Everyone needs to read this

[Wolf]

I agree, what really happens with the "new" gas is it evaporates over the winter and leaves a varnish or some sort of hard film on the interior of the Carb bowls and coats the

jets with a film.

 

I have had the several different sets of Venture carbs apart and I did not see any rubber deteriorating in fact if anything is going on I believe the rubber parts are getting harder

as time goes on.

 

My 2 or 3 cents.

 

BOO

The rubber getting hard is the worst thing you could have happen. When it hardens, it stops sealing.

[Snarley Bill]

all the gas we have around our area has ethanol, and has for years. although i don't like it, i have never ever had a problem with it. sounds like you may have let it sit with gas in the carbs to long and have some clogged jets. this is very common on all carbed motorcycles. i have rebuilt oodles of bike carbs with clogged primary jets. even during the winter months i run my bikes every week to keep fresh gas in the carbs, or injectors.

[jet1]

It’s not just the carbs that you can have problems with it also the electric fuel pumps. I know on cages you should add a quart of transmission fluid to a tank of ethanol. This helps lubricate the pump

[AKRefugee]

I had a weedwhacker go bad on me 2 weeks ago so I tore it apart to see what was wrong.

To start with the plastic lines were discolored and soft and in some places were cracked through. I replaced ALL the lines and tried to start it again with not luck. After I tore it apart some more I determined that it was a carb problem because I could get fuel into the carb but nothing coming out of it. Off I went to my local repair shop.

 

While I was there I got to talking to the owner who was quite helpful. To start with the cost of replacing the carb was more than the cost of a new weedwhacker so that took care of that. He told me to go down to sears or something to get a replacement. He also told me that the ethanol blended gas eats the cheap fuel lines that most manufacturers use for there lawn care tools and small tractors/mowers. To prevent this the best thing you could do was to replace ALL the fuel lines with newer automotive grade fuel lines as soon as you got the item.

 

What he told me next though applies to this thread. He told me that just a week prior he had gotten an alert notification from one of his suppliers regarding 10% ethanol gas. According to him the alert said that the ethanol starts going bad 7 days after it is blended with gas. Considering how long it takes to get it from the blending to your local gas station and into your vehicle this means that normally you only have it in your gas tank about 4 days before it starts going bad. I asked him about putting in additives/stabilizers and he said save your money. He said the best thing you could do to take care of your weedwhackers, mowers, small tractors etc was to go out and run them once a month. Run all the gas sitting in them right out of it and then replace it with new gas. He said that he has been doing this for several years now and has had no problems with his equipment.

 

I run my bike a lot and it has never sat more than 2 weeks without being rode. I have not had a problem with fuel. That being said my guess would be that those bikes that sit for months without being started might (and I emphasize the word might) have problems because of this. Since most of us on here ride often we may not see this problem.

 

For what it's worth this is the reason I have used with my wife to explain why I have to go on rides so often. It's worked so far.

[Rocket]

What he told me next though applies to this thread. He told me that just a week prior he had gotten an alert notification from one of his suppliers regarding 10% ethanol gas. According to him the alert said that the ethanol starts going bad 7 days after it is blended with gas. Considering how long it takes to get it from the blending to your local gas station and into your vehicle this means that normally you only have it in your gas tank about 4 days before it starts going bad.

 

For what it's worth this is the reason I have used with my wife to explain why I have to go on rides so often. It's worked so far.

 

Great reason to get out riding. Others can use it too........ :thumbsup2:

[BaldHillsRSV]

PURE-GAS.ORG

 

I googled ethanol-free gas and found a website put together by a BMW rider. Its URL is . The site lists, by state, stations where you get ethanol-free gas and allows the readers to add or revise stations. I was able to add three stations with no problems.

[Condor]

PURE-GAS.ORG

 

 

I googled ethanol-free gas and found a website put together by a BMW rider. Its URL is . The site lists, by state, stations where you get ethanol-free gas and allows the readers to add or revise stations. I was able to add three stations with no problems.

 

And good old Cal-e-fornia is missing from the list. CARB strikes again....