at the end of last season, I went for a ride. I filled the tank, put in the "storage" ratio of sta-bil and then rode for another 30 or so miles. I switched back and forth from "run" to "res" a few times on the petcock to make sure both lines were full of the stabilized gasoline. what I didn't do was run it on the choke setting for any amount of time.
Now, she's really slow to start and has a weird flat spot in the power just off idle until she warms up.
I don't really feel like pulling the carbs if I can avoid it. any suggestions on an in-tank carb cleaner? she's still got ~ 1/3 tank of stabilized gas, so I'd burn through that before adding anything else (stupid cold and snow this winter)
slow to start.... as in lengthy cranking?.. or as in slow cranking?.... slow cranking is likely battery needs a pep up or replace...
and .. flat spot in power just off idle till it warms up.... yeeeeess? .. gs500 do that .. specially if they been sitting for a while...
choke on these isnt so much a 'choke' .. its a 'fuel enrichment circuit' (according to manual and many riders/owners) ... i think it does a thing with your pilot jet? ... carb guys can explain better...
so it may be your pilot jet is a little gunky.... ?
or even though you have sta-bil in it.... the fuel loses its oomph over time.... so just man up/bite bullet .. drain the old gas and fill it with shiny new fuel!! .. 1/3 of a tank?... so 5 or 6 litres? .. maybe a little more ... err gallon and a half.... i know its against the mindset to waste fuel.... maybe use it in a lawnmower with some other fresh stuff? ... but fresh fuel is possibly a good start!?
lengthy cranking... the battery is fine (tru-gel and I keep it on a tender)
meh... we'll see how she does when I fill up next. I've got ~1 commute left in the tank if winter ever decides to go away.
fair enough eh! .. im often loathe to waste/dispose of fuel.... but have done a couple times when it was OLD .. like... 3 years!! .. in a bike i bought from a storage shed. lovely varnish yellow colour it had gone!!? :wink:
winter.... go?.... so you feel a tad lonely ... locked inside? :icon_lol:
(http://content8.flixster.com/question/50/96/96/5096962_std.jpg)
You have 2 choices:
a) Pull the carbs and give them a good cleaning...
or
b) Dump some "carb cleaner stuff" into the fuel tank and go ride.....and then pull the carbs and give them a good cleaning when that doesn't work. :)
Use the old fuel , once tank is empty fill up and add stp carb cleaner addative to the fresh fuel , this should be all that is needed , old fuel even with a stabiliser can upset the bike a little and not run as good as it should :thumb:
she fired right away this morning... but was still a bit flat at the first couple of stop signs.
Try some Seafoam and fresh gas.
If that doesn't work you'll have to live with it or pull the carbs.
I'm going to blame it on the cold. for the ride home, I didn't even need the choke to start... in fact, the choke made it die.
I still maintain that carburetors are black magic.