If you want to dress up the Vstar a little more the petcock from the RoadStar makes an excellent upgrade. You can get it from your favorite dealer (Yamaha part# 4WM-24500-00-00) or you may get lucky, as I was able to find one on the RoadStar Forum for only the cost of shipping. The initial motivation for this upgrade was based on the success stories of fellow members on the 650 CC&D Forum, but during my installation I discovered a couple of things that should make the process much easier and practically fool proof.
Here are both petcocks, the stock Vstar item on the left and the RoadStar on the right.
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I was preparing to trim the brass tube so that the reserve capacity would be maintained after the switch. The new tube needs to be cut so that it measures 2.02" from the surface that contacts the tank to the bottom of the filter screen, because the tube seats about 0.25" into the petcock the amount that needs to be cut from the RoadStar brass tube is ~0.75".
You can remove the brass tube with pliers or if you have a "strap wrench" you can use the rubber strap to grip and twist it out. Then use a pipe cutter to reduce it's height, press it back into the petcock body and reinstall into the tank. The outlet from the RoadStar petcock is larger than the Vstar it may take a little wiggling to get the standard fuel line around the larger tube, but it can be done.
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I was able to get the petcock so cheaply because it had developed a leak for the previous owner so it needed to be repaired before installation. The part numbers for the o-ring and valve packing between the two petcocks are identical so I planned on swapping the stock items into the new petcock. After opening both petcocks it was apparent that the bodies are also identical.
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So rather than remove and cut down the tube along with the slight increase in hassle when removing and reinstalling the fuel line every time I pull the tank I just swapped the selector and faceplate from the RoadStar petcock into the Vstar body. As a final aesthetic I replaced the Phillips head screws that hold the faceplate on with some stainless steel button Allen heads ( m3x8 @ $0.19/each ) that I polished up with about 2 minutes of effort.
With this procedure it is a simple operation to just run the tank into the reserve and have someone lean the bike to the right so the remaining fuel would not be in contact with the petcock, remove the two Phillips screws, pull out the stock selector, faceplate, and o-ring ( there will be a little residual fuel in the petcock body unless you leave the bike running while it is leaned right long enough to use it up. )
The new o-ring should already be fitted to the barrel, if the o-ring is put into the body instead of over the selector you run the risk of it slipping and pinching. Slide the new selector and faceplate into place, replace the screws, then lean the bike back over and check for leaks.
Less than five minutes and you have a new piece of chrome!
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