need to store my bike for a few months

[bobzdar]

About a year ago, I had gotten some bad gas that destroyed my fuel pump and gummed up the carbs pretty well. I ended up getting some ebay carbs to get it running while I sorted out the other set. I tried the peashooter trick with the carbs off (and also fixed a messed up pilot screw) and put them back on, no go as three of the floats were stuck shut. I pulled them back off after trying a bunch of tricks to unstick the floats while they were on the bike and opened them up and they were disgusting inside. That gas did a real number on them as they were freshly rebuilt 2 years ago, now they need another complete rebuild.

So, I did some work on the other set of carbs as they had been leaking some while the bike sat (hence why I didn't just leave them on) and got it all buttoned up and running nicely after about a month of downtime on Tuesday and rode it around a bit. Then, I went to my pre work basketball game on wednesday morming and promptly ruptured my left achilles. Long story short, I wont be walking without a cast or boot for at least 3 months and for sure won't be able to ride until I'm back up to strength, so I need to keep the bike from getting gummed up again. I have a bottle of sea foam, should I pour a few ounces in the tank and run the bike for a while and then drain the bowls? Any other suggestions?

 

[maleko89]

I would use non-ethanol gas if you can and fill up the tank. If ethanol, then try BG Supercharge. Some will disagree with me on this but I like to keep my float bowls full of fuel by turning the key every 2-3 days. Others drain them.

 

[Rollie]

Marine Grade Stabil mixed with non-ethanol gas , run into the carbs , drain bowls .

 

[2fear]

I store my bike 5 months a year here in Michigan, I fill the tank full and add Seafoam and run the bike to make sure Seafoam is all through the system. Then I drain the bowls, it works well for me year after year, good luck and hope you heal up quick.

 

[RaWarrior]

Blue marine grade sta-bil in the tank, run the bike for several minutes to ensure the treated gas works its way to the carbs, then start the bike every week or two. Let it warm up to temp, and rev it through the whole RPM range to get fuel to flow through all the carb circuits.

Draining the bowls can cause o-rings and such to dry out and crack, possibly causing problems later on. Plus, a simple bowl drain empties the bowl but the surface tension of the gas keeps it in the small passageways (i.e jets), where it's likely to gum up in short order since it's now exposed to air on all sides.

 

[ouchez]

Main thing here is fresh gas with Stabil and run through the system. I also drain bowls and never had a problem in 5 years.

0

 

[sdt354]

I'm all for your favorite stabilizer in a FULL tank for storage. Run stabilized gas through the carbs. Ethonal free gas is a great idea too. I'm all for not draining the carbs though. Keep everything wet, gaskets and o-rings. I'd start it every week, or like was said, at least cycle the fuel pump to keep the bowls full. That's my winter program.
Steve-o

 

[98Redlne]

Same here:

Full Tank of fresh gas
Treat with Marine grade Sta-Bil (for winter layout I always treat on the heavy side)
Run until I am sure the treated gas is fully into the carbs.
Shut down and keep on the battery tender over the winter.


My bike consistently fires up on the 2nd try after 5 to 6 months of winter layup, and I have not had any carb issues to date.

 

[slobmanrf]

Fitch fuel catalyst in the tank,run to temp one time a month all winter.No problems with bad gas ever in ten years using them.Snowmobile likes it too.Try very hard not to buy that water sponge ethonal shit. Getting hard to tell here anymore.

 

[Fastatv]

All I ever do is add Stabil and run it for a few minutes. Never drained the carbs, never had any problems. Rick

 

[KJShover]

Same here:

Full Tank of fresh gas
Treat with Marine grade Sta-Bil (for winter layout I always treat on the heavy side)
Run until I am sure the treated gas is fully into the carbs.
Shut down and keep on the battery tender over the winter.

My bike consistently fires up on the 2nd try after 5 to 6 months of winter layup, and I have not had any carb issues to date.

+1

This is all I've been doing, except I pop the plugs and squirt a little oil in each cyl and then turn it over a few times then replace the plugs. I store mine for 6 months at a time. Maybe I'll fire it up once or twice a month if I remember ( but most of the time I don't ) let it get up to operating temp then shut it down. This summer was my only starting issue and that was the battery. After replacing it fired right up like it was never put away. We don't do that E85 crap up here, so thats not even in the equation.

only difference is I use the red stabil or seafoam. My mower, blower and weed trimmer don't like the red, but my Vmax loves it.

I've done this for many a bike, that was being stored inside and out. However, the Vmax is the only bike that gets to stay in the garage, all of my other bikes were stored outside covered up with thier batteries in the garage on a tender.

 

[MikeTD3]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 98Redlne
Same here:

Full Tank of fresh gas
Treat with Marine grade Sta-Bil (for winter layout I always treat on the heavy side)
Run until I am sure the treated gas is fully into the carbs.
Shut down and keep on the battery tender over the winter.

My bike consistently fires up on the 2nd try after 5 to 6 months of winter layup, and I have not had any carb issues to date.

+1

+2

I store my bike for 4 to 5 months out of the year, I fill it up, add stabilizer of choice, never drain the carbs, put it on a battery tender and fire it up in the spring.