How old is your fuel ?

[jimson]

G'day viewers, how long would you leave fuel in a tank for & expect it to be ok ? Jimson

[80-85 husky]

ive just fired the boat up after 2 years of sitting and it went ok..i did put some fresher stuff in the tank to assist but I was worried the carbs would have turned to concrete but so far so good

[David Lahey]

depends on which type of petrol it is and if it is premix or straight.
I've had straight fuel (98 pump petrol) sitting in an alloy RM tank for at least two years and the motor started easy and ran fine on it. During those two years or more, the motor was run every few months but the fuel in the tank was not touched.
I wouldn't try the same with petrol that had any ethanol in it, or was premix. My old premix goes in the ride-on or in a car

[tymes]

How good are ride ons for getting rid of old petrol?

[80-85 husky]

bonfires is my disposal choice

[David Lahey]

How good are ride ons for getting rid of old petrol?

Pretty crap at the moment because all the grass is dead. Haven't used it in earnest for months. My "old fuel" drum is filling up
The ride-on motor (12HP Briggs and Stratton) runs fine on old premix. Sometimes I also put a bit of castor oil in the fuel tank so the exhaust smells nice

[Rossvickicampbell]

used to easily be able to put old pre-mix in the 6 cylinder Falcon I had - tried to add a couple of litres to my late model Commodore a couple of years ago and sent the sensors into melt down

[John Orchard]

I've used fuel (was pink leaded 'super') that I drained out of a rusty old wreck at the quarries where we rode as kids, must have been many years old, ran sweet.

[LWC82PE]

Premium unleaded will go stale (quicker than regular unleaded) in float bowls after a short time, maybe a month, an makes the bike very hard to start. Drain your bowl/s if you are going to store the bike for an extended amount of time. Keep the fuel tank at least 75% full too.

[rocketfrog]

Yep Kato 300 starts first kick on fresh premium premix. Not so much after a few weeks. I believe it is not safe to use old premix (especially referring to full sythetics) as it tends to lose its goodness over time when mixed which might lead to expensive regrets over a few bucks worth of fuel.

But definitely see a difference in ease of starting with fresh v stale.

[skypig]

I have lots of bikes. I use Motul fuel stabilizer. It seems to help.. until I win the lottery and have more time to ride.

[Mick D]

The petroleum industry considers that fresh petrol can be stored in a sealed metal containment for up to six months.
It can reach storage periods of 12 months if in an optimum sealed, low temp, low temp fluctuating environment. Degradation begins the moment the seal is opened.

The petroleum industry manufacture and distribution is based on two slightly varying "rule of thumbs"

One being that there is a loss of 1 RON per month after the point of manufacture
Secondly it is assumed that most pump available petrols are consumed within a two month period.
Obviously one can add a bit of varying give and take to the above.

The Australian standard at the point of retail pump sale is rated at 91RON for regular unleaded and 98RON for premium.
But in actual fact they are manufactured at 93 and 100 respectively, because of the two "rule of thumbs"

Cars, bikes service stations, etc have vented tanks always allowing RON "gas off".
Underground Service station tanks lose less RON/period than the vented tanks on bikes.

So if it is tuned right to edge of your fuel selection (bumped up compression/ignition) and it is hard to start after sitting for a while?
And say you don't notice the pinging?? It will be OK if your wallet and frown are on standby.
 

 

   

[Short Stuff]

I haven't touched either of my PE's since Harrow last year, but with the Blackwood Vinduro looming in the next few weeks, I thought I better check the bikes out.

Without draining the tanks, freshening the fuel or even draining the bowl, both bikes fired up on the third kick and idled happily.

Gotta love 'old school'!

[Mick D]

Yeap, you sure do, the old stuff is where it's at

My old victa mower and German weed eater are still running fine on 2.5 year old BP98 with 50:1 TTS
I never empty the tanks, but always run the carby bowl out and top up from a sealed tin.

Hey Short Stuff, what sort of fuel and oil did you leave in those bikes?

Mick. 

[dkupf]

I a 81 Xl185 I've been known not to start it for 12 months and it runs fine on the old fuel. The pre mix fuel I drain out of my bike ( 250 Maico)and use it in the mower. So I think about the racing and not mowing (i hate mowing)