Skull City USA

Harley® Petcock Lever Changes
Since 1975 the stock Harley® petcock lever has changed very little. Even when the petcock levers were chrome plated in 1996, and when the petcock itself changed to a vacuum-operated model in 1997, the thickness of the lever was still less than the slot on the SkullCock™, 0.167" (one hundred and sixty seven thousandths). Somewhere around 1997 the thickness of some of the lever blades grew to 0.170" (one hundred and seventy thousandths). We believe this is probably from over-plating, because not all of the levers from these years are too thick.

A tight fit between the slot on the SkullCock™ and the petcock lever blade is essential to the SkullCock™ not vibrating off. For this reason, Skull City USA will not increase the width of the slot at this time. To fit those few late-model petcocks, it is necessary to file about 0.004" (four thousandths) of material off of the word FUEL and arrow that is embossed on the lever. If done carefully this will not mar the appearance of the lever.

Installing the SkullCock™ Petcock Lever Cover on the 883 Sportster®
Our experience here at Skull City USA is that the SkullCock™ will fit most stock OEM petcocks on the Sportster® 883. To see if it will fit on your bike, mount the SkullCock™ on your petcock lever without putting Loctite on your set screws and without putting silicone RTV on the lever. Tighten the set screws moderately tight. Try to place the lever and the SkullCock™ in the RESERVE position. You will notice that the skull does not go all the way upside-down. Our customers have told us that it is sometimes necessary to slightly loosen the large nut on the petcock, and to rotate the petcock horizontally until you can get the maximum upside-down position out of the skull. In most cases this position will allow fuel to flow in the RESERVE position.

To test this, put the SkullCock™ in the RESERVE position, and then remove it without changing the position of the lever. Now go for a five-minute ride, or long enough to run the carburetor bowl dry if it was not getting any fuel. If your bike doesn’t "run out of gas", then the SkullCock™ should work fine on your Sporty.

You can get the replacement jeweled eyes from Skull City USA by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to our address and indicate on this envelope the color of the eyes. We will send them to you free of charge. This is the only way to get them free.

Remove the remaining epoxy in the eye socket with a sharp instrument like an ice pick, awl, center punch, etc. Use same instrument to make several scratch marks in the flat portion of the eye socket. Clean out socket with acetone, or some other clean solvent, on a Q-tip. Using a toothpick, apply a tiny amount of clear silicone sealant (caulking compound) to the eye socket. The total volume used here is less than half the size of a BB. Let the silicone set up and get sticky for about 5 minutes.

Using a pair of good tweezers (you should practice this before you apply the silicone) place the jewel in the socket. Press the eye flat into the socket so that a tiny amount of the silicone squeezes around the sides of the jewel. Remove any mistakes or excess with a clean toothpick. Allow at least 24 hours at room temperature for the silicone to cure.