[RodneyBR]

I have a 2006 TW200 that I recently purchased.



What fuel stabilizer do you recommend and when should I add it. I was told 2-3 weeks and gas goes bad.



I just picked up some Lucas Fuel Stabilizer at Canadian Tire and was wondering if this is ok.



Oh.. The gas that in the bike now has been there a while now since I haven't had a chance to ride it. It's been sitting for a month and then I rode it a bit and left it for 3 weeks. So I suspect the gas in the tank is old. Although the bike seems to start fine and all that. I was thinking of adding some fuel stabilizer all the same.

 

[qwerty]

First, no ethanol. Gasoline with ethanol cannot be kept alive for long, no matter what chemicals you dump in it. If all you can get is gas with ethanol, remove the ethanol from solution and replace it with toluene by volume to restore octane rating. Gasoline without ethanol will stay good for months. Toluene has a very high octane rating and is a commonly used octane booster.



Seafoam has worked well for me to preserve gasoline.

 

[old mad max]

All our shops here use Star Tron... Works really good in snowmobiles also.. Go to star-tron.com and read about it. OMM.

 

[RodneyBR]

Hmm, I'm here in the Toronto area (Ajax) and buy my gas from Esso. Not sure what type of gas they have, but I was thinking that the regular gas would be ok.

First, no ethanol. Gasoline with ethanol cannot be kept alive for long, no matter what chemicals you dump in it. If all you can get is gas with ethanol, remove the ethanol from solution and replace it with toluene by volume to restore octane rating. Gasoline without ethanol will stay good for months. Toluene has a very high octane rating and is a commonly used octane booster.



Seafoam has worked well for me to preserve gasoline.

 

[qwerty]

Hmm, I'm here in the Toronto area (Ajax) and buy my gas from Esso. Not sure what type of gas they have, but I was thinking that the regular gas would be ok.

Why would you think anything without testing and verification?

 

[mrlmd]

Gas will not go bad for months. 2 cycle fuel (gas and oil mixture) actually deteriorates faster than straight gas.

High temps may accelerate how fast gas goes "bad" as the volatile components may evaporate faster.

This won't happen in a sealed container, but can happen in a car or bike with a vented fuel system.

What may go "bad" is the carb gumming up and jets getting clogged if sitting for a long time, and that's where Seafoam or Berryman's B12 Chemtool or Lucas may really work - to keep the carbs from gumming up.

Of you want to store fuel for a long time, like 4-6 months or more when your bike is laid up for the winter, marine stabilizers like StarTron are very good and they also have additives that remove the water that accumulates from the alcohol in the fuel and counteract the harmful effects of the alcohol.

If you want to keep your carbs clean and minimize fuel problems, put 1 oz/gal of fuel of Seafoam or Berryman's B12 Chemtool (1/3 the price of Seafoam) into the tank every 3 or 4 fillups and you won't have any problems.

 

[qwerty]

Sorry, I have to disagree, based on the past two years running an alternative fuels application study lab.



E10 will begin to separate in a matter of days in humid weather. As in as little as 7 days of hot weather with high humidity and 30+* temperature variations each 24 hours if the storage tank is vented. It doesn't take much water at all to pull the ethanol out of solution with gasoline. Preservatives can keep the gas fresh, ethanol stays fresh by itself, but can only slightly extend ethanol's miscibility with gasoline.



That is the problem with trying to store gasohol. Straight gas in a sealed storage without water intrusion can be stored for years, no additives necessary. Straight ethanol, or ethanol mixed with water (think whiskey), can also be stored for years without degradation. E10 cannot be stored for more than a few months in the best of conditions with the best additives without the ethanol and gasoline separating.



The result is trying to start the bike with straight ethanol as a fuel, which causes the engine to run very lean and very hot, and once the ethanol is drained from the bottom of the tank (or the ethanol sttles to the bottom and the petcock draws fuel from above the ethanol level) the engine is running on the low octane base fuel, which for 87 (R+M)/2 octane ethanol will be about 83 octane, which would be feeding into an engine already overheated from running extremely lean on ethanol only, if it will run at all.



It's not a matter of fuel quality, it's all about keeping the ethanol and gasoline mixed. We see plenty of fuel tanks rusted on the inside right up to the level of the ethanol after it fell out of solution while in storage.



If all you can get is E10, drain the tank before storage and treat it to a bit of fogging oil to prevent rust. Then run the engine until the carb is dry. Then pull the enricher and run the engine until the carb is dry.

 

[Jerrycan]

Totally agree with qwerty and saw proof of it. We had two TW's, my wife had an off with hers and could not decide if she wanted to ride again. Her TW stood for two years when she decided to sell it. Luckily I checked the fuel tank before even trying to start it, was BADLY rusted and I could actually smell the fuel was off. Had to flush the tank and clean the fuel cock filter. I had run the carb dry like I do with boat and chainsaw motors before storing them for long periods so the carb was clean.



Next time I need to place a bike in storage for a long time I'll rather just dump the fuel in the car for immediate use and store the bike with an empty tank. The ethanol really caused a mess in the metal tank!

 

[shocker]

A local newspaper motorhead guy printed an article in paper saying e10 will be ok up to 90 days and non e10 up to 12 months. I use Sta-Bil in the tank for extended storage periods and would not test those limits.

 

[qwerty]

A local newspaper motorhead guy printed an article in paper saying e10 will be ok up to 90 days and non e10 up to 12 months. I use Sta-Bil in the tank for extended storage periods and would not test those limits.

Those are the shelf-lives commonly given, but in practice they are extremely variable.

 

[n2o2diver]

I work at the airport and the Fuel truck driver sumps 10 gallons of 110LL Avgas three times a day out of the truck.



Hence all the free gas I could use for the TW.



Can I run this in my TW or will it mess it up?



One guy at work swears he has been running it in his 2006 GSXR 600 and his lawn mower for years without a problem.



Anyone see any problem with this other than the obvious lead burning issue?

 

[qwerty]

I work at the airport and the Fuel truck driver sumps 10 gallons of 110LL Avgas three times a day out of the truck.



Hence all the free gas I could use for the TW.



Can I run this in my TW or will it mess it up?



One guy at work swears he has been running it in his 2006 GSXR 600 and his lawn mower for years without a problem.



Anyone see any problem with this other than the obvious lead burning issue?

Very good question. The octane rating is very high and will delay flame front propagation, causing a bit of power loss. Over-cooling during engine braking from high speed may result in a bog when the throttle is opened, again, related to the high octane. Shorter plug life from lead fouling. All minor issues that, given the price of gasoline, can be lived with. Other than that, won't hurt a thing. Well, there is the federal charge of fuel tax evasion and perhaps some EPA violation due to using the lead.