My uncle has been educating me on certain habits to practice with my bike, and has told me about Ethanol and the bad stuff it does to the carb. He made me promise to turn the gas off and run the carb dry if the scooter isn't going to be started for a couple days. Since I only have a permit, my bike doesn't get started until a driver comes to get me. But real lesson learned, I just spent $200+ on my chainsaw because the ethanol contant ate away the fuel lines and junked the carb. The Lawn and Tractor joint told me to never use 87octane, always mix 93+octane 50/50 mix fuel because the Ethanol contant is lower. I read a couple posts about SVS, I wonder if this ethanol crap is the catalyst for that problem. I've been searching around for an additive to put in on my fill ups. Do you folks use an additive, and what do you recommend if anything?

Info on Ehtanol...very scarry!
http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_fuel_disadvantages.html

Yamaha allows use of E10 Ethanol.
http://www.fuel-testers.com/manufacturer_fuel_recommendations_ethanol_e10.html

Any idea where I can find a list of Detroit Area gas stations that do not use ethanol?

If you run sta-bils new much stronger formula marine grade fuel stabilizer with every tank of fuel you wont have any issues like your worried about,i keep it onboard my bike in a saddle bag,doesnt take up much room at all.

I agree,todays pump fuel is crap,it causes all sorts of issues with muscle car motor of the 60 & 70's that i work on and it can go bad pretty quick depending on environment the fuel is in etc.

I run the long term storrage mix of stable maring grade fuel stabilizer which is 1 oz per 5 gals which is cheap insurance to keep you bilkes fuel system & carb clean with no issues.

Startron's new fuel stabilizer is also supposed to be a good alt from what i have read but i have no exp with it,i have had good results with sta-bils marine grade fuel stabilizer so i stay with that.

In the past i have also had goo results with sta-bils reg fuel stabilizer too.

But its very improtant to start out with fresh fuel thats been stabilized the same day you put your vehicle whatever it may be into storrage for the off season.

Just stabilizing fuel thats already been sitting 4/5/6 months & is already on its way to going bad prior to storrage can significantly reduce the amount of time the fuel stays ok/fhresh for use vs starting out with a fresh tank fuel thats been stabilized the same day your vehicle is storred for the off season.

Thats the way i have storred all my bikes,classic cars ,mower,snowblower,etc for almost 40 yrs with never 1 issue when i fire them up . But if you start out with todays pump fuel being 6 month old that been stabilized just prior to storrage and all bets are off IMHO and that's when you can still end up with a gummed up carb when you refire the vehicle.

Stabil states you cant overdose so i run a little more then 1 oz per 5 gals for off season storrage but i would not trust todays fuel to get much past 1 yr even when properly stabilized frresh fuel is used. They ec 1oz /gal for in use protection but i dont trust todasy fuel so i have alwasy run the stronger dsoe esp since you cant over dose per mfg.

I also run seafoam and or chevrons Techtron fuel inj/carb cleaner in the fuel approx 1-2x yrly because they are both good top end cleaners (intake valves -pistons-combustion chamber) which i hope will keep my bike from the dreaded SVS syndrome.

It's just as important to ensure your running 4 qts oil max when changing oil & filter on a 1600-1700 R* along with also usring the carb is setup correctly so its not running to rich both of which can collectively add to chance of having SVS.

Scott

Joe48146
Michgan does not require Ethanol labeling. See link in my previous post. You might want to try a marina since ethanol is very damaging to marine engines. Expect to pay more there (IF they will sell it to you.)

Indiana doesnt require ethanol labeling either...guess I am going to have to call around to find out who dilutes their gas and who doesnt.

I've used ethanol (10%) since it all started in the 70's and it was called gasohol back then. NEVER NEVER NEVER had any issues with ethanol and I have no issues telling people to use it.
I use it in chainsaws, lawnmowers, cars, trucks, motorcycles...
I've only had an issue once and that was on a 67 Ford Mustang. Ethanol will peel the rust off a gasline or in this case the rust in the metal gas tank on my mustang. I had to install an inline fuel filter to prevent the rust from plugging up my carb.
As long as the ethanol is kept at 10% or lower, you should be fine. Anything higher than that requires stainless steel fuel line and other alcohol resistant parts in the carb and FI.

billd wrote:
Info on Ehtanol...very scarry!
http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_fuel_disadvantages.html


This must be outdated because they removed fuel with MTBE additive here a long time ago because of the serious hazards associated with it. I'm glad they removed it because MTBE made my lawnmowers run like crap. MTBE worked OK in my vehicles but my small engines such as chainsaws, mower, weed-whackers ran like crap on MTBE

03LiquidSilver wrote:
The Lawn and Tractor joint told me to never use 87octane, always mix 93+octane 50/50 mix fuel because the Ethanol contant is lower

That's great advice for your chainsaw, but remember, due to the SVS common in these rides you should stick with 87 in the RoadStar

I try to only run the Shell with Nitrogen 87oct. No problems, and seams to be higher gas mileage.