Disturbing Find Inside New Carbs - RS34

You guys are scaring me here!!!:ohmy:
I've used Stabil in my Bandit for the last 3 winters and it's kinda cranky when I start it up in the spring. The tank is just a super pain to drain and remove for the winter like I do with all my other bikes. I'm thinking I'll be taking the Bandit tank off from now on regardless of how much work is involved. I definitely don't want my Bandit carbs looking like that. I think I've dodged the bullet so far because I only buy gas from Esso (Exxon) and in this end of the world they're not yet convinced that ethanol extenders are the way to go.....thank God. But that state of affairs won't last too much longer, I'm sure.

that is the reason i do not use stabil anymore. it may keep gas "good" but it cannot stop it from evaporating and thats whats left over.

I contacted the company that makes stabil and I'll post the response below. I explained that I used old stabil (maybe 5 years old) and wondered if that could have caused the contamination. I noticed just before sending the original question that Stabil has a 2 year shelf life. The company's response was that it might not protect gas after 2 years, but it wouldn't leave a residue either.

This guy is either a terrible typist or not very good with grammar and punctuation...here's the response, copied and pasted...

Sta-Bil even way too old Product will not cause any GEL.
What does the gel look like Sta-Bil that was old opend 5 years or more ago might not work Gum from Gasoline is a soft Jello-looking brown goo
Alcohol in gasoline like Methanol of Ethanol found in Reformulated E10 form Greenish-Yellow deposits which ate Alcohol metal soaps alcohol from the fuel reacts with the casting metal in the Carrbuator (Aluminum and Zinc) this same thickening effect along with naphthenic hydrocarbons forms the basis of Napam
The small amount of copper in the brass parts of the fuel system give it the color.
Brown deep almost brownish black is Gum ~~~ 5 year old Sta-Bil was out of date or the gas that you used it in was starting to turn already

All other colors are the result of Alcohol in the fuel

Use Fresh Sta-Bil and Fresh gasoline to prevent both of these problems

Tom Wicks

yes i can't really read his writing to well but what he said made sense to me the only time i've ever seen anything that resembled what you have growing in your carbs is after a few months of sitting with a full load of methonal in the carbs of my hillclimber after i saw that mess it made my decsion easy about alcohol enriched fuels never again for me anyway. i really think that is the direction you need to be looking at i don't think your tank liner is the cause i still think it's the fuel that sat in the bowls.

79MKII wrote:

I contacted the company that makes stabil and I'll post the response below. I explained that I used old stabil (maybe 5 years old) and wondered if that could have caused the contamination. I noticed just before sending the original question that Stabil has a 2 year shelf life. The company's response was that it might not protect gas after 2 years, but it wouldn't leave a residue either.

This guy is either a terrible typist or not very good with grammar and punctuation...here's the response, copied and pasted...

Sta-Bil even way too old Product will not cause any GEL.
What does the gel look like Sta-Bil that was old opend 5 years or more ago might not work Gum from Gasoline is a soft Jello-looking brown goo
Alcohol in gasoline like Methanol of Ethanol found in Reformulated E10 form Greenish-Yellow deposits which ate Alcohol metal soaps alcohol from the fuel reacts with the casting metal in the Carrbuator (Aluminum and Zinc) this same thickening effect along with naphthenic hydrocarbons forms the basis of Napam
The small amount of copper in the brass parts of the fuel system give it the color.
Brown deep almost brownish black is Gum ~~~ 5 year old Sta-Bil was out of date or the gas that you used it in was starting to turn already

All other colors are the result of Alcohol in the fuel

Use Fresh Sta-Bil and Fresh gasoline to prevent both of these problems

Tom Wicks

company rep? tell me this guy doesnt have a 4 yr degree....sad part is he might actually be working on his thesis or disertation.....:laugh:

I haven't had time to work on the carbs any more, but I did check them. The residue has dried to a very fine off-white powder. I'm leaning toward alcohol and/or stabil in the gas causing the formation of the contaminant while in the bowls for just about 2 months.

There are also crystal-like formations present around some of the internal parts. Sure seems more like a chemical reaction than liner migration. I hope so...

i agree.
i think in my case it was a coincidence both happened at the same time.

I'm down in Cincinnati and I have seen the same crud in my carbs after storage. I always figured it was fuel related. I have started draining bowls last thing in the fall to help prevent this.
I have a few friends who store their bikes and power equipment with race fuel in the tank. It costs a bit but they never have bowl crud problems!

I left ajugastable in the shed for a couple years and what it turned into is way bad. Worse than what's in carbs from old gas. Thought about staining the shed with it. When it's new and fresh it's good to use. I just drain gas out of everything now. I'm tired of dealing with the residue, the rust, the place dispose of it. Hey did I tell ya I started a virago on fire? supposed to be CLEANING the carbs right? well it had a fried starter and I tried to fix it. It was leaking gas down from the carbs and onto the starter. When i jumped it it started the whole bike on fire. I rushed it out of the garage to the backyard with flames 2ft over the handle bars. Grabbed the hose and doused it. Whew flames almost out. Needed some more hose but it was stuck on the reel so i yanked it and broke off the hose from the spigot. Fuel line broke then too and it started an even bigger fire. Ran to the neigbors and asked for extinguiser please. He heed, hawd, and i ran back to see if the five gallon pail i braced under the spigot was full for a last ditch effort, before the fire dept was called. I came around the corner heart just hammering, out of breath. I saw what looked like a gremlin jump into the lilac bush and dissapear, looked over at the bike and the fire was OUT. I couldn't believe it. And it was ok, the fuel line did not break and that motor has a pump! I peeked into the lilac bush and heard a thump behind me. I whirled around in time to see a jug of stable roll to stop against the bike. Then that faint sound hheee. The guy rode that bike one time and though I told him he did not replace the battery and it's been sitting ever since this spring when I went through the carbs and put on a new starter. Cost him 200 bucks for what?

Then his check bounced in my brothers account.

nads.com wrote:

I left ajugastable in the shed for a couple years and what it turned into is way bad. Worse than what's in carbs from old gas. Thought about staining the shed with it. When it's new and fresh it's good to use. I just drain gas out of everything now. I'm tired of dealing with the residue, the rust, the place dispose of it. Hey did I tell ya I started a virago on fire? supposed to be CLEANING the carbs right? well it had a fried starter and I tried to fix it. It was leaking gas down from the carbs and onto the starter. When i jumped it it started the whole bike on fire. I rushed it out of the garage to the backyard with flames 2ft over the handle bars. Grabbed the hose and doused it. Whew flames almost out. Needed some more hose but it was stuck on the reel so i yanked it and broke off the hose from the spigot. Fuel line broke then too and it started an even bigger fire. Ran to the neigbors and asked for extinguiser please. He heed, hawd, and i ran back to see if the five gallon pail i braced under the spigot was full for a last ditch effort, before the fire dept was called. I came around the corner heart just hammering, out of breath. I saw what looked like a gremlin jump into the lilac bush and dissapear, looked over at the bike and the fire was OUT. I couldn't believe it. And it was ok, the fuel line did not break and that motor has a pump! I peeked into the lilac bush and heard a thump behind me. I whirled around in time to see a jug of stable roll to stop against the bike. Then that faint sound hheee. The guy rode that bike one time and though I told him he did not replace the battery and it's been sitting ever since this spring when I went through the carbs and put on a new starter. Cost him 200 bucks for what?

i m guessing he"s a user of that there hydroponic stuff...:laugh: very entertaining:laugh: anytime i see a post,i have to read...its like going by a car wreck..you know kinda what you will see, but ya look anyway...:laugh: