Good advice

[rmcglad55]

After letting both my Triumph and my TW200 set up for a couple of months, I went out to ride the other day. Both bikes had problems. The Triumph will not idle without the choke and the TW runs very rough. I am going to have to clean the carbs on both. From now on, it's ethanol-free and seafoam. Lesson learned!

[jbfla]

Good reminder.

If you know that you won't be riding your bike for a month or more, it's a good idea to turn the petcock off, and run the carb dry.

Then open the carb bowl drain, and let out that last bit of fuel.

It doesn't take long for that crappy gas to gum up your carb.

jb

[Polarpilot]

I have long term storage issues to contend with each year.
The routine I now use with good success is to fill the gas tank about ten miles from home and add the appropriate amount of stabilizer.
Riding home insures the stabilizer is well mixed throughout the fuel system.
When the bike gets home I simply turn off the fuel tap to take the pressure off the float , needle and seat.
I do not run the carb dry or drain it however.
I find the carb does not dry out this way and next season the engine roars back to life immediately.

[HappyHiker]

Even with ethanol, Seafoam has worked really well for me over the past 2 winters (works so well I add a little every tank to help keep the carb clean). Didn't drain the carb (although it's the best way to go I think) and starts right up in the spring. The PO used Sta-bil and when I went to look at the bike it had been sitting in his garage for 4 years (covered with dust and spiderwebs - poor little bike ) due to a back injury. He installed a new battery in front of me and it fired on the 3rd or 4th crank. He claimed he hadn't started it in 2 years and only once a year prior to that. Pretty impressive!

[GaryL]

We could kick this one back and forth and never come up with an agreed answer. For those who can't get real ethanol free gas like me, there are some facts to be understood. Ethanol is alcohol which attracts moisture much more than ethanol free fuel. Keeping your fuel system sealed is most important.
I don't honestly know if fuel additives can stop or stabilize ethanol fuel from attracting moisture. I also can't say with any degree of certainty if it is better to keep your tank full or empty and your carb wet or dry during storage. If you ask most small engine manufacturers you will get different answers. Checking with the major three, Stihl, Briggs and Techumse you will see they are all offering " True Fuel " which is pre mixed, ethanol free in either 40-1 or 50-1 ratios in a can and thet recommend you use it. None of them have anything good to say about the ethanol garbage in our fuel!
I fill the tanks on my snow blower and ice auger, use a double dose of Sea Foam in the tanks and run them for a minute before I store them for the summer. When the winter gets here and I need these small engines again, I dump the tanks and add fresh fuel to start the season. The stale fuel I dump is good for starting leaf fires in the spring. I will do the same with the TW.
The fuel in my boat tanks is a much bigger problem and the Marine Industry is having fits over this ethanol crap! I go to boating forums as well as ATV and MC forums and ethanol is usually a great subject for getting a discussion locked. Some tree hugging fools like the shit while others are highly against it. All I can say is if real gas was available here in NY I would gladly spend a bit more to keep my numerous engines and carbs running as designed. Corn belongs on my dinner table and feeding the livestock we eat! Have you checked your grocery bills lately?

GaryL

[Bizz]

Ethanol
Ethanol in fuel has a tendency to absorb water and separate from the gasoline, sinking to the bottom of the gas tank, where it quickly degrades and creates gum, varnish and other insoluble debris that can plug fuel flow passages and negatively affect engine performance. When this ethanol/water mixture is pulled
into the engine, it creates a lean burn situation that increases combustion chamber temperatures and can lead to engine damage. AMSOIL Quickshot is designed to keep water dispersed throughout the tank, moving it out as a normal part of operation and decreasing the chance of ethanol separating from the gasoline.

Quickshot was tested in fuel containing 10 percent ethanol. Controlled plugging of injectors showed a 70 percent flow improvement, while oxidation stability improved 44 percent over untreated fuel

.phase_separation_500.jpghttps://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...?code=AQSCN-EA

[Point37]

since i have a plastic tank i usually just shut off the petcock and burn the excess gas in the line out then dump some seafoam in the tank and put the bike away...i haven't had to clean the carb since i got it but when i do i'll pull it off and pull the bowl off and just drop it in my ultrasonic cleaner with 4:1 simple green (get one of these from harbor freight, great investment to clean carbs or tools or anything), dry it out with a hair dryer and just put it back on...i guess i could drain the tank and just put the old fuel in my car but sometimes i rip around in the winter so i like to have the fuel in it...if i had a metal tank i would probably make sure i topped it off so there was not much air in the tank

[oldmercman]

I've been running Mobil 93 octane in all my vehicles, motorcycles, boats, lawn equipment and chain saws for the last 20 years with out any issues whatsoever. I keep the tanks full when not in current use. The only other detergent gas available in my area (Vermont) is Shell V-Power, but I have never used it. I don't know what the chemical difference is but I DO know that it works. I have had chain saws that have sat with full tanks for several years that have started on the 3rd or 4th pull. Maybe the Castrol 2 -stroke oil that I use helps. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The extra pennies spent per gallon are well worth it.

[GaryL]

The True Fuel they sell in Lowes and HD for small engines, already pre mixed with oil, is also 93 octane with no ethanol. Both my chain saws and the weed eater had to go to the shop for carb issues. After paying the $143 bill the mechanic handed me a quart can of True Fuel. I have used it since with no issues and all three machines start right up every time on the first or second pull.

GaryL

[rmcglad55]

Ethanol
Ethanol in fuel has a tendency to absorb water and separate from the gasoline, sinking to the bottom of the gas tank, where it quickly degrades and creates gum, varnish and other insoluble debris that can plug fuel flow passages and negatively affect engine performance. When this ethanol/water mixture is pulled
into the engine, it creates a lean burn situation that increases combustion chamber temperatures and can lead to engine damage. AMSOIL Quickshot is designed to keep water dispersed throughout the tank, moving it out as a normal part of operation and decreasing the chance of ethanol separating from the gasoline.

Quickshot was tested in fuel containing 10 percent ethanol. Controlled plugging of injectors showed a 70 percent flow improvement, while oxidation stability improved 44 percent over untreated fuel

.phase_separation_500.jpghttps://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...?code=AQSCN-EA

Your English is better than mine! Thanks for the info.