Fuel Stabiliser

[SteveH]

Anybody know much about petrol stabiliser ?
Being in a cold climate i have not used the bikes since Christmas.
So the thing is , how quicklime does petrol go 'off ' ?
The advice seems to be if your not using the bike for some time then leave it with a full tank including the added
'fuel stabiliser '.

Ive been thinking of draining the bike tanks to and refilling with fresh petrol and stabiliser .

Would have to transfer the 'old' petrol to the wife's car and hope that she didn't notice !!

[schrader7032]

I don't live in a place which requires me to consider using it but I've heard that people use Stabil with good success. I'd follow the directions...probably a good idea to start with fresh fuel.

[stagewex]

I have used Stabil for years and been happy with the product. However I am hearing more and more that Seafoam works better with the ethanol based gasoline that is prevalent in my area (Northeast/NYC Metro) so have switched over to that product. 1 oz per gallon and I run it through the engine as well in all 3 bikes, tractor and generator. In the Spring I'll siphon the gas from the genny and put it in one of my cars. For the bikes and tractor I'll just run them close to dry before filling up with fresh fuel. All tanks are kept topped-off to avoid condensation.

[khittner]

I used Sta-bil for years with no complaints in the off-seasons for motorcycles, mowers, snowblowers, generator, etc.
For the last couple of years, though, I've used "Startron" fuel stabilizer, as well, and it has also worked well for the purpose. I don't know that it's better than Sta-bil, and the hokey name could be a marketing turn-off, but I use Marvel Mystery Oil my airhead's fuel supply, too, so maybe they're on to something. Used according to its directions, less dosage of it is required than for Sta-bil, though it's also somewhat more expensive. All of my engines are one or two-pull/push/kick starters, though, when it's time to fire them up after 6 months of disuse, so I'm sold. Start with fresh fuel---I don't think any elixir will make old gas a lot better, whatever the claims.

[capebretonmarkbmw]

I just looked up the shelf life for E10 gasoline. E10 refers to the amount of Ethanol in the gas. In this case E10 = 10%.
So for this gas the shelf life is 90 days from when the ethanol is added to the fuel. Also it seems that their is no additive that stops water from being absorbed into the alcohol (Ethanol). Not good for the carburetors and gas mileage either. I am up in Canada and have 5 months of none riding , I have started using AV100 airplane fuel over these months and starting it up once a week. I'm also excited to run the bike with this fuel on the road. Mark

[khittner]

Whatever works for you, Mark, but once-a-week start-ups sound like a recipe for a lot of combustion water condensate ending up in the exhaust system and the crankcase oil unless you run the bike until the oil is fully warmed. I haven't tried to source aviation fuel, so E10 is what's been available to me for the last decade or two. The common fuel stabilizers can be written off as unnecessary snake oil, but my small engines and cycles all get it (actually every gas can/fuel tank that fuels them gets stabilizer when it's refilled), and they routinely start easily and run well after 5-7 month lay-offs with full tanks of fuel that are well past the shelf life figure you cite. My '84 R100RT returns mileage of 40-47mpg on E10, depending on how fast/hard I make it shove the air aside. Maybe it'd be more Prius-esque if I ran av-gas, but I'm just not that motivated.

[schrader7032]

I know it gets some debate, but the fact is that running aviation gas in a road vehicle is likely illegal as the gubment taxes haven't been paid for that use. Many do it but generally could be considered as not allowed.

I've never done that but have bought a 5-gallon can of VP leaded racing fuel and doled a bit out in each tank. I got tired of dealing with the use of lead. I eventually converted my /7 to the unleaded variety of valves/seats and now just fill with the local ethanol. If one were willing and it was convenient, there are gas stations around the country that are selling non-ethanol unleaded.

http://pure-gas.org/