Adventure Bike Rider Forum

I have been using Briggs and Stratton for years now

It's weird. I've owned maybe 60 sports/race bikes, and perhaps 20 other bikes, over a 38 year career in motorcycling. Apart from the all-year-round dirt bikes and a few others I've ridden through the winter, most have generally been tucked away under a cover and brought out again in the Spring. I've never, ever, not even once, bothered to drain the fuel or add any kind of additive. Once the inevitable battery draining issues were dealt with, they have always re-started in March just fine, running on the stale fuel left in there from last October. Ethanol has never affected any of them, whether carb or fuel-injected. Maybe I've been lucky. I'm not denying the chemistry (only an idiot would do that) but it might be worth asking if us bikers have been stirred up into a bit of an anti-ethanol frenzy, and we're being persuaded to buy products and drain tanks when it's not always necessary.

I totally agree Dave, same as you had loads of bikes over the years & never had any troubles with them when bought out of slumber after being laid up over winter.

Ian

Just ride your bike all through winter Steve, you might die of hypothermia, but the bike Will be fine

Same for me. Laid up all my bikes during winter (6 months typically) over thirty years, all sorts of machines. Only one bike caused me trouble, an 1100 Moto Guzzi Sport (carb). Failed to start and when I took off the carb bowls they were covered in a sort of varnish. Quick rinse out and problem solved - same fuel in the tank.

I found some really old fuel in my fathers shed, when I say old probably 25 years or so. It smelt really stale. As an experiment I put in the mower to see what would happen. Started fine and ran on it all year, certainly would not put that in a bike but it was interesting that a basic low compression engine ran on it perfectly well.

I stick my bikes (four) on optimates over the winter period and also start them up every two months or so.
Have had trouble starting bikes that have been laid up for ages before where you would need to use one of those electric starters that they use at the racing to get the bike started.

Two of my bikes get laid up, my 10,000 mile Fazer 600 which is like new, and my dear old C90. Both tanks are filled, both start after the winter layup with no additives, neither has a rusty tank.
My Super Cub has to just get on with it all year.

Snake oil comes in many forms it’s wonders to perform, or something like that

Esso Synergy fuel is ethanol free and generally believed (in Ducati circles) to be the best fuel for laid up bikes.

SHarper wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:10 am Esso Synergy fuel is ethanol free and generally believed (in Ducati circles) to be the best fuel for laid up bikes.

Are you sure? I fill up with that stuff all the time, only because i've got an Esso discount card, and at the side of the pumps, both petrol and diesel, there is a letter E and B and a number. That E is supposed to represent ethanol is added and B is biodiesel.

Just found this. https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol Conflicting issues.
Oh well, i'll put my hands up.

If i am laying a bike up for winter i run Aspen fuel through it on the last couple of runs and it stores great without degrading,varnishing and absorbing water. It is really expensive but worth doing especially if you have a classic bike or two. Aspen was originally marketed for forestry workers etc as the emmisions are nowhere near as harmful to agricultural/forestry workers. You can open the plastic gallon container and stick your nose in the top and it doesn,t even smell like petrol.