I hate the corn in gas

I just bought, for the second time, a nice 83 KZ550. Long story of how I ended up buying it twice but suffice it to say I'm keeping her for a while. Anyway the tank was dented up and my nephew says "I'll fix those dents and paint if for you". Well it took me about a millisecond to agree to that deal. Now that was about 2 months ago. I know the gas that was in it was probably a few months old but the bike started and ran great. So I pulled the tank and side covers off and drained it before I gave it to him for paint. I then rode the bike, minus the tank, to the other side of my yard to park it in the shed until he was done. Frankly I didn't give the fuel in the carbs a second thought. Well about 6 weeks later the tank is done and I put it all together to ride. It started rough and even with full choke it was not ride-able. I even tried mixing some Techron in the fuel and tried to test run it for two days. No joy. So I pulled the carbs and found 2 idle jets completely plugged and a 3rd partially plugged. 3 of the enrichener circuits were plugged solid and I had to use a guitar string on them. Various emulsifier holes also plugged on the main jet holder.

Jeesh! Just a couple of months and ended up pulling the rack and thorough cleaning required.

Since a post is no good without pics here are a few.

Yes, leaving fuel in the carbs will muck them up bigtime. I learned that lesson the hard way too. I use my bike regularly during the warmer months and run it for about 15 minutes once a week during the winter to prevent that from happening. If you ever need to remove the tank for an extended period be sure to drain the carbs. Ed

Actually it was a blessing in disguise. I found 3 of the intake boots were a little stiff and #2 was not fully on the carb intake. I soaked them in xylene and winter green oil overnight and they softened right up. Also suspect that one or two of the float needle seats O-rings were stiff so I replaced all 4. Clear tube test showed each just a hair higher than I like so I reset all 4 floats to a more desirable fuel level.

That being said, I still hate that we have to run that crap in our vehicles.

Check out the Pure-gas.org website...... you might not have a pure gas station around your area but I have one 35 miles from my house and 15 miles away when I do a little work in a town near by. 91 octane was 2.74 a gal 5-6 weeks ago. I picked up some Stabile 360 too (suppose to be better yet) to see if that helps........ only a 1/8th of a cup to 4 or 5 gal so it'll last all season. I still wouldn't trust it for 2 months but maybe 2 or 3 weeks.

I use marine grade Stabil in every tank and in the gas can in the garage. Cheap insurance for those times when the bike sits a long time.

Having 3 bikes, I often find I let one or two sit for months. I've never had them gum up in a few weeks. The gasohol does seem to make things rust faster, but I've never had them gum up faster than pure gasoline (which I haven't been able to get for a long time).

But I have had that type of gumming problem when I used translucent fuel line. Vinyl or urethane both seem to degrade rapidly with alcohol gas. Now I only use black rubber fuel line designed for modern cars, and have never had a problem with gumming.

So maybe it's not the fuel itself breaking down, but the fuel is breaking something else down. Some old tank liners don't hold up either. Even fuel filters can get softened and dissolved by the alcohol.

Hey! A winter green oil user! Stuff is incredible! Cool.
I am a Marvels Mystery Oil user! Been for 40 years!
We don't leave the methanol in the race car more than a few days either. Last year had a 55 gallon barrel! No more Buy it fresh at the track. The stuff absorbs moisture from the air, loose's it's potency.
Evil shit by the Government! Less MPG's in vehicles! which means more gallons purchased, TAXES each gallon Local, State and Feds!
At least they backed off on the 15% requirement this year!
I can buy non-ethanol local, 91 octane for $2.90 per gallon. I run it in lawn mower / snow blower and the Old Harley Shovelhead along with Mar Myst Oil! Works for me!

Gotta believe my president hates it too.
Maybe if enough of us suggest it, they'd start with E5 and phase the ethanol out entirely by 2020!

:lol:

If we get out of OPEC.
Steve

One thing I've never understood about gasohol is that it's supposed to be good for the air. But you burn more of it than plain gasoline! Doesn't that kinda wash out the benefit?

Don't get me wrong. I don't like what it does to these old bikes/cars/trucks in a relatively short period of time. But I do make a bit of money cleaning up the mess and repairing the damage,

Without getting too political all I'll say is "sweetheart deal". :whistle:
Steve

You burn more, but if gm had chosen ethanol over lead it would put out zero lead, no matter how much you burn. The choice to use tetraethylead to boost octane instead of ethanol was profit driven. Ethanol could not be patented the way lead could because it was already known to increase anti-knock properties. That is why you can make more power with e-85. Turbo guys love it. Even if you have to burn more, you can get more power with a smaller motor if you use alcohol. That's why so many race vehicles run on alcohol vs gas.

The problems we (old vehicle owners) have now are due to decisions made during the inter-war period. Had ethanol been chosen, these problems may have been solved long ago.

Regarding, carbon, I think the idea is that since you pull carbon out of the atmosphere to make ethanol, it ends up carbon neutral regardless of how much you burn. But that doesn't pan out unless you go to much higher percentages.