Advice on refuelling after long period.

I was hoping you kind folks could give me some advice. I drained the fuel out of my z650 last year and I'm about to get to the point where it needs refilling. Is there anything I should do or be aware of in this process?

Should I get fuel into the carbs somehow first?

Or should I just fill the tank with fresh fuel and let her rip?

Any assistance would be great as I don't won't do something silly?

cheak inside tank for rust first ,have you got an inline fuel filter ,did you drain carbs also
if not they might be gumed up , i would put her on prime first,wait a bit for the carbs to fill up make sure it doesint overflow out of carbs if floats stick ,if all is well put choke on give her a short birst on starter ,to get fuel in cylinders ,then another press on starter she should fire up ,then turn petcock to run ,thats what i would do

Why did you empty the tank? Ed

After draining I always put a quarter cup or so of WD40 and oil in the tank and swish it around for the winter. Not a spec of rust yet.

Kwaker2000 wrote: cheak inside tank for rust first ,have you got an inline fuel filter ,did you drain carbs also
if not they might be gumed up , i would put her on prime first,wait a bit for the carbs to fill up make sure it doesint overflow out of carbs if floats stick ,if all is well put choke on give her a short birst on starter ,to get fuel in cylinders ,then another press on starter she should fire up ,thats what i would do

Yeah I drained the carbs too. I was leaving it off the road for more than a couple of months so it made sense to drain it before the fuel went off.

I will try you advice which I think I fully understand, this is a bit out of my wheel house. First time for everything I suppose!

650ed wrote: Why did you empty the tank? Ed

I bought the bike before I had my license so I knew it would be a good idea to drain everything out completely and not give the fuel a chance to go off.

The hope is the will mean I don't have to clean the carbs out.

KZB2 650 wrote: After draining I always put a quarter cup or so of WD40 and oil in the tank and swish it around for the winter. Not a spec of rust yet.

Good tip thanks

I always drain my tank and carbs just as you did if a motorcycle is going to sit for more than 3 months or so. All I've ever done is simply add gas, turn the petcock to prime, start the engine, turn the petcock back to normal on position. I've had motorcycles sit 10yrs and still start right up.

For future reference - if the bike is not going to be started for more than 1 month or so draining the carbs is a good idea, BUT draining the tank is a bad idea. The reason is that a tank that is full of fuel will not rust, but an empty one will rust and can do so rather quickly. If you are concerned about the fuel in tank going bad just add some Stabil fuel stabilizer to it and it will be fine. Keep in mind that even with Stabil you should drain the carbs if the engine is not going to be stared for a long time. Ed

With this ethanol fuel we have it's getting to be not a good idea
to leave fuel in the tank.
Rember the ethanol draw's moisture out of the air so unless
your tank is sealed air tight you WILL get water in it.

zukdave wrote: With this ethanol fuel we have it's getting to be not a good idea
to leave fuel in the tank.
Rember the ethanol draw's moisture out of the air so unless
your tank is sealed air tight you WILL get water in it.

My experience has shown that not to be the case. Here in Maryland the vast majority of gas stations began selling 10% ethanol gasoline (E10) in May 2006. All the fuel I have used since then has contained 10% ethanol. I fill my fuel tank at the end of every fairly long ride at a station near my house, and during the Winter I keep the tank filled even though I only run the engine for short periods once a week to keep the battery charged and oil on the cylinder walls. I do add Stabil to the fuel at the beginning of the Winter.

My fuel tank has absolutely zero rust in it; the inside is still the original silver color that it had when I bought the bike new in April, 1977. I would expect if 10% ethanol was going to draw water into the tank and cause rust I would have at least some rust after using fuel containing ethanol for nearly 9 years. Ed

You poor buggers having to put that E10 shit in your tanks - some asshole politician wanted all service stations here to have it last year - good thing they got voted out - i add a small squirt of Lucas fuel stabilizer every time i top up anyway - inside tank is same as new,
Mick.

If your tank does have rust, maybe you'd want to try Metal Rescue. I used it in my tank. My tank is spotless inside. No rust. No coating, just plain old metal.. I always put a cap-full of Marvel Mystery Oil every time I fill up.