Anyone in here have a bike that still has carbs?

We have a lot of Carbs in our fleet and many of them store with no running over the winter months. We have used Sta-bil plus a little ethanol treatment for storage and never had any issues with it..

I have a riding mower. I use E10 gas in it because the nearest E0 gas station is about 25 miles away.

I leave the gas in it over the winter and it always starts up in the spring with no problems. I add a little TC-W3 to the gas before I store it for the winter, but I doubt that is actually helping keep the carb from getting gummed up. Aside from that I add nothing else to the gas.
 
No, it wasn't. When lead was removed from gasoline, other octane enhancers had to be used. The choices were largely MTBE and Ethanol. Ethanol was primarily used in the midwest, until MTBE was banned (more specifically the oil companies would no longer use MTBE due to liability concerns about groundwater contamination) , and that's when ethanol gas became available nationwide.

GM owner's manuals of the era specifically allowed the use of E10 gasoline. (I have a 1984 Cavalier sitting outside and the owner's manual is inside of it..).

For that matter, if I recall correctly, they also allowed the use of METHANOL gasoline "when blended with appropriate co-solvents to prevent corrosion".

And here is a reference:




And another reference:


And yet another reference that is very detailed about the history of ethanol gasoline in the USA:

You are mistaking available and mandated and it was not mandated everywhere, E0 is still available today in some areas.

 
My '82 450 Nighthawk has carbs. I have been using marine stabil. I do not run the carbs dry over the winter. I don't want cracked/shrunken seals.
 
You are mistaking available and mandated and it was not mandated everywhere, E0 is still available today in some areas.

I'm not mistaking anything.

This is exactly what I wrote:

Gas with ethanol has been available for at least 40 years now. Unsure how "todays" gas is any different than what was available in 1982.

If you are having trouble understanding what I'm writing...well, I do not think the problem is on my end.
 
My home made Air Bike has a carburetor...

Airbike.jpg

2hpAirBike.JPG
 
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Storing a motorcycle with gas in the carb(s) is a bad idea. I worked in the motorcycle industry since 1970. Have seen many carbs affected by gasoline deposits .

The carb photos below are from a Yamaha XS-1100 using pure gasoline, not a blend. The bike sat for about 5 months, leaning up against a shed. The gas drained into the two lower carbs and solidified.

Z

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You will still have some fuel in the bottom of the bowl, draining them will get more fuel out.

I'm keeping mine full with stabilized fuel and keeping my fingers crossed that it will be okay. If not then I'll pull the carbs in spring and clean them.
It's my understanding that the purpose of running the carbs dry prior to storage is to prevent seal deterioration, and the gumming up of moving parts. When the carbs are run dry, the amount of gas that's left in the float bowls isn't enough to do either of these things...
 
I'm curious to know what issues you've had by draining the gas...
Stuck floats more often. Sometimes idle jets are still clogged. Just seems like there is no benefit. The lousy gas still seems to linger even if drained. Keeping it in there with an additive seems to be the best of 2 lousy options for me. I don't know of a source of E0 fuel except those rip off cans off the shelf. Even the 100 octane "race fuel" in CA has ethanol
 
Many carbs for many years. Both 2 and 4 stroke. Bikes, sleds, power equipment, etc.
E0 gas and a quality marine grade stabilizer. Not Stabil either. Zero issues on seasonal storage.
Long term storage, like over a year I would drain bowls after running through the E0 and stabilizer along with the tank and lines drained.
 
Many carbs for many years. Both 2 and 4 stroke. Bikes, sleds, power equipment, etc.
E0 gas and a quality marine grade stabilizer. Not Stabil either. Zero issues on seasonal storage.
Long term storage, like over a year I would drain bowls after running through the E0 and stabilizer along with the tank and lines drained.
Great process. So what stabilizer? Stabil is convenient, but is something else "more better"?
 
My problem with draining the bowls is that the float needle seal will dry out and the floats could stick open as well as possible oxidizing of the aluminum and brass if moisture gets into the carbs. I feel storing with good fuel (E0 if possible) that's stabilized is my best option.
 
The carb photos below are from a Yamaha XS-1100 using pure gasoline, not a blend. The bike sat for about 5 months, leaning up against a shed. The gas drained into the two lower carbs and solidified.
That must have been a lot of gas that dried up in those carbs. What did the bottom of the bowls look like?
 
Great process. So what stabilizer? Stabil is convenient, but is something else "more better"?
Currently using CRC. When that gets used up I'm going to try PRI-G . I've seen good recommendations on it here.
A splash of 2 stroke oil doesn't hurt either in a 4 stroke, at least I've never had any issues.
I've forgotten and left chainsaws for 2 yrs and had no issues, fill with fresh and fire right up.
 
I have yet to run into any issues by storing my carbed engines (sleds, seasonal ope like mowers, rototillers, snow blower) with stabil treated fuel. In fact it makes life easier as they start up quite easy because the bowls are not empty. But in saying this, I am assuming I am getting quality gas, no water and everything is clean and operational to begin with.
 
I have a '98 Honda Super Hawk that has carbs, and I've been told to make sure the carbs are dry when in storage, as today's gas with ethanol is supposed to be bad on them. I've always stored my bikes over the winter with Sta-Bil in the fuel systems without problems, but these were all fuel injected bikes. A local mechanic of over 30 years (he claims) told me loves when people leave gas in their bike's carbs because it brings his shop a lot of business rebuilding carbs. How do you store yours?
If my '82 carburetor bike is to sit more than a few days I shut off the gas and run it until it quits and then open the drain on the bottom of the carb to drain anything left. Never have an issue.
 
I'm not mistaking anything.

This is exactly what I wrote:



If you are having trouble understanding what I'm writing...well, I do not think the problem is on my end.
I remember Gasahol (E10) on a separate pump usually away from other pumps that long ago but it was not common or commonly used. I was talking about gasoline at a regular pump. You said..

Unsure how "todays" gas is any different than what was available in 1982

There was almost no possibility of the original owner of the OP's bike getting ethanol gas from a regular gas station when it was new.
BTW Gasahol was around commercially since 1940 and ethanol used for fuel sine the late 1800's.
 
I remember Gasahol (E10) on a separate pump usually away from other pumps that long ago but it was not common or commonly used. I was talking about gasoline at a regular pump. You said..



There was almost no possibility of the original owner of the OP's bike getting ethanol gas from a regular gas station when it was new.
BTW Gasahol was around commercially since 1940 and ethanol used for fuel sine the late 1800's.

#1, it was common enough in the 1980s that GM specifically stated in their owner's manuals (and issued a TSB) allowing it's use..

#2, the OP's bike is 1998 model and I can assure you that ethanol gas was used back then to comply with the oxygenated fuel mandate in non-attainment areas, particularly in the midwest region of the USA (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, those "corn belt" states). EDIT: And some of these states seemed to have laws "encouraging" the use of Ethanol instead of MTBE, prior to the MTBE ban....

My original point is that ethanol fuel has been available for at least 40 years. It would be reasonable to expect a 1998 model bike to be able to run on 10% ethanol fuel and for that to not cause damage to the fuel system.

Hell, I would expect it of a 1988 model bike.

One thing I would also expect is that today's ethanol gas is better than what we had 40 years ago. Technology marches on, and gasoline is no exception.
 
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