Old Gas ?

[ol mike]

Hello ,
I did a search ''winter storage'' but didn't see anything pertaining to gasoline sitting in the bike during winter.
I won't be riding much in the next couple of months - should I drain the gas and run the fuel injection empty ?

 

[oldskool]

Two months with ethanol free gas I wouldn't sweat it. With corn juice ya get it out of there.

 

[m in sc]

ive let 10% ethanol sit for 6 mos in carbureted vehicles, zero issues. its fine.

 

[oldskool]

ive let 10% ethanol sit for 6 mos in carbureted vehicles, zero issues. its fine.

Depends on where you live.

 

[dmonkey]

Honda have a winter storage guide with some recommendations. They recommend filling the fuel tank all the way on fuel injected bikes and using a fuel stabilizer.

https://motorcycle.honda.ca/Content/motorcycle.honda.ca/518639e0-839d-4257-a71e-1d829832a307/GenericContent_FFH/winter-storage-guide-EN.pdf

They of course sell a fuel stabilizer, but it's a Sta-Bil formula so you can save some money and just pick that up locally if you decide you want to use it or a comparable product. If you don't use a fuel stabilizer before storage, or an octane booster after storage and it's been stored for long enough, then yeah, expect to experience some old gas symptoms and poor performance until you either dilute or burn through that gas.

 

[ShieldArc]

ive let 10% ethanol sit for 6 mos in carbureted vehicles, zero issues. its fine.

I have done that and it cost me a new carburetor.

 

[m in sc]

I live in the southeast with very high humidity. i've never, ever had it ruin a carburetor. and i have a shitload of carbureted vehicles. if you leave it full, its fine. it when you half drain it by 'running it till it quits' is where you have issues.

I had a bike that was a theft recovery that sat for over 3 years in impound, i fired it up off the fuel in the tank, this was an sfv650 gladius. took a sec or burping and farting but ran fine inside of 5 minutes.

 

[m in sc]

different example 51 year old carburetors, that i know, for a fact , didn't run for the 8 years before i bought this bike back, always on ethanol and not premix. this was after the 1st run of cleaning by hand, i put them in the ultrasonic after this and still on the bike today. nothing ruined. if you're getting stuff ruined, there's water in the fuel more than likely. but yes, the lines did crumble, i i had to replace those with the new stuff.

 

[JPMcGraw]

Im also a humid southerner

My 7yo push mower sits from October to April with whatever E10 is in it and starts the first or second pull. The 2021 trail usually only gets 1 fill-up in the winter. No problems with either. You are good as long as you are using reputable gas stations

 

[ol mike]

I use only gasoline 91 octane in everything.
I've not had the same luck as some of you with old gas and carbs.
Less than one year and two yamaha 4-stroke outboards 2.5 & 6hp , 91 octane w/ fuel stabilizer and the carbs were horrible.

 

[m in sc]

i never use fuel stabilzer. If you must, mix 1 oz 2 stroke oil per gallon of oil, will help. stabil is garbage, as is the other stuff. octane rating has zero to do with shelf life as well.

 

[George]

My case:
Canadian, E10, long winter, use fuel stabilzer.
Lawn mowers, tractors, ATVs, SXS, and motorcycles can be started about half a year without any major problems.

 

[Kev250R]

I try to ride or at least start most of my bikes/cars/ATV's regularly but do have some which set for extended periods of time. Those get full fuel tanks with 91 Octane, carbs drained (via the drain at the bottom, not just run until it quits) and StaBil fuel stabilizer. I've yet to have a problem with that method, though there's more then one way to keep a carb or EFI system from getting gummed-up.

 

[FizzBuzz3000]

This comes from personal experience, but if you can buy non-ethanol gasoline where you live, do it. Most small gas engines are designed to run high octane, ethanol-free gasoline, even if the manuals say otherwise. I've had bad experiences of injectors, carbuerators, fuel lines and even cas gap vents suffering from ethanol-related woes while under active use! And switching to 91 with some Sea Foam fixed that entirely. Don't trust the corn crap!

 

[m in sc]

heres the issue, especially with cheap modern shitty small motors they use in power equipment these days . they typically don't use FKM for the seals or fuel lines, (viton). buna, which shows up a lot, however, is used a LOT and it reacts poorly to ethanol.

nothing else is 'designed' differently, and you cerialy do not need anything over 87 up to 10:1 compression, and that's being conservative.

 

[FizzBuzz3000]

heres the issue, especially with cheap modern shitty small motors they use in power equipment these days . they typically don't use FKM for the seals or fuel lines, (viton). buna, which shows up a lot, however, is used a LOT and it reacts poorly to ethanol.

nothing else is 'designed' differently, and you cerialy do not need anything over 87 up to 10:1 compression, and that's being conservative.

The difference is that here in MN, all crude oil for refinement is hauled/piped in from out of state from other states/Canada, so the resulting quality of the gasoline can be GREATLY reduced if it comes from the 2 refineries that are in Minnesota due to bad transportation/storage. Gasoline itself is sometimes is also trucked in from out-of-state, which can also result in crap gas. It also gets cold here in Minnesota, so condensation is a genuine risk. Ethanol likes to hold in moisture and will not let go of it as they can blend together. It does not take much for ethanol-based gasoline to just mess up anything in small gas engines. I only put the 87 octane mid-gas stuff in my car because that's what the fuel control module is programmed for, and the manual explicitly states not to use anything else.

You can go and use the corn gas, I don't blame/flat-out disagree with you for using it. But I think it's just good form to use 91 Non-Oxy gas as I believe you'll get the most out of it.

 

[m in sc]

where do you think our gas comes from in south carolina? with over 14 vehicles on the road, Im pretty sure i'll keep doing what im doing, especially since only 3 of them are fuel injected.

 

[TrailBoss]

In my experience 10% ethanol gas is not the devil it's made out to be. If I remember, I throw some fuel stabilizer in the toys prior to winter, but even when I haven't done that I've never had a problem starting things up after a few months of sitting. This applies to both FI vehicles and as well as my carbureted lawn tractor, which is a 2007 Simplicity I bought new and I've to date done nothing to the carb and it's still running perfect.

I'm not saying gas doesn't go bad, I'm just saying rumors that it goes bad in the span of a month are untrue, IMO.

 

[oldskool]

The small engine repair shop that had more work backed up, boat engines atv lawn mowers motorcycles, than he had space for for three years here until e free gas again became available must have been profiting on hysterical imaginings

 

[m in sc]

read my reply above . also people don't take care of their stuff like they are supposed to & cheap materials in mfg are abound. people act like carbs didn't gum up or corrode prior to ethanol. lol. ffs, i spent many, many weekends in junkyards pulling car parts back in the 80s that today, people would have blamed on ethanol issues.. I pulled many a fuzzy q-jet or carter afb off a motor.

I swear, now a days half the people I see post about fueling stuff would blame this on ethanol.