How difficult/expensve is it to get custom o-rings made?

[mangocrazy]

I have an old Honda VFR750 (1988 vintage) and i've owned it for well over 20 years. I've been doing some servicing and maintenance on it, and also had the fuel tank de-rusted and sealed internally, and today was my first test of putting fuel in the tank with a view to starting the old girl up. All that came to a shuddering halt when fuel started pouring out of the fuel tap...

When I stripped the fuel tap (as far as I was able), it looked to me as if the oring(s) between tap and tank had compressed and gone brittle. Unfortunately this isn't any old o-ring that I could buy a replacement for, it's 3 o-rings made as one piece, in a triangular arrangement. Honda don't sell this piece separately, but do still sell a new fuel tap that incorporates the 3-way o-ring, but it costs best part of £60. The 3-way o-ring is the part that is most likely to fail - would it be worth approaching an o-ring manufacturer and trying to get a batch made, or would it be completely unrealistic, price wise?

I'd want it made in Viton, so it has ethanol resistance but apart from that it would be a straight copy of the Honda original. Any ideas?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Would replacing the tap with a .ore serviceable tap be a viable option?

 

[Popcorn]

How much is a tube of Super Glue now a days ?
Find one thats a bit bigger and cut it down to size and then super glue the ends together.

 

[Fastdruid]

Excellent choice of bike.

Lots of RC24 bits have been remade, particularly in the US. Although unfortunately the 86/87 (that the US only had) and 88/89 that we both have are quite different.

But the tap assembly is the same as the RC15 which is good news. It looks like replacement are common if you use the correct search terms.

I would start with asking these what material the o-ring is made from

Fuel Petcock Valve Repair Set VF1000R VF700F VF750F VFR700 VFR750F | eBay UK

This item is made with High quality materials. All made in Taiwan. NEW FUEL PETCOCK SHUTOFF VALVE REBUILD KIT QTY: 1 set FIT: Honda VF1000F 84, VF1000R 85-86, VF700F 84-85, VF750F 83-84, VFR700 Interceptor 86-87, VFR750F 86 Note:This picture is of the Actual item you will get. Please compare it...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[graffian]

Is this the O ring

 

[mangocrazy]

My experience of Yamaha O rings, exup tap oring was 9 quid, that was on a 6 month old bike.
The O ring sounds a bit like the rectangular suzuki tank/tap seal.
Is this the O ring

That looks very much like the part, yes. Good to know that it's available as a separate part. I'd be interested to know what material it's made out of...

 

[mangocrazy]

Excellent choice of bike.

Lots of RC24 bits have been remade, particularly in the US. Although unfortunately the 86/87 (that the US only had) and 88/89 that we both have are quite different.

But the tap assembly is the same as the RC15 which is good news. It looks like replacement are common if you use the correct search terms.

I would start with asking these what material the o-ring is made from

Fuel Petcock Valve Repair Set VF1000R VF700F VF750F VFR700 VFR750F | eBay UK

This item is made with High quality materials. All made in Taiwan. NEW FUEL PETCOCK SHUTOFF VALVE REBUILD KIT QTY: 1 set FIT: Honda VF1000F 84, VF1000R 85-86, VF700F 84-85, VF750F 83-84, VFR700 Interceptor 86-87, VFR750F 86 Note:This picture is of the Actual item you will get. Please compare it...

www.ebay.co.uk

Yes, they are a great bike. That's amazing - I never expected to be able to get hold of parts like that for a 30+ year old bike. I'll definitely get in touch with them. Thanks!

 

[Fastdruid]

Yes, they are a great bike.

Oh, yes, they are. This one is mine!

 

[mangocrazy]

Same colour as mine! Yours is a very nice original example - lovely.

 

[Munkul]

How much is a tube of Super Glue now a days ?
Find one thats a bit bigger and cut it down to size and then super glue the ends together.

This. You can even buy kits with o ring rubber sizes and a tube of loctite superglue, so it's a "thing"

 

[mtt.tr]

WRP 60-1221 Fuel Tap Repair Kit

Shop WRP 60-1221 Fuel Tap Repair Kit at Motorcycle Products Ltd. Works Racing Parts (WRP)The WRP brand relies on two factors: a strong sponsorship program that endorses the name in the racing industry and intense testing on the tracks that optimizes the performance of those products used by top...

www.motorcycleproducts.co.uk

 

[daleyd]

This. You can even buy kits with o ring rubber sizes and a tube of loctite superglue, so it's a "thing"

Yeah a factory I worked at years ago had a kit, it came with a “jig” for cutting the rubber at accurate angles and clamping the ends together when you glued them (i seem to recall you could cut it straight or at 45 degrees). I only used it once myself but seem to recall it was pretty easy…

 

[Agroshield]

Although it looks like an O-ring, that might not be the best place to look for a reproduction. It is more like a gasket made of rubbery material.

In the US link posted by Fastdruid, the three hole one is a much closer relative to the four-hole one in the same picture than the conventional single hole O-ring in the picture. I think it is more likely to be injection moulded than extruded and pressed.

 

[Munkul]

Yeah a factory I worked at years ago had a kit, it came with a “jig” for cutting the rubber at accurate angles and clamping the ends together when you glued them (i seem to recall you could cut it straight or at 45 degrees). I only used it once myself but seem to recall it was pretty easy…

did it come in a natty little plastic toolbox as well?
Great kits for factory work where they have machines from the 30's in some cases!

 

[Fastdruid]

Would replacing the tap with a .ore serviceable tap be a viable option?

No.

The tap on these is awkward. Unlike many bikes where it's a simple bolt on the bottom or screw on the tubes are brazed into the tank to a recess and the tap connects on to a flat surface and bridges between the three ports.

Crappy tank I found a photo of just to show what I mean.

Should then look like this with the tap fitted.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

That looks very much like the part, yes. Good to know that it's available as a separate part. I'd be interested to know what material it's made out of...

Buy 6 and change regularly if you're concerned about deterioration due to ethanol?

 

[mangocrazy]

WRP 60-1221 Fuel Tap Repair Kit

Shop WRP 60-1221 Fuel Tap Repair Kit at Motorcycle Products Ltd. Works Racing Parts (WRP)The WRP brand relies on two factors: a strong sponsorship program that endorses the name in the racing industry and intense testing on the tracks that optimizes the performance of those products used by top...

www.motorcycleproducts.co.uk

Thanks for the link - I've contacted the supplier to ask what material they use for the rubber parts.

 

[bricol]

Is this the O ring

Looks like, with care, you could use three separate o-rings.

 

[daleyd]

did it come in a natty little plastic toolbox as well?
Great kits for factory work where they have machines from the 30's in some cases!

I think it was from RS so I’m sure it did, along with a natty price tag to match

 

[mangocrazy]

Looks like, with care, you could use three separate o-rings.

Frankly, I doubt it. There is no place on the gasket where it is double thickness. And it's not something I really would want to try out when better options are available.

Anyway, a progress report. I left the gasket/o-ring soaking overnight in petrol, hoping that it would expand and re-form closer to its original shape a bit, and it does seem to have done so. I then smeared it and all the mating surfaces in silicone grease and re-fitted it to the tank. After that I tentatively poured some petrol in the tank, bit by bit, and everything stayed fuel-tight. Next step was to bypass the fuel relay with a short length of 1.5mm T&E shorting out two terminals in the block and get the carbs full and primed.

This is the point at which, if the carb float bowl rubbers and sundry o-rings are going to give up the ghost and **** fuel out, that further investigation is needed. Thankfully the fuel stayed where I wanted it to. Then apply choke and hit the starter button and after a few coughs and splutters the old girl burst into life and warmed up at a fast idle.

So now it's time to finish off the small details, put its bodywork back on and book it in for an MoT.

But I will definitely be investigating the various links folk have provided for a longer term solution. Thanks again to all who commented.