[drainyoo]

What can happen if you leave fuel in the tank for about 5 months without starting the bike? Does this cause any issues?

 

[FR]

I always add fuel stabilizer to a full tank of gas before I put the bike away for the winter, which is usually early November till about now. I haven't had any problems. I do let the engine run till the treated fuel is in the carbs. If you don't do that, your carbs will generally develop some fuel residue that won't go away, you'll have to pull them apart to clean them.
After storage I try to burn through that tank as quickly as possible, or if I can't ride much, at least top it off with fresh fuel after half a tank is burned.

FR

 

[joe c]

5 months, it should be fine.

jc

 

[Chikor]

quote:
5 months, it should be fine.

jc

should is the functioning word there.....if you do let it sit that long then what you should do is turn off the petcock and run the engine till it stops, runns out of feul in the carb then when you go to start it after storage turn the petcock on for a couple seconds turn it off and drain the carbs....that should do the trick....but use stabilizer it will only help...oh yeah if you leave a full tank then you will get less rust build up in the tank the more feul in there the better when it comes to keeping rust away....

Ride Fast and Take Chances

 

[joe c]

i think hes actually wondering if the 5month old gas is ok to use. ive had gas sit in tanks for longer than that and it fires up. the key is the smell. the less it smells like gas, and the more it smells like shit the less of a chance there is ts good. if it hasnt varnished yet, you can drain it easily if youre that worried about it. but 5 mnths isnt a long time for gas to sit nowadays. now if you start pushing closer to 9 months or a year or more, then you could have problems. i guess the other way this could be approached is what kind of gas is it??? if its high octane or exotic race fuel, its probably trash. not to mention other various parts. i know some of the vp gas will seriously screw up carbs and other stuff if you leave it in there.

jc

 

[Chikor]

fuel is actually getting worse as far as longevity....i would let it sit no longer then 6 months and that is about it, with all the new additives it is just getting worse and worse....yellow mold in the carbs...yuck...the smell is the key you are right about that, i found that if you drain off a bunch and put some fresh stuff in there, that helped me this year after letting the cb350f sit for a long time....

Ride Fast and Take Chances


Edited by - chikor on Apr 19 2006 11:23:42 AM

 

[drainyoo]

Actually I dont care about the fuel, Im dumping it. What Im worried about is if the gas in the tank could have created some mechanical problems within the engine.

 

[Chikor]

if the petcocks are off then there should be no damage but if they are not then the worst is probably dirty carbs.....not a big deal really....

Ride Fast and Take Chances

 

[drainyoo]

quote:
if the petcocks are off then there should be no damage but if they are not then the worst is probably dirty carbs.....not a big deal really....

Ride Fast and Take Chances

Thanks dude, thats what I figured.