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1994 sportster fuel line replacement for left hand petcock, where to run line?

This is my first post, and I am no stranger to forums so I did search and it seems all of my logical terms didnt give me what I was looking for.

94 sporty 883 with a peanut tank. Petcock on RIGHT side.

I have ordered an aftermarket King tank that is a 3.5 gallon replacement for the bike, but the petcock is on the left hand side. I have done enough research to know all of the failure points when doing this job with the exception of the best way to run the (new) fuel line.

Currently the bike has no issues. Idles like a bike with a cam and given that it has a cam, good. accelerates fine in my judgement but seems a little doggish at low RPM. After reading a bit on this I understand that the OEM petcock is prone to this issue, so I am planning on changing that with or without the new tank (Any brand suggestions???)

Although the bike currently has no fuel leak, I understand that the carb inlet fitting is prone to cracking, and I fear newtons law may take effect when changing the tank, so I plan on replacing that with a Doug Keim unit as I replace the tank.

1) with a new petcock and fitting increase the fuel flow enough to require a tune? or will the bike just return to OEM acceleration?

2) When routing the fuel line through the cylinder heads, how do I make sure it never hits the cylinder heads? (Heard of someone that had a horrifying experience with this)

3) and this is totally off topic, but since its fuel related... When adding a stage one or two intake kit, will riding the bike about 150 miles to a tech/shop to be tuned damage the bike??? or will it just not be taking advantage of the full performance of the intake until it is tuned?


Thank you all in advance for responding. your time is appreciated

~James
 
This is my first post, and I am no stranger to forums so I did search and it seems all of my logical terms didnt give me what I was looking for.

94 sporty 883 with a peanut tank. Petcock on RIGHT side.

I have ordered an aftermarket King tank that is a 3.5 gallon replacement for the bike, but the petcock is on the left hand side. I have done enough research to know all of the failure points when doing this job with the exception of the best way to run the (new) fuel line.

Currently the bike has no issues. Idles like a bike with a cam and given that it has a cam, good. accelerates fine in my judgement but seems a little doggish at low RPM. After reading a bit on this I understand that the OEM petcock is prone to this issue, so I am planning on changing that with or without the new tank (Any brand suggestions???)

Although the bike currently has no fuel leak, I understand that the carb inlet fitting is prone to cracking, and I fear newtons law may take effect when changing the tank, so I plan on replacing that with a Doug Keim unit as I replace the tank.

1) with a new petcock and fitting increase the fuel flow enough to require a tune? or will the bike just return to OEM acceleration?

2) When routing the fuel line through the cylinder heads, how do I make sure it never hits the cylinder heads? (Heard of someone that had a horrifying experience with this)

3) and this is totally off topic, but since its fuel related... When adding a stage one or two intake kit, will riding the bike about 150 miles to a tech/shop to be tuned damage the bike??? or will it just not be taking advantage of the full performance of the intake until it is tuned?


Thank you all in advance for responding. your time is appreciated

~James
Welcome to The Forum, back in the day there were brackets that bolted on the cylinder studs to route the fuel line away from the cylinders
 
A few years ago i did a similar tank change on a 94 sportster i used a fairly stiff bit of fuel line put everything in place and cut the new fuel line to the appropriate length and it stayed where i had placed it for the time i had the bike
depending on the exact placement of the tank you may also want to relocate the ignition key to below the centre head steady
there is a bracket available that will place the choke and ignition lock side by side under the head steady

Brian
 
Replacing the petcock shouldn't alter the running of the bike unless the original one was having a flow problem. I would go with the brass inlet fitting for the carb as well as a Pingle fuel valve to replace the original one.

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Usually routing the fuel line shouldn't require any special treatment except for a sleeve to slide over the line. You could always use a larger hose and slide it over the fuel line if you feel better. Bikes of the past had a flexible plastic covering that protected the fuel line a bit that went between the cylinders.

Adding an intake if you have slipons would lean it out quite a bit with the factory jets and riding that far always has the possibility of damage. It's a calculated risk that only you can answer.
 
Welcome to The Forum, back in the day there were brackets that bolted on the cylinder studs to route the fuel line away from the cylinders

An OEM part I presume?


Replacing the petcock shouldn't alter the running of the bike unless the original one was having a flow problem. I would go with the brass inlet fitting for the carb as well as a Pingle fuel valve to replace the original one.



Usually routing the fuel line shouldn't require any special treatment except for a sleeve to slide over the line. You could always use a larger hose and slide it over the fuel line if you feel better. Bikes of the past had a flexible plastic covering that protected the fuel line a bit that went between the cylinders.

Adding an intake if you have slipons would lean it out quite a bit with the factory jets and riding that far always has the possibility of damage. It's a calculated risk that only you can answer.

It seems every time I read about the OEM petcock, it referances the bikes lack of immediate power, even when smooth running, as the problem and a great amount of increase response at low end with a new petcock... some kind of design flaw???

If that is the case, I will just throw the intake system into a backpack and wait until I get to the tuner.

Do you guys think a braided line that uses clamps would be a logical choice as opposed to getting into a ton of NPT fittings and expense or plastic wire loom?
 
The petcock as long as it flows adequate fuel to the carb will have little if any bearing on "immediate power". If the fuel is in the carb the bike will perform with any petcock feeding it as long as it can keep up with demand. The exception is the vacuum operated petcocks that came on some bikes in the past.
Good move on the intake, better to be safe than sorry.
As far as the fuel line, they make high temp lines that may ease your mind. Eather way you are going to have to get some fittings to hook it up.
 
The petcock as long as it flows adequate fuel to the carb will have little if any bearing on "immediate power". If the fuel is in the carb the bike will perform with any petcock feeding it as long as it can keep up with demand. The exception is the vacuum operated petcocks that came on some bikes in the past.
Good move on the intake, better to be safe than sorry.
As far as the fuel line, they make high temp lines that may ease your mind. Eather way you are going to have to get some fittings to hook it up.

I am trying to make sure that when I get to Maryland by bus, I have everything I need with me and dont have to go searching for parts in a town I dont know.

This is the tank I ordered from Indian Larry's shop is Part number 25573 3.25 gallon king peanut (since i cant post links yet, if anyone is curious)
 
I did a quick search on that part number it seems to be a custom chrome part the large tank i put on my 94 was also from custom chrome it took a lot of time and effort to get it flat and smooth
You will also need to pressure test and line the tank do those bits first prior to doing the outside of it

Brian
 
I bow to you oh google master...

After that I googled my own, and at $10 a foot the goodridge 811 braided line for 500 deg doesnt seem like a bad halfway point between the two. How do I fig out the proper ID and OD sizes?
 
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