I thought I might have to pull the carbs again...

[ddaniels]

Took the bike out last night for the first time in weeks. Started it up on choke and it was running rough, and wouldn't take any throttle without dying. I thought perhaps I let it sit too long without stabil. Dang! The fuel gauge read just under 1/4 tank. I just could not get it to stay running off choke. I was preparing to push it back up my steep driveway and back into the garage, when I thought, "Maybe I'll put the petcock on reserve and see what happens". Reached down and switched it over and hit the started. A few cranks and she came alive like nothing was wrong. So, I went to the gas station and filled up the tank, then back home and put some stabil in, but not until after riding around a bit. I don't remember it acting like this when the fuel gauge was just below 1/4 tank. Hmmm. I wonder what's the deal?? But at least I don't have to pull the carbs.

[keman]

Mine starts coughing at me to flip the reserve right under the 1/4 mark.

[TheCafeKid]

Did ya prime the carbs before you cranked on her?? Sitting for a couple weeks is plenty long enough for the float bowls to go dry.
And I've noticed when you're low like that and the bowls are dry the gas doesn't want to flow as freely at first. You could have also maybe had a sticky float if they went dry as well. The VM type carbs are bad for that.

[Dogma]

Yeah, always a little rough getting going after a few weeks if not primed.

I've never noticed where my fuel gage is when I hit reserve. I'm always watching the trip meter.

I've been told that parking it for extended periods without a full tank promoted rust. Is this not so? Or is your tank lined?

[TheCafeKid]

Yeah, always a little rough getting going after a few weeks if not primed.

I've never noticed where my fuel gage is when I hit reserve. I'm always watching the trip meter.

I've been told that parking it for extended periods without a full tank promoted rust. Is this not so? Or is your tank lined?

Yeah I've heard that too. And admittedly I'm horrible for leaving the tank low for extended periods...especially over winter. I use sta-bil but I run it through on a low tank, and leave it cause I figure I don't want that crap in there the first full tank of the season. Probably a bad idea.
I think the theory is a less than full tank invites condensation to the party. Water will then sit on the bottom of the tank, where it will rust and cause the most damage if it does. Since most of us never run the tank bone dry, and frankly I don't think you can with the way most of them are set up, the water stays forever. Or close to.

I'm prolly gonna get my tank re-coated this winter (external clear coat I mean) so perhaps it would be a good idea to pull the tap and gauge assembly and rinse her out with iso-propyl or something?

[Dogma]

Hmm. With all the sloshing that a vehicle goes through, especially bikes, I wouldn't expect the water to hang around for too long, or in significant quantities. I think we'd notice if the carbs gulped water once in a while. Anyhow, isn't Sta-bil and the like supposed to dissolve water into the fuel so will flow through the systems without causing trouble?

An awful lot of speculation and hearsay goin' on.

[BigD_83]

Hmm. With all the sloshing that a vehicle goes through, especially bikes, I wouldn't expect the water to hang around for too long, or in significant quantities. I think we'd notice if the carbs gulped water once in a while. Anyhow, isn't Sta-bil and the like supposed to dissolve water into the fuel so will flow through the systems without causing trouble?

An awful lot of speculation and hearsay goin' on.

I'm not sure what the active ingredient is in Sta-bil, but a number of additives react with water to convert to acetone. Dimethoxypropane (DMP) is one that we use in applications at work to remove relatively small amounts of water from other solvents. The water/DMP gets converted to acetone. I believe that acetone would better suspend in fuel, get carried out of the tank, and actually burn...