Fuel treatment between riding?

[pontifex]

Should I be adding a fuel stabilizer or using ethanol treatment on my 1st gen SV650 between track days? The bike will be sitting for up to 3 weeks at a time between sessions.

Thanks.

[Stoneman]

I would. Even your basic Stabil is now formulated to treat ethenol. The 'blue stuff' is the same thing, just higher concentrates. The color differences determine the concentration levels. But I use the regular 'red stuff' in just about everything and I never have fuel-related problems. Sea Foam is supposed to have stabilizing properties too, but I can't speak of that characteristic first-hand...

[nhbubba]

The story I've been told is the shelf life for this stuff is anywhere between 60 and 90 days, depending on who you ask. Treating for "up to 3 weeks" between uses seems excessive to me.

Then again, the stuff isn't that expensive.

Although, do you run through a full tank on a day?

[Kurlon]

The story I've been told is the shelf life for this stuff is anywhere between 60 and 90 days, depending on who you ask. Treating for "up to 3 weeks" between uses seems excessive to me.

Then again, the stuff isn't that expensive.

Although, do you run through a full tank on a day?

60 to 90 days, including however long it sat in the ground, and in the tank at the depot, etc... I've watched this crap gum up pilot circuits in a week. Steel tank, I'd make sure it's topped off to minimize condensation buildup and treat it. It's cheap and easy to do.

[Sheppo]

I'd treat it, an make sure you drain your carbs.

[tsorfas]

I would not. It's not a big deal in my opinion abs you ll get fresh gas at the track again. 3 weeks is nothing

[Stoneman]

Just treat it. For what, 8 bucks you get to treat 20 gallons of fuel? No brainer to me, especially given the shit gas we're getting now. Pretty inexpensive piece of mind, no?

[Stromper]

Fill tank, drain carbs

I like seafoam
shot of seafoam then cranberry juice and ginger ale served over rocks with a twist

[nhbubba]

That explains so much!

[Paul_E_D]

treat it. I've had mixed results. Some fuel spoiling in just 2 weeks in a carb. Others lasting months. I treat it all now. less headaches.

[oVTo]

Fill tank, drain carbs

I like seafoam
shot of seafoam then cranberry juice and ginger ale served over rocks with a twist

Why fill the tank? I was always told to fill it to keep the tank from rusting. Gas is highly volatile, so the tank will be filled a mix of liquid gasoline and gasoline vapor. Shouldn't that minimize oxidation?

If you fill the tank before parking it, then you have a full tank of 3 week (or 3 month) old gas unless you drain and refill. Instead, if you leave it when you park, then you can fill it with fresh gas next time you ride. Isn't a 50/50 mix of old/new gas better than 100% old gas?

I can understand filling a tank before parking a bike for a long time - many months or years, because eventually enough water vapor will get in to saturate and/or condense and form a layer of water on the bottom. But won't that take a lot longer than a few weeks or even months?

For bikes with plastic tanks (not the SV), does it matter at all? Why?

Note these are all questions - I have opinions, but I'm not an expert. Any experts care to weigh in?

[Kurlon]

Why fill the tank? I was always told to fill it to keep the tank from rusting. Gas is highly volatile, so the tank will be filled a mix of liquid gasoline and gasoline vapor. Shouldn't that minimize oxidation?

Your tank 'breathes' with temperature changes. The amount it can breathe is directly related to the amount of liquid in the tank. If you've got a nearly empty tank, as the temp goes up it'll vent out gas fumes. When the temp drops, it'll pull in outside air, drawing in humidity with it. The cycle repeats with each cycle of temp swings. Meanwhile, some of that humidity condenses on the tank walls during the cold swings and mixes in with the gas, diluting it.

If you've got a full tank, the volume of air that can be exchanged is far less, which keeps the total amount of humidity the tank can bring in over time down. This is important with steel tanks as they'll rust.

With plastic tanks the primary concern is keeping the water content of the gas in check over time, plus you've got the potential for the ethanol to swell the tank so for them the answer is to completely drain. Leaving it partially filled means the ethanol has time to work against the plastic PLUS you're quickly diluting your gas with water.

Edit: Additional note - Ethanol draws water into the gas, causing it to absorb humidity far faster than non-ethanol gas. When the water hits the gas, it AND the ethanol drop out of solution leaving you a three layer shit cake of water, low octane gas and ethanol. K100 is the only stuff I've seen that will successfully pull the ethanol BACK into the mix, you still need dry gas (Isopropyl Alcohol) to deal with the water.

[oVTo]

Great explanation. Thanks.

[CBR929RE]

I would not. It's not a big deal in my opinion abs you ll get fresh gas at the track again. 3 weeks is nothing

remember how you didn't like working on your carbs before? you should probably drain your carbs after a race weekend or td. or if it were me I'd probably just fire the bike up and run it up to temp once a week and not sure any treatment simply because additives are against the LRRS rulebook and they occasionally test people right after a race.

[Kurlon]

remember how you didn't like working on your carbs before? you should probably drain your carbs after a race weekend or td. or if it were me I'd probably just fire the bike up and run it up to temp once a week and not sure any treatment simply because additives are against the LRRS rulebook and they occasionally test people right after a race.

It's not so much as they're against the rule book (which they are) but that the test setup has no way to account for them. Any additive == test fail.

On a race bike, you should have a quick drain setup figured out so when you get to the track you can put the treated stuff in your car and use 1st practice to flush the rest out the exhaust after filling with fresh gas.

[CBR929RE]

It's not so much as they're against the rule book (which they are) but that the test setup has no way to account for them. Any additive == test fail.

On a race bike, you should have a quick drain setup figured out so when you get to the track you can put the treated stuff in your car and use 1st practice to flush the rest out the exhaust after filling with fresh gas.

exactly. I suppose its pretty easy to make a quick drain set up for carbed bikes. slightly more difficult for an FI bike. I know Ten Kate makes a kit for my bike which makes it pretty easy but I didn't see it till after I ordered stuff so I'm not gonna just order that and pay stupid customs fees

[Kurlon]

Cheater method is to get a battery powered fuel transfer pump like DZircher uses. Cheap, easy, quick, and it makes fueling your bike super lazy easy. I've got a drain tube with a quick disconnect end I can snap onto my tank to drain it down when needed, plus a $3? siphon kit that is just a rubber squeeze bulb with hoses off each end that works very well if you're patient. (Flow rate is not spectacular but it gets the job done.)

[csmutty]

Come on guys...it's Savas. They only test the fuel of the top 3 finishers...

He has nothing to worry about!

[tsorfas]

Come on guys...it's Savas. They only test the fuel of the top 3 finishers...

He has nothing to worry about!

hey i never caught this one til now.. you attacking me you bitch?

[Paul_E_D]

hey i never caught this one til now.. you attacking me you bitch?

Slap it out!!!

[Larry]

It's not so much as they're against the rule book (which they are) but that the test setup has no way to account for them. Any additive == test fail.

On a race bike, you should have a quick drain setup figured out so when you get to the track you can put the treated stuff in your car and use 1st practice to flush the rest out the exhaust after filling with fresh gas.

I specifically asked LRRS tech last round and they said no problem adding fuel stabilizer because they couldn't detect it! My confidence in tech guys gets lower and lower every time I have to deal with them.

[Kurlon]

Grahmn is the man to talk to on that front.

[CBR929RE]

that doesn't seem right. I think something might have gotten confused. its not that they can detect that it is specifically stablizer but they should be able to tell its not the same gas as what you are telling them it is. ie its no pure Shell premium (cause you added to it)

[The Snowman]

I've had my 1999 SV for almost 5 years and have never put treatment into the gas. I do drain the bowls if the period between running goes beyond a couple of months.