New Bike - Old Fuel

[tallman]

I'm thinking about new bikes that have been sitting on showroom floors since as far back as 2014. I see them in the dealerships and CycleTrader ads. I guess many if not all have fuel in them that has been there for years. If I am right, what chance is there that the old fuel has started to mess up the fuel tank and everything in the delivery system. I have never heard of it happening. But am wondering.

 

[670cc]

This is a much bigger problem with carbureted machines than it is today with EFI. Carbs are vented to the atmosphere, which means the fuel in the bowl will evaporate and leave the gunk. If it's a gravity feed system and the fuel petcock is open, that process goes on and on and on.

The fuel tank is probably best with a full tank, as that minimizes moisture.

I own about 2 dozen engines and I'm confident every one of them would start and run today if I needed it. I don't get too worked up about fuel issues since it causes me no trouble. I have just one rule and that is that carb bowls are drained or ran dry when they are expected to be unused for a month or more. EFI machines I don't worry much about but I do add Stabil for seasonal storage.

People who live in areas that have recently introduced 10% ethanol gas will tell you how awful bad it is. But people that have lived with it for 20 years will say it's really not a big issue.

 

[Convict1997]

I live in an area that's had ethanol for a long time and I am still in the "ethanol sucks" group. Luckily, I have a gas station nearby that carries non ethanol. I put that in my truck since it only gets maybe 4K miles a year, my bike, my four wheeler, and all of my lawn equipment. My wife's car gets driven daily and she fills up about once a week so it gets the ethanol gas. Not really a problem if it's going to get burned up fairly quickly. I've often wondered the same thing about bikes sitting on the showroom floor but I've never had any issues with any that I've purchased so I guess they've figured out a way to deal with it.

 

[670cc]

I live in an area that's had ethanol for a long time and I am still in the "ethanol sucks" group. Luckily, I have a gas station nearby that carries non ethanol. I put that in my truck since it only gets maybe 4K miles a year, my bike, my four wheeler, and all of my lawn equipment. My wife's car gets driven daily and she fills up about once a week so it gets the ethanol gas. Not really a problem if it's going to get burned up fairly quickly. I've often wondered the same thing about bikes sitting on the showroom floor but I've never had any issues with any that I've purchased so I guess they've figured out a way to deal with it.

What bad experiences have you had with the ethanol gas? I'm trying to find examples of what goes wrong so I can be prepared.

I filled my boat last fall and winter with ethanol gas. It sat over 6 months. We've now had it out 3 times and it ran with no issues whatsoever. I do this every year. The boat is 14 years old and has 640 hours on it. It is a fuel injected 4 stroke. Likewise, the motorhome might sit 6 months with 55 gallons of ethanol gas in it. Runs fine when we get it out for the season.

I guess once I have a bad experience, my attitude will surely change, but so far old gasoline is not a problem for me. I can only guess that a few people did not properly maintain their vehicles so they blame it on the fuel.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

Ethanol probably affects small non-EFI engines a lot more than large ones. Varnished/gummed passages and jets in the carb and float bowl can be avoided as 670 said earlier, by running the float bowl dry. The water retention issue in a gas tank is somewhat addressable too, as he says. I've heard that some older seals formulations don't like it but since the corn lobby got its way some time ago, auto engines and parts designers/manufacturers have adapted.

 

[dduelin]

Honda motorcycles aren't shipped with gas in the tank and fuel system so if the left-over new bike has never been prepped for delivery to a buyer then old gas is a non-issue.

I have never yet had a problem with ethanol-added fuel either. I thought I might with the fuel system in a 1981 BMW I owned for 6 years '06 to 2012 but not so.

 

[670cc]

I just thought of another example. Our two carbureted Ruckus scooters were put away late October last year with tanks full of 87 octane 10% ethanol gas with Stabil added. The carb bowls were drained. We fired them up last week and road them 70 miles. They started and ran flawlessly on last year's fuel.

 

[ste7ios]

Biofuels have their problems. For example, its known that biodiesel can clog the fuel lines and filters. Ethanol and other bio-additives absorb moisture from the atmosphere and supports microbial growth... It happened to me on a sailboat during a storm. Thank god, we had the sails...

We discovered that 140 gallons of diesel on both tanks was full of slime... From then on we always add some antibacterial additives.

I'm not aware of other biofuel problems (like petrol) but it wouldn't surprise me to hear about corroded tanks and other problems...

It seems a good idea to add a stabilizer and other additives for long term storage...

 

[L.B.S.]

Another guy here that has never had any problems with quite old gasoline or ethanol issues, ever.

Admittedly I haven't had anything carburetted for a looong time now though, lol.

One thing I have consistently done in my life when putting up a bike for lengthier terms (like up to a year or more) is to try and put in the highest octane fuel I can find, along with a few oz's of fuel stabilizer. The only reason for the higher octane, was that I read somewhere gasoline loses octane rating over time, so I figure it can't hurt to at least start off with say 94, and it may be still at least 87, several months/a year later, right?

Whether that is actually true or not doesn't overly burden my mind, given that it only represents an additional couple dollars, either once a year, or more likely, only once every few years.

Once every six months give or take, I will also try and run a tank of Chevron 94 through, but only based on the snake oil claim that there is supposedly, the maximum amount of chemical cleaners/solvents and techron stuff in that grade.

So. I very well may be throwing away like $8.00 or whatever dollars per year needlessly, but meh. *shrug*

 

[VE258]

i dont like how bike (and my car) runs after Stabil was added. now i'm using Lucas

Safeguard™ Ethanol Fuel Conditioner With Stabilizers

and very happy with it. just pour a little bit at the gas station. as i said before- i use to own a bike that i picked from police auction. poor thing was sitting on the sun, right next to the ocean for at least 2 years. no issues starting up. and i didn't' ride on NC much either. probably couple tanks of fuel per year. so far-no issues with 10% ethanol.

 

[ST13Fred]

My MF2615 up and quit running out in the field.
After some research I think a lot of fuel is not very clean and have bought a Mr. Funnel.
After some heavy priming we got it running again but the dual fuel filter sumps had no
water in them and am suspecting the tank screens.

Keeping tanks/containers full and in environments with minimal temp changes is very important
as condensation is the biggest enemy of petrol engines.