AJS & Matchless Owners Club

I was hoping to get my AJS fired up today but unfortunately after cleaning the fuel tank out and then filling with fresh fuel one of the gate valve petrol taps was leaking. Upon stripping the gate valve there is what looked like a small felt washer either side of the gate? Are these available for replacement?
Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike, they are cork, available from the spares scheme or many other suppliers/auto jumbles or you can cut your own, they are a lot thicker than you might think will fit don't be fooled into buying thin ones.

Thanks Ducan, I might be able to pick some up at the Stafford Show next Sunday

Assume you have the push on hex head push off round head taps, with a cork disc top & bottom. The corks dry out, new corks may also leak. soak the old corks in fuel over night. They should be OK then, unless well worn and falling apart.

That's correct Rob, I'll give it a go.

Soaking corks worked for me when I got leaks after the bike had been standing for about a year. But I did later replace one cork that looked a bit tired.

If you have push on push off taps. Be careful when you refit the nuts to the body,after replacing the cork washers, it is easy to split the nut if you over tighten them, if you don't need to start the bike right away, pop the taps into a drop of petrol for a while to swell the corks, sometimes new taps will leak fuel until they swell.

The old corks were well past their sell by date so I've made a couple of news ones out of the cork from a bottle of Glenmorangie, that should be good quality cork.