to drain or not ot drain ?

hi guys. great new site. i am getting ready to winterize my bike withing the next month and i usually put fuel stablilzer in my bike and run it for about 10 minutes and then remove my tank and bring it into the house along with the rest of the painted parts. my question is should i drain my carb bowls or let them be with the fuel and stabilizer mixture in them? the bike will be sitting in the shed for the winter which here in canada usually lasts 4-5. any info would be great

Definately drain. I don't believe fuel stabilizer does anything. Maybe just my own bad experience, I added Stabil to the tank of my 1979 KZ1000MK2, rode around a couple miles, put bike under cover, retrieve bike next spring, start her up, great, ride down the road, top speed 30mph, dissassemble carbs to remove gummed up gas clogging the main jets. Stuff's supposed to last 3 years??? Gas in the tank will last at least 1 yr without adding anything.
phil wrote:

hi guys. great new site. i am getting ready to winterize my bike withing the next month and i usually put fuel stablilzer in my bike and run it for about 10 minutes and then remove my tank and bring it into the house along with the rest of the painted parts. my question is should i drain my carb bowls or let them be with the fuel and stabilizer mixture in them? the bike will be sitting in the shed for the winter which here in canada usually lasts 4-5. any info would be great

I have to agree........
Definitly drain ! (or run dry) I have had 2 boats with 40 horse outboards that I always ran stabil in. My second boat had a 27 gallon gas tank built in. Everytime I pulled the boat out of the water, I disconnected the fuel line till the carbs ran out and the motor died on its own. The lake I used the boat on was pretty small, so it took me almost 2 years to run the 27 gallon tank to empty.( I didnt have much time to be fishing)The fuel never gummed up in the tank, and when I would hook up the fuel line and let the carbs fill back up, the motor started right away and ran perfect. I do the same thing with my 30 year old snowblower in the garage. I run the carbs dry after I plow snow, and right now it has a half tank of gas from last February in it. I can go open the petcock right now, and it will start and run perfect on the 2nd pull.

Hi Phil. I drain whatever is left in my gas tank, air it out until dry, then pour some clean fresh oil into it. I swoosh the oil around in the tank then set it in a closet storage area. I also take out my battery and remove my carbs. This way I can trickle charge my battery every once in a while during the winter and clean/adjust my carbs. It probably wouldn't hurt to give the carbs a damn good cleaning once a year. I have left my tank on the bike all winter and used Stabil in the fuel. It worked, and the bike fired in the spring, but, I prefer what I'm doing now. I also pour a capfull of clean fresh oil into each cylinder when I shut down for the season. My bike sits outside, with a fitted bike cover, all winter. I also bleed a little air out of the tires and it sits on the center stand. I do a bit more prep, but that's most of it.

Phil,
I'll be taking my carbs off and bringing them inside when I put the bike away. As luvmykaw says - its a good time to clean them up. I usually add stabiliser to the gastank and fill it right to the very brim and plug the fuel line with a bolt. I'm not sure if it does anything but at least it doesnt do any harm. I usually change the oil and filter also. Bike goes in a garden shed along with the lawn mower to which I never do anything, not even stabil in the gas tank.

....................................................
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
1980 kz750 E1, 4 into 1, K&N pods.

I would fill the tank with gas to the very top and add Stabil. I would toss the gas in the spring...

As far as the carburetors go, draining isn't enough in my opinion... I would drain, then remove the airbox or pods or whatever and blow air into:

1 FUEL INLET (s)
2 Vents
3 Holes on intake edge of carb venturi (these connect to main jet and pilot jet
4. choke hole in venturi which is not on edge or venturi but inset about 3/4"

Blow the carbs out with float bowls off. You will be surprised at how much gas comes out the pilot and main jets. Then put the bowls back on and take some packing tape and cover the inlets on the carbs so that mice / bugs don't find a home. Close up the airbox...

I would also spray all aluminum with WD40

i been doing the stabil thing for the last 8 or so years without any problem whatsoever...use the same stuff in my fuel injected sled over the summer again without any problems...personal preferences i guess....steve

I fill my tank full then add stabil. I then drain my float bowls. At spring time I just turn the petcock to prime and wait a few minutes. The bike always starts and I have never had a problem.

Personally I have had no luck with Stabil. Tried three times. One winter put it in a weedeater & a lawn mower. Following winter put it in snow-blower while following directions to the letter. Following both winters, come spring, all three pieces of equipment had to have the carbs torn apart and cleaned. All three fired up just fine and ran about 15 minutes and then started missing, losing power and eventually died. Cleaned carbs all fired right up no more problems. Will never use Stabil again.

Bud, the reason that the carburetors gummed up is that there should have been NO gas in them... they were full when you parked the vehicle. Then you added the Stabil. How do you expect the Stabil got down into the carburetors? They were already full! Next time, turn the gas off and remove the hose going to your carburetor and drain the carburetors. If you follow my advice and blow them out with compressed air, I guarantee they will not be gummed up! The Stabil allows you to keep gas in the tank and it won't pick up moisture which causes rust. Drain the tank filled with Stabil and put in fresh gas, reconnect the gas hose and you will be right back in business.

I'm pretty sure Bud put the stabil in the carbs since he followed the instructions. I know I did and had the exact same thing happen, had to disassemble carbs after sitting 6 months with Stabil. No need to add anything to the tank if it's full. Gas will always last at least 1 yr sitting in the 4 gallon tank. I have a 1993 Ford van that sat 6 yrs with 30 plus gallons in the tank and the gas was not stale.
wiredgeorge wrote:

Bud, the reason that the carburetors gummed up is that there should have been NO gas in them... they were full when you parked the vehicle. Then you added the Stabil. How do you expect the Stabil got down into the carburetors? They were already full! Next time, turn the gas off and remove the hose going to your carburetor and drain the carburetors. If you follow my advice and blow them out with compressed air, I guarantee they will not be gummed up! The Stabil allows you to keep gas in the tank and it won't pick up moisture which causes rust. Drain the tank filled with Stabil and put in fresh gas, reconnect the gas hose and you will be right back in business.

Never used stabil in 20 years and never had a problem.

Blowing compressed air into a fully assembled carb through the fuel inlet is a bad general practice. It can bend the tang on the float. This will increase the fuel level in the carb.

Fuel pressure is around .5psi on the needle valve.