fuel tank. We'll start by accessing the front crossover line. Again, you'll find a small stepless-style clamp, cut it. Always cut with your cutting pliers downward, away from painted surfaces. Remove the clamp. Use a plastic set of clamping pliers to clamp the right side fuel flow from the crossover. You're gonna use a piece of fuel line already inserted into your draining can. This area here, you gotta be kinda quick. You're gonna lose a little bit of your fuel, but you really shouldn't lose a lot if you're quick. Pop the line on. Let the tank drain down. It should take a little time, depending on how much fuel is in your tank. This procedure will apply directly, not only to the carbureted version that I'm showing you, but also to all injected models. Due to the fact that he injected model has no fuel valve, you have to drain the injected tanks on the crossover. I like to use the crossover on the carbureted models, due to the fact you'll have to introduce vacuum in order to make the vacuum valve operate and drain the fuel. If you work from the crossover area, it's just a lot quicker and easier. Once the left side of the tank is drained, I like to get another plug and just plug that hole because there is some residual fuel. You don't want it dripping all over the engine. Always, and I have to reiterate on this subject, always do this operation when the engine is cold. Never play with gasoline around any hot engine components. Remove the fuel line. You'll see we have a little residual. I like to put a cap on that. It's just safe and it's secure. Once we have that left side capped off, I'll remove my drain line. I'll grab another line that I've used regular fuel line and then a piece of half inch. This'll fit over our crossover line that feeds from the right side of the tank. I'll put the end in the fuel tank that we're draining the gasoline into before I release the plastic crimping pliers. At this point, the rest of the fuel will drain from the right side of the tank into our container and we can put the clamps back on this open line when it's drained before we opt to remove the fuel tank, if that happens to be the case. If we're just draining the fuel tank to remove maybe bad fuel or maybe some debris we picked up from the pump, at this point, we'll remove our other line from the tank, we'll remove our plug, we'll install a new stepless-style clamp, onto the crossover line. We'll re-install the crossover line to the left side of the tank. Point the clamp outwards towards yourself. At this point, you can remove the plastic pliers. More than a drip or two really shouldn't get by the clamp or the hose that leads to the fuel tank. And we'll crimp the clamp back to the line, making sure the line is all the way up on the extension tab of the tank. Check the clamp for tightness. Check that the actual corrugated protected tubing is over the crossover line still. I wanna take a few moments now that I've drained the fuel tank on this FL model, just to address fuel valve maintenance. When we're maintaining the fuel valve, it's just a little more than taking the fuel valve outta the bike. You wanna get a good look at all your fuel line, not only routing, but fuel line condition. In order to start this, we're gonna remove, we're gonna cut, what's known as a stepless clamp. Always cut with your cutting pliers downward, away from painted surfaces. Unfold the stepless clamp. At this point, you'll be able to remove the fuel line from the fuel valve. Slide the line forward. Stuck it upwards outta the way. Again, you wanna make sure it's in nice condition. It's not dry rotted. It's not cracked. It's not chafing against any hot surfaces. This is one of the rare occasions I like to use an adjustable wrench. It gives me a nice sense of feel when it's tightened properly onto the fuel valve nut. Crack the fuel valve nut loose a couple of threads. It's all it really should take. You should be able to unthread it by hand most of the way. There's still gonna be a little bit of residual fuel in the fuel tank. Just put a rag underneath it, make sure there's no open flames, that the engine isn't overly hot when you do this procedure. Do it ice cold. Take your time. Once you've got it loosened, I wanna unthread the nut completely. Like I said, you've got a little residual fuel. It's unavoidable. Once it's loose and outta the tank, I wanna roll it forward. You'll notice on the back, there's a vacuum line. This vacuum line works in conjunction with manifold vacuum and allows the vacuum-operated fuel valve to open and close only when the engine's running. This step will hold the fuel filter screen up into the tank and will pull the fuel valve assembly down. You'll note that there's a small O-ring. Make sure that stays intact. Set the fuel valve assembly aside, slide the fuel valve screen down and outta the fuel tank. It really shouldn't be too hard to get out, but it does take a little coercing. Once the screen is out, we'll just take a little bit of Brakleen Parts Cleaner, blow any debris may have come from your local gas pump. And there's a number of way debris is introduced into a fuel tank. When that's clean, we'll re-install the filter assembly up into the fuel tank and then we'll re slide the tube up into the fuel filter screen. The tube will only locate one way in the fuel valve. I like to remove the nut from the fuel valve and just check the threads, making sure that rubber gasket stays in place. Clean the threads on the fuel tank with just a touch of parts cleaner. It's not really necessary to use any type of Teflon paste or any other gummy substances, due to the fact it's got a nice threaded seal and the rubber O-ring'll definitely seal gasoline from leaking out. We'll engage the fuel filter screen into the valve and then we'll slide both the assemblies back up into the fuel tank. At this point, we'll make a few turns with the entire fuel valve assembly. This makes sure that the nut stays split on the thread as you engage the thread onto the tank. Once you've got a full turn or turn and a half, you can thread the rest by hand until it becomes snug. At that point, we don't wanna forget to reattach the inner vacuum valve feed line. It'll slide and pop right back over. Again, if you really have to wrestle with things, you really oughta just take a minute and clean them a little better and maybe lube them. A little WD-40 helps rubber and metal surfaces slide together much easier. Once you've got it in position, I always like to put on a new clamp and re-install my fuel line before I finish tightening my fuel valve. You don't have to over-tighten this valve. Hold the bottom of the valve so it's in a nice, it's orientated correctly with the fuel tank, and snug it back down. Once you've got the fuel valve snugged, the vacuum line on the back of the fuel valve, you can rotate the stepless-style clamp and use a common automotive crimping plier to clamp the stepless clamp back into place. You'll notice on this motorcycle I'm working on, there is what's marked as a choke knob. This knob is only found on the carbureted dresser models. You never lubricate in this area of the pull mechanism on what is called the choke or the enrichener cable, due to the fact that it's Teflon line, and once you lubricate it, it won't stay in the out position. It'll always drift back in. If you have to make an adjustment on this cable due to the fact that it wants to walk in, you'll use a 17-millimeter wrench. There's a brass nut on the backside. You'll lightly loosen that nut. You'll take up some slack on the black plastic nut on the outside of the cable, just a quarter turn or so. We'll tighten that cable up so that the knob stays out when the motorcycle's in the idled position. If you go too much on either one of these tightening positions, you'll break the cable, we'll have to replace it. Once you've got that in a position that you're pleased with, retighten the 17-millimeter brass nut, keeping in mind that the brass nut runs on a plastic threaded portion of the cable, so you don't wanna over-tighten it. Once you've made that adjustment, just operate it a couple of times. Give a good look around, fuel line routing, fuel line position. You've just serviced your fuel valve on a carbureted dresser.