took gas tank off for winter...

[SkyfangR]

since riding season ended here in PA, i took my gas tank off, drained it, and dropped it off at a place to get the old cracking paint stripped, a couple small dents fixed, and re-painted to a nice cobalt blue

should i put some sta-bil or some such in the carbs, or should i completely drain them and store the bike with dry carbs?

[chuck hahn]

drain the bowls and leave the drains loose. use the compressor to blow air down the fuel line for a cfew minutes to blow any ridual fuel out AND MOST IMPORTANTLY..dry the holes in the jets. It will fire right up like it was rode yesterday.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

since riding season ended here in PA,…….

Pshaw. No such thing. This was 3 weeks ago.



Anyway, yeah, Chuck’s right, of course.

[Nessism]

I'd use Stabil in the tank before draining everything.

[SkyfangR]

Pshaw. No such thing. This was 3 weeks ago.



Anyway, yeah, Chuck’s right, of course.

i was able to ride a couple days last week, but a cold snap moved in my area (southwest PA), and once that happens in winter, it sticks around for months.

anyway, i hook up the compressor for one last blow then. thanks everyone

[SkyfangR]

drain the bowls and leave the drains loose. use the compressor to blow air down the fuel line for a cfew minutes to blow any ridual fuel out AND MOST IMPORTANTLY..dry the holes in the jets. It will fire right up like it was rode yesterday.

what do you mean by 'dry the holes in the jets'? wouldnt the air from the compressor do that? and wouldnt the air rattle the floats and damage them?

[chuck hahn]

yes thats what the air is for..and no it wont "rattle" the floats. once dry be sure to close the drains si you dont forget and make a mess in the spring.

[93Bandit]

I'd use Stabil in the tank before draining everything.

I have always used Stabil and never had any issues, but came across an interesting video series on YouTube. Basically the guy had 10 brand new engines (all same make/model) and fills each tank with fuel. 2 have regular pump 87 and 91, one has ethanol free, and the remaining 7 have different brands of fuel stabilizers. He put all 10 engines on a stand and let them sit out in a shed. Every month or so he starts them and counts how many pulls it takes to start each one. If an engine won't start, he pulls the bowl to see how the fuel looks. He ran this test for over a year, starting them every month until the last one was standing.

Interestingly enough, the engines with stabilizer gelled up at the same rate as the raw fuel, and it took several months (much longer than your engine would sit over a normal winter). The only engine not gelled up was the non ethanol if I recall correctly. Very interesting results. Stabil didn't hurt anything, but it didn't seem to help.

He Basically concluded that if your mower/bike or whatever sits for 3-6 months, it'll be fine with regular fuel. If you're really concerned about it, store it with ethanol free fuel. If you're going to store long term, best to story it dry.

[Nessism]

I use marine grade Stabil in my garage gas can and my KZ and the 10% ethanol fuel lasts for months and months. Never a problem. My reference to using fuel stabilizer was in terms of using it in the bike before draining. That way any trapped fuel in the carbs internal passages will not clog up.

[wyly]

I always drained the carbs but this winter I tried something different I put Sea Foam in the last tank of fuel before I put them away. Both bikes fired up yesterday no problem, if there are any deposits in the carbs from sitting for two months the sea foam should clear it out. I hope it works those CBX carbs are an enormous amount of work to remove and clean.

[tom203]

I use marine grade Stabil in my garage gas can and my KZ and the 10% ethanol fuel lasts for months and months. Never a problem. My reference to using fuel stabilizer was in terms of using it in the bike before draining. That way any trapped fuel in the carbs internal passages will not clog up.

Yes, use the blue stabil during your last rides…..with a couple of cold starts ,this will work it into the carb passages, especially the “choke” circuit….bike will come to life quickly after 5 months of sleep.