They're 'Enots' taps... The 'Stone' from Benton & Stone backwards...
If the cork surface hasn't been torn by operating dry then they can usually be recovered by dropping the tap into a pan of boiling water for a few minutes.
For a long time, the standard replacement was a seal made from bonded cork and some jumblers still have them. Unfortunately, many of these are NBR bonded and not Viton so are immediately damaged by ethanol.
I used to sell the cork washers at Swapmeets(Autojumbles) here in Australia supplied by Matyn Bratby that were a cork and rubber type. Stopped selling them as people who only used their bike every couple of months found that when they turned the taps on after a long spell they had petrol dripping due to the washers drying out. I only sell brass taps now the same as Hitchcocks in UK supply and everyone is happy. Not good for the fastidious restorer. On a side note a few over here carry a can of coke in their pocket as a fire extinguisher in case of a a fire. Works great but of course is a sticky mess to clean up but better than burnt bike.
If you coat the cork with this stuff, they work easier and the cork won't dry out. It is amazing stuff as petrol won't dissolve it. Also works on brass fuel taps that are worn out and leaking and now they will seal.
I got fed up with flat slide tpas leaking ,even after fitting corks cut from solid cork out of a bottle of wine.
I found port corks work best ( or perhaps it was the port )
The problem is modern taps are barrel plated so there is a ridge on the slide where there is no plating.
Original solution was to buy some brass BSp end caps then drill & tap them for a modern tap from Chinese chook chasers which are $ 10 a piece with free postage
Being small & not plated they are less obtrusive than taps for more modern things like A 65's
Down side beiing cast zinc they are corrosion sensiive to water and as I found out, will break ig you drop the tank & it lands on the taps, which of course happened just before a rally
So the "temporay fix" was a needle type filter for stationary engines on one side ( only had one ) and a bolt in the other.
This temporary fix has been in there for 5 years waiting foe me to refit the BSP to metric adapters & a ew pair of Chinese taps , which use the same rubber seals as Honda lawn mower & stationsry engines do so is easily rebuildable and is totally unaffected by long periods of standing.
I get better results from my taps since I've made a point of using both of them. I used to use one & neglect the other with predictable results. Using one, & then the other on the next ride keeps them in better nick.
