gas after storage

[buck91]

Not sure if the bike is coming out of storage or not but I don't think it did last year. I have a 4.5 gallon tank which is full of 93oct unleaded including some type of fuel stabilizer (stabil red, blue or seafoam...dont remember). I don't *intend* to run this gas, but other than dumping it into my F150 (35ga tank) I don't know what else to do with it. Can't imagine it would hurt the truck at all.

What do you guys do with your old, storage gas?

 

[hatt]

As long as nothing seems off, I'd run it in the truck or car. I'd probably not even worry about draining it and run it in the bike. I've never had a problem with year old gas that I can remember.

 

[beanoil]

If it had a dose of stabilizer, I run it in whatever it was in.

 

[Brybo86]

I would start the bike this weekend 70 degrees F.... go for a nice long ride and use the entire tank!

 

[HTSS_TR]

I like your idea, use it in your F150. Rather be safe than sorry.

 

[dave123]

Next time store it with a proper storage fuel and not have the headache this year if it starts and runs I'd just run it.

 

[toneydoc]

Crank up the bike and run it through the bike. Add some new fuel if you want when tank is down at half way. The fuel in my bike never gets a chance to get old thank goodness for the good ole deep south

 

[AuthorEditor]

I use the proper amount of the blue (Marine) Sta-bil in every tankful on my bike year-round, then I double it when I lay it up for the winter and I make sure to fill the tank to the tippy top to eliminate air space and therefore room for moisture. I do the same for any outboard motor gas tanks. By always running with Sta-bil you know it is also in the carbs and fuel lines, which is where you can really have the problems if the gas goes bad. This has worked perfectly for me for decades. Ethanol gas deteriorates quickly, especially without stabilizer and in the presence of moisture. After leaving a car parked near a harbor in New England (damp) for three weeks with a partial tank of ethanol gas it barely started and ran, until I was able to refill with new gas and give it a good long run. If the motorcycle starts and runs I would drive it as much as possible then refill with whatever the highest octane gas you have available from a top tier station like Sunoco, Mobil, Shell, etc.

 

[buck91]

Bike has manual petcocks, so I do drain the lines and carbs before long term storage. My only concern is if there was a moisture build up with phase separation.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I believe in leaving the gas in the lines and carbs, as long as it has been properly treated with stabilizer. If you drain them a little will be left behind to evaporate eventually. If they remain full of fluid, there is less chance of evaporation leaving behind crud, and less chance of moisture accumulating through condensation. Same reason you fill your tank to the brim. Others will disagree, but I have been doing this with both motorcycles and outboards that stay in storage at least 6 months of every year. I have had more problems with carbs that I deliberately drained then with ones that remained full of fuel that was treated with marine Sta-bil.

 

[kmrcstintn]

for the past 5 years that I have been riding (scooters & motorcycles) I have always stored them with full tanks over the winter (;4.5 to 6 months)...89 or higher octane with some sort of stabilizer (Sta-Bil marine, Startron, K100 MG+); no matter what I have used the beasts have fired up (sometimes with difficulty)! I have discovered thru trial and error that 'spiking' the fuel with K100 MG+ helps revitalize the older fuel and allows easier restarts after storage...this past year I stored with K100 MG+ and the bikes came alive easier than usual and I didn't need to 'spike' the fuel to do so

I try to limit the use of stabilizer during running season since I burn thru fuel fast enough to avoid it...this recently bit me in the butt after the small bike sat for 3 weeks without stabilizer and it didn't want to light...ran the battery down so while I was recharging I grabbed some K100 to 'spike' the gas; got her to light up really quick, took a ride, and topped off with fresh 89 octane gas; the big bike didn't sit as long but I still added some Startron before riding yesterday (errands before work) and topping off with fresh 89 octane gas;

I would rather store with a full tank which minimizes the chance of moisture/condensation from rusting the innerds of the tank and I am thinking of finding a source of PureGas (no friggin ethanol) for storing the machines...

 

[dave123]

VPracing C9 would be my first choice for long term storage.

 

[buck91]

So I changed the oil, pulled the plugs to give a squirt of fogging oil and started the bike up. Took a few seconds to build enough oil pressure (stupid cartridge filter setup) but basically started right up :-D

I was going to change the oil filter as I have an Emgo/Ermgo/whatever sitting in my parts box, but the K&N that was still in there looked brand new still and the elements and pleats felt strong so I left it...

 

[AuthorEditor]

Over the weekend started up my 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 500 for the first time since laying it up back in November 2015 with a full tank of gas treated with Stabil. Started right up and no issues at all with fuel system, which has been the case for about 8 seasons of use. Bike is stored outside in a shed. I changed the teensy fuel filter and it was clean as a whistle and no obvious deposits or problems visible.

 

[Mr_Joe]

I would just run the gas through whatever vehicle was coming out of storage, no reason to drain it out.

 

[bonjo]

I store both my bikes and car for 18 months. I filled up the tanks and put sta-bil in all which included two wet, humid and cold winters

on the bikes, I cranked the engine for 1~2 sec with the kill switch on.

had no problems with any of them running the fuel that was in the tank