How old gasoline?
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,070
Likes: 1
From: Orygun
How old gasoline?
How long should you let gas sit in the tank before it should be replaced. I had an accident, broke my ankle and have not been able to ride due to mending and physical therapy on the ankle. The bike has been on battery tender and started a couple of times per week, but the current gas in the tank may have been there for up to 4 months (discrepancy due to time at dealers due to reapairs and how much they added to tank). Should it be replaced or treated? Thanks for any help.
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,881
Likes: 34
From: USA
4 months without stabil? If it is not difficult to siphon it out I would. If not, go top it off right away and add 3 oz of techron and you should be ok. You can get the techron at AAP or Autozone or Walmart.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,120
Likes: 17
From: Indiana
My bike sat for 5 months with stabil. It was on the tender and I didn't start it because of hearing that short start ups is bad. First start up was in MAR. It fired right up and dusted that tank that week with no issues and everything was fine. Make sure your tank is full while it sits because the less you have the more moisture you can get in the tank. Also Stabil or SeaFoam will prevent the moisture.
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
From:
Mine sat for 4 months (knee surgery). I just started it up last week and it's been running like hammered dog $h(@! California gas is rumoured to turn to varnish faster than many other states gasoline though because of all the **** ethanol additives and eco friendly crap they insist on. Right now, if I start it up and gun the gas, the bike falls on it's face.
I hope it's just the gas. I topped it off with 91, but it still isn't right. Once it's had 3 or 4 min to warm up, it runs better but right off it's bad.
I hope it's just the gas. I topped it off with 91, but it still isn't right. Once it's had 3 or 4 min to warm up, it runs better but right off it's bad.
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 173
Likes: 0
From: W.V.
old gas?
Just fill the tank to the top with fresh gas if that makes you feel better, but realey 4 month old gas will be just fine.the problem with sitting for a long time is the small amount of gas in the carb will dry up and clog small passages.If you have FI this wont happen,also water in your gas tank will go right thru with the gas and you wont even know it.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5,384
Likes: 12
From: Out on Deranged
NP for gas these days it is so well refined now compared t 30 years ago where you would have had gunk building up in there,but stabil was invented to prevent that!
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,641
Likes: 5
From: West Branch, Michigan
Although not involving a bike...... our 4 stroke Honda 50hp boat motor is in the repair shop as we speak. We didn't use it very much last year ( cold and lousy weather) but we use stabil in the gas at all times just for that reason. We even put the new BLUE colored stabil for marine use.
I dont know how,what or when, but they found tiny flakes of ??? throughout the lines, in the filters, jets, ......just everywhere. Can hardly start, then it bucks, stalls and chokes. Problem started last Spring but we thought the marina had it fixed. Guess not.
I dont know if we got that ethanol crapola and it separated from sitting or what....but so far, we've got a $550 repair bill and it's still climbing. We've been told by several marina's that they've been seeing more gasoline related problems with 4 strokes.
From now on, we're only putting SHELL into our boat and any other 4 stroke engine we have, adding stabil then running the engine dry before going into storage. We only use Shell in the bikes and do add stabil to it as well, but we're taking no chances because both are fuel injected. This Ethanol the Government is pushing, or thinking of adding up to 15% is going to cause major problems down the road I think.
I dont know how,what or when, but they found tiny flakes of ??? throughout the lines, in the filters, jets, ......just everywhere. Can hardly start, then it bucks, stalls and chokes. Problem started last Spring but we thought the marina had it fixed. Guess not.
I dont know if we got that ethanol crapola and it separated from sitting or what....but so far, we've got a $550 repair bill and it's still climbing. We've been told by several marina's that they've been seeing more gasoline related problems with 4 strokes.
From now on, we're only putting SHELL into our boat and any other 4 stroke engine we have, adding stabil then running the engine dry before going into storage. We only use Shell in the bikes and do add stabil to it as well, but we're taking no chances because both are fuel injected. This Ethanol the Government is pushing, or thinking of adding up to 15% is going to cause major problems down the road I think.
Last edited by LWOS; Apr 19, 2010 at 11:10 AM.
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: Missouri/working in Kuwait
I don't know too much about Oregons gas, but the gas in Missouri will last 6 months sitting in my carbed bike with no ill effects at all. My bike is inside a well insulated garage too if that makes any difference.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 138
From: here
Agree with most of the posters, 4 months should not be a problem. I've seen gas sit in a car tank for over two years and start on the first try. Definitely do not recommend that but just for a point of reference.
There are three things that affect long term storage of gasoline without additives.
#1. Initial quality of the gasoline. If you're using proper gas for these engines, you're already starting off on the right foot.
#2. Air gap in the storage container. The more air in the tank, the more problems you're going to have with moisture and degradation of the fuel through oxidation or exposure to air. Larger air gaps also allow the tank to breathe more when there are any temperature cycles giving more effect to the gas breaking down and important components being carried out of the tank.
#3. The container itself. The material that the gas is sitting in is very important, never store gas in something that wasn't meant to hold gas. You should not be worried about storing gas in your gas tank, some plastic cheap-o gas cans or any metal that will rust, yeah.
Forgot to add, extreme temperatures aren't good either, generally speaking your garage should be OK. You'll know whether or not it's too hot or too cold, not rocket science.
t
There are three things that affect long term storage of gasoline without additives.
#1. Initial quality of the gasoline. If you're using proper gas for these engines, you're already starting off on the right foot.
#2. Air gap in the storage container. The more air in the tank, the more problems you're going to have with moisture and degradation of the fuel through oxidation or exposure to air. Larger air gaps also allow the tank to breathe more when there are any temperature cycles giving more effect to the gas breaking down and important components being carried out of the tank.
#3. The container itself. The material that the gas is sitting in is very important, never store gas in something that wasn't meant to hold gas. You should not be worried about storing gas in your gas tank, some plastic cheap-o gas cans or any metal that will rust, yeah.
Forgot to add, extreme temperatures aren't good either, generally speaking your garage should be OK. You'll know whether or not it's too hot or too cold, not rocket science.
t
Last edited by Robottom; Apr 19, 2010 at 02:25 PM.