Maybe.... 😁
I'm not changing a thing! Three year old gas in my generator fired right up on it's bi-annual test too!
Anyone in here have a bike that still has carbs?
- Thread starter grampi
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I'm not changing a thing! Three year old gas in my generator fired right up on it's bi-annual test too!
🙋♂️ My bike have carbs, Kwak ZZR600 E9. When i store it for longer periods i put some ethanol free fuel or gas treatment in tank. But i suppose i could also close petcock and run engine empty of fuel.
I'm not sure I've read a thread on BITOG where some sort of consensus was reached. That would be a day worth inscribing into history books.
Having owned and winterized a VTR for over 20 years, fill the tank with non-ethanol gas (hi-test here in Canada), put Stabil in it, take it for a short ride. Shut off the petcock valve, run the bike until it stalls than drain what gas in left in the fuel bowls. Come springtime, drain the gas, run it in your car, fill the bike's tank with fresh gas and enjoy another problem-free summer 
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Shouldn't have to do that with STA-BIL in the gas ... that's what fuel stabilizer is for, and sitting 6 months is nothing for gas with stabilizer in it. I've used gas that's nearly 2 years old with stabilizer and it's not a problem.
Good on you. I had white plugs on a snowmobile years ago after running "stabilized gas" and I no longer trust the stuff to burn it in a high-performance engine after sitting for months.
If you don’t trust it, why use it?
Two stroke oil or MMO will stabilize the fuel. There is nothing special about “dedicated” fuel stabilizers except high price and lots of marketing IMO.
I use it to prevent the formation of varnish deposits in the fuel petcock and wherever else it would possibly form during storage. As for two-stroke oil, I put some in every time I fill up (along with Yamaha Ring-free and valve saver fluid; I mix all 3 together and add some to every tank of fuel). Bike runs like a Swiss watch and fires up as soon as I hit the starter button, even after having sat for 2-3 weeks. Compression is at 200 psi and shoots up as soon as the engine spins over.
I still have the 2001 ZRX1200R that I bought new. The carbs have never been apart. Here’s what I have always done: use ethanol-free gas, add a quality fuel conditioner and run that conditioned gas through the carbs, and make sure the tank is full. That’s it. No draining float bowls, etc. Living in SD, the bike is stored in my unheated garage for a few months a year. I use the same routine with the mower and snowblower.
Mine all do that with E10 with no additives - a waste of fuel stabilizer if something just sits 2-3 weeks IMO. I've even parked cars over the winter for 6 months with E10 and no fuel stabilizer, and they fire right up and run great in the spring. It's strange that people's experiences are all over the map. Is there that much difference in fuel quality going on?
I bet my results with E10 left in my riding mower would be much different if I stored it outside where it got rained and snowed on....
It's nice and humid here all winter long. But if water gets directly into the fuel tank somehow because equipment is sitting outside in the rain, then who knows what could happen. The fact is, gasoline, even E10, doesn't go bad/stale in 6 months.
Same here, I use E10 in everything and have no trouble with carbs gumming up or starting. I even had no trouble with California gas. My house there had very little grass, so didn’t need a lot of mowing or trimming. The gas sat for over a year in the gas cans and still performed normally. But I make sure I shake the cans every once in a while, but who know if it makes any difference.
I guess gas quality does vary a lot since people’s experiences are so different.
I hear this is the "Sheetz"!
Not every Sheetz has e-free gas. Of several in my area, only one, the most remote, has e-free 90 octane. It has large placards hanging from the pump stations where it is available.
Remember Stabil was originally invented to stabilize real gasoline, the octane molecule, which can combine and form a plastic-like material we affectionately call "varnish". It is this chemical process it was originally intended to combat. Since then Marine Stabil came out to deal with moisture as well, and I suspect the original product now has some of that.
All of my... let's call it "4" complete motorcycles, all have carbs. One has more carbs than the rest put together, and all but one at least twins. The only carb problems I've had came with the bikes, and went away after a carb clean or rebuild.
I follow a regimen similar to others here - Stabil, e-free for the last few fillups before Winter. If doing extended work on a bike, (Winter is a good time for that) I'll drain the carbs. Otherwise I run them all every week or two.
The rest of the year I happily run E10.
Remember Stabil was originally invented to stabilize real gasoline, the octane molecule, which can combine and form a plastic-like material we affectionately call "varnish". It is this chemical process it was originally intended to combat. Since then Marine Stabil came out to deal with moisture as well, and I suspect the original product now has some of that.
All of my... let's call it "4" complete motorcycles, all have carbs. One has more carbs than the rest put together, and all but one at least twins. The only carb problems I've had came with the bikes, and went away after a carb clean or rebuild.
I follow a regimen similar to others here - Stabil, e-free for the last few fillups before Winter. If doing extended work on a bike, (Winter is a good time for that) I'll drain the carbs. Otherwise I run them all every week or two.
The rest of the year I happily run E10.
That Sheetz with E0 gas is probably in a part of Maryland where emissions testing isn't required.
On my 1988 FLHS I just fill my tank full before winter storage and then shut off the petcock and run the bike until the carb is empty.
The last minute when it's stumbling, I violently work the throttle to actuate the accelerator pump to get every last drop of gas out of the float bowl.
Never had an issue with storing it like this on this bike and all the other carb bikes I've had.
The last minute when it's stumbling, I violently work the throttle to actuate the accelerator pump to get every last drop of gas out of the float bowl.
Never had an issue with storing it like this on this bike and all the other carb bikes I've had.
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