Fuel stabilizers

Mak10

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Due to cold weather and some health issues, I’m not going to be able to ride for the next four weeks. This puts me into December and the likelihood of finding favorable riding conditions looks slim.

For those that see a couple of months of storage, what do you put in the tank?

Stabil? Sea-foam? Or ???

My bike is covered, and on a battery tender in a heated space. Is fuel stability even an issue?
 

RicoChet

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Richmond Hill, ON
Due to cold weather and some health issues, I’m not going to be able to ride for the next four weeks. This puts me into December and the likelihood of finding favorable riding conditions looks slim.

For those that see a couple of months of storage, what do you put in the tank?

Stabil? Sea-foam? Or ???

My bike is covered, and on a battery tender in a heated space. Is fuel stability even an issue?
Take it from this Canadian who stores his bike for almost 6 months of the year! Fill your gas tank all the way to the top, add the recommended amount of Fuel Stabilizer (stabil or whatever) and then let it idle for about 10 minutes to ensure fuel is in all the rails and other parts with the stabil added - keep on the battery tender and forget about it!!

4 weeks is nothing... I probably wont fire up this bike until April if we are lucky!
 

elricfate

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Sta-bil is the tried and true. Seafoam works but it's more a cleaner less a stabilizer.

The biggest thing about storing bikes for any period of time isn't usually the gas (that's the easiest thing to make sure it's not gel when you ride them again - assuming you add the stabilizer and let it run through the engine for a couple minutes) -- it's almost universally the tires. Sitting in one period for a number of months gives you the chance (slight as it may be) to develop flat spots.

Most people with cruisers, who have had this happen, just get a lift with a locking bar and put it up for whatever amount of time they're not riding it. Other normal people just move their bike every couple weeks. But it's not something you really consider as an issue, up until it happens to you once.
 

OldRider

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OK, here's my crazy way of putting whatever I have up for the season. First I make sure the tank is full to the top with ethanol free gas. Next I put one once of motor oil per gallon of gas in the tank and run it long enough for the oil to get mixed with the gas and put a very light film of oil on everything in the system. 10/40, 20/50 whatever oil you have will be fine. The oil does no harm and keeps a lot of stuff in the system from rusting or corroding. Old farmer knew that a little Marvel Mystery oil in their tractors saved them a lot of trouble in the Spring.
 

blitz11

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OK, here's my crazy way of putting whatever I have up for the season. First I make sure the tank is full to the top with ethanol free gas. Next I put one once of motor oil per gallon of gas in the tank and run it long enough for the oil to get mixed with the gas and put a very light film of oil on everything in the system. 10/40, 20/50 whatever oil you have will be fine. The oil does no harm and keeps a lot of stuff in the system from rusting or corroding. Old farmer knew that a little Marvel Mystery oil in their tractors saved them a lot of trouble in the Spring.
Interesting. I have 2-stroke dirt bikes, so instead of the motor oil, i do the same thing , but with synthetic ('cause that's what i have) dirt bike 2-stroke oil.

I have never had problems with either carbeureted or fuel injected engines with this approach.
 

Nikolajsen

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This is what I do, is sitting about 5 munth.
Fill gas tank (as almost everybody write :))
Then a tender charger.
And thats it...never any problem. Runs like when I put it in the wintergarden, when startet..

(I do fire it up some times during the winter, but that is just because I can't help myself:p)
 

OldRider

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Interesting. I have 2-stroke dirt bikes, so instead of the motor oil, i do the same thing , but with synthetic ('cause that's what i have) dirt bike 2-stroke oil.

I have never had problems with either carbeureted or fuel injected engines with this approach.
I noticed years ago working on 2 stroke and 4 stroke dirt bikes that the carbs on the 2's were a lot easier to clean than the carbs on the 4's. The oil film in the tanks and carbs kept most of the rust and corrosion away.
 

Kyle_E

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2 months? Heated space? I wouldn't even bother. 4-6 months + sure.

Fill tank, ride home and park it. Less oxygen in the tank the better off it is. So if you can't ride it now and are low on gas, fill the tank where it sits.

Ive left bikes for 5 months with full tanks on battery tenders and had them start right up with a little extra twist of the throttle.
 

Sierra1

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Back in the day, my FJ's carbs would begin to gum in about 6 weeks without riding. Started using STA-BIL, no more issues. Parked the FJ for years one time. Drained the old, stabilized, fuel out. Started right up with a new battery of course. Now....I take the bottle of STA-BIL 360 with me when I fill up if I'm going to park it for an unknown amount of time. Add the stabilizer, and gas....ride it home. All mixed up, and in the entire system.
 

MFP

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Since here in NY we have ethanol in our fuel I use STA-BIL 360 all year round whether I ride my scoots daily or once in a while during the Winter months.
 

SHUMBA

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Due to cold weather and some health issues, I’m not going to be able to ride for the next four weeks. This puts me into December and the likelihood of finding favorable riding conditions looks slim.

For those that see a couple of months of storage, what do you put in the tank?

Stabil? Sea-foam? Or ???

My bike is covered, and on a battery tender in a heated space. Is fuel stability even an issue?
Yes, fuel stabiliser IS ALWAYS required when storing anything gas powered for an extended period of time. Lawnmower snowblower or whatever. Gasoline has a relatively short shelf life and begins to lose its fizz after about a month or so. Over say four or five months gas can deteriorate and cause "gummy " deposits in the entire fuel system. So, fill the gas tank full and add the recommended amount of fuel stabiliser. Then you must run the engine for several minutes or preferably go for a short ride. Fuel top off, stabiliser, battery tender and a ventilated cover. Heated or cold storage is fine.
Do not start the engine during storage as you will not reach full operating temperature and only create moisture which can lead to corrosion.
Hope this helps
SHUMBA
 
B

ballisticexchris

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STA-BIL for me as well. I have not had issues storing ethanol based fuel.
 

SHUMBA

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STA-BIL for me as well. I have not had issues storing ethanol based fuel.
I make a point of purchasing gas (premium 91 octane) that does not contain any ethanol. Over a short period of time ethanol absorbs moisture, in addition to having a lesser BTU value, where BTU is British Thermal Units. Translate, gas minus ethanol equals more heat energy equals better performance equals better fuel economy equals less frequent fill ups.
So if you want more bang for your buck don't buy gas that contains ethanol.
SHUMBA
 
R

RonH

Guest
I guess I'm in the minority as I used Stabil only one time letting my old KZ1000 sit all winter and the carbs gummed up bad, completely clogged the pilot jets and main jets. I never bothered with it again.
I tried to do a test a few years back, took 2 mason jars and added about the amount of fuel a normal carb bowl holds in each jar, one straight gas, one treated with stabil in the percentage specified to use, then punched a couple holes for a breather kind of like a float bowl would see. I let both jars sit a long time, close to 2yrs, and neither went stale at all, both had evaporated about 3/4 of what I initially added, and the stabil was a little different color, but neither were noticably different otherwise.
With that little useless info, as to the question, no need to worry as others have already said. It's those carbs that cause all the problem, fuel injection mostly took care of short to mid length storage problems that used to crop up.
 

elricfate

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I guess I'm in the minority as I used Stabil only one time letting my old KZ1000 sit all winter and the carbs gummed up bad, completely clogged the pilot jets and main jets. I never bothered with it again.
I tried to do a test a few years back, took 2 mason jars and added about the amount of fuel a normal carb bowl holds in each jar, one straight gas, one treated with stabil in the percentage specified to use, then punched a couple holes for a breather kind of like a float bowl would see. I let both jars sit a long time, close to 2yrs, and neither went stale at all, both had evaporated about 3/4 of what I initially added, and the stabil was a little different color, but neither were noticably different otherwise.
With that little useless info, as to the question, no need to worry as others have already said. It's those carbs that cause all the problem, fuel injection mostly took care of short to mid length storage problems that used to crop up.

That's apples to apples for bulk storage but it tells you nothing about trace storage. The concern isn't the gas in your tank going bad it's the fuel in lines and other areas where smaller amounts collect.

That's what the stabil keeps from being a bigger issue by keeping the fuel more viable for longer periods. Because in those areas it doesn't evaporate quickly, it gels up. Instead of using full Mason jars try something like a 1cm thin pool in Tupperware over a four to six month period. That untreated gas will be noticeably more sludge like, guaranteed
 
R

RonH

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I'm going to do a better test. I took an old set of inline 4 carbs and made sure they were clean, and pilots and main jets free of clogs. Put 30ml of gas individually in all 4 carbs.
Carb 1- straight gas
Carb 2- stabil treated gas at ratio on bottle, 1oz to 2.5gal
Carb 3- stabil treated gas at 1oz to 1 gallon of gas ratio.
Carb 4- instead of stabil, added mineral spirits at ratio 1oz to 1 gallon gas.
Got another set of same vintage inline 4 carbs .
Carb 1- Seafoam treated gas at 1oz a gallon ratio as recommended on the can.
Carb 2- 50/1 two stroke premix used in chainsaw and blower.
Carbs are mounted on the wall out in the garage and I can take the bowls off easily to check how they compare.
Maybe every 3 months I'll remove the bowls and see what happens.
 
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SHUMBA

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Interesting, please let us know what the results are. I'd like to know.
Does fuel stabiliser really save the day that eliminates problems in the spring time when you get your bike out? I'm not sure how fuel stabiliser works it's magic....any chemists out there??
SHUMBA
 
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