Methanol Gas plus negligence

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Hello Gents,

I hope this note finds all of you in good health and spirits.
I have this 1991 ST1100, and every year it's the same story, I put the bike away for the winter, thinking I'll ride it on warmer days, and that never happens.
Spring time comes around and there is corn syrup in the float bowls.

So every time I have to take the bike in for a carb cleaning. This time, the bike starts and runs, but I can't take it off choke. and after it warms up it begins to sputter and backfire. So my question is...

Is there nothing I can put in the tank to clean up this mess without dismantling the bike again?

Thanks,
Elliot
 
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I was asking similar questions before the winter lay up.
General advise was to fill the tank to the top with highest octane fuel available, apparently low in Ethanol if I remember right and I also added Honda PRO fuel Stabiliser. I have not started the beast yet so only time will tell, just waiting for the perma frost to lift a little, 37 today.
I have to say though that I have never had a real problem before, the bikes have always been a little slow and lumpy to start but soon clear, could it be the type of fuel?
I Have seen advice on here to put some sea foam (I think) in and ride the blummin things till it clears. Can't say if it works though.
Hope it helps.
Upt'North.
 

Uncle Phil

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In the States, I think the 'drug' of choice is Stabil which you can get at Wal-Mart and most auto-parts stores. Put some in per instructions and run it for a while to fill the bowls. If it won't idle off choke, your low speed jets are stopped up.
 
OP
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Zinfandel
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Aye, Uncle Phil.
Stopped up, eh? That's not going to clear up on it's own, will it?
Do I assume that this is also causing the sputtering and backfiring?

In the States, I think the 'drug' of choice is Stabil which you can get at Wal-Mart and most auto-parts stores. Put some in per instructions and run it for a while to fill the bowls. If it won't idle off choke, your low speed jets are stopped up.
 
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Zinfandel
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Hello Upt'North,

Thanks for the insight. I went for a ride a couple months ago, the backfiring really worried me and I returned to my garage.
I'm not inclined to do damage that could have been avoided.
I'm going to see if Uncle Phil's idea pans out.

Thanks.
 

Mark

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You might be able to clear up the jets by running Seafoam in a couple of tanks...

And if you really want to lessen the $$$ damage you can DIY. LINkY
 

rjs987

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Don't know about using "Methanol" in the tank. I do use Ethanol since that is what is most easily found in my area. Never had a problem in any of my gas motors with it (bikes, cages, mower, snow thrower, power washer). Any time I may not run the motor within a month or enough to run through a tank in a few months I put in Stabil and run it through to fill the lines as UP stated. Doing this all my motors start right up after many months of storage. Mainly that would be the mower after almost 7 months stored through winter and the snow thrower after 8-9 months storage through spring/summer/fall. Like I said they all start right up when I go to use again. Had the pressure washer sit for 2 years once and even that started up on the second pull of the cord after being stored the same way.

Hope you get the ports cleaned out OK.
 

ST Gui

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You might be able to clear up the jets by running Seafoam in a couple of tanks...
+1.

I think Stabil is used before storage. You run the bike to mix it with the fuel so it's in the lines and bowls and prevents the syrup harvesting.
 
Last edited:
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Zinfandel
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Yes, ethanol is correct, this is Joisey, confusion is par for the course.
Yes, Stabil does wonders as a preemptive, prophylactic effort, before the corn syrup has clogged the bowls.
What we need now, is to try the Seafoam, before bringing it in for a cleaning at the mechanic's place.
Mark, the "homebrew" is not something I'm inclined to do, as I find that this bike is easier to roll off a cliff while the engine still runs.
Thank gents.
 
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Zin, if not to late to chime in, I highly suggest a fairly rich mixture(double what directions show) Sea-Foam and ride it a while. Have had bowls off bike multi-carbs and amazingly clean inside! For winter storage, I higly recommend Star-Tron mixed in fuel and rode a bit to get treated fuel to carbs. Works like a charm come spring.....fires right up and no stutter, shudder nor popping;).
BTW, even WallyWorld now carries both:).
 
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Agree with everyone here as far as preventing and curing bad fuel. The question I have is if this issue showed up a couple of months back, when did you put it away? Assuming normal or even light use, i would assume november, and if so, I wouldnt think a month or even 2 should allow the fuel to gum up that badly... but, i could be wrong. Im wondering if you havent got another issue than fuel gumming. Also, Im sure you are aware but It should be mentioned to drain the existing fuel before you try solutions mentioned and to keep your tank full in the winter to reduce condensation forming. It is really worth searching out fuel with lower ethanol levels, especially or at least at storage time. Sometimes, premium has less ethanol and in the U.S. there are still ethanol free stations http://www.pure-gas.org/
 

paulcb

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My son just bought a Nighthawk 750 with similar issues. We put some Seafoam in and let it sit for several days. That seemed to help quite a bit but it's still not 100%. I think we need to run a few tanks with Seafoam to hopefully get it better.
 

Uncle Phil

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When my jets were stopped up in one of my ST1100s, I never could get SeaFoam to make a difference. I did manage to coat a set spark plugs in the process so that they would not fire ... ;-) Finally pulled the carbs, manually cleaned out the jets and reassembled and was good.
 
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Simple solution to this long term storage problem is to not let the float bowls dry out, by running the engine at least monthly, while using a fuel stabilizer in the tank, which you always keep full to prevent unwanted condensation in the tank. Even stabilized fuel in the float bowls will evaporate over time.

There will be those that say this is harmful to the engine and I would totally agree, if you just start the bike and run it for two minutes, but you don't just run it for two minutes. You run it for at least 15 minutes to ensure everything is fully heated up, including the exhaust system, which burns off any condensation produced by the combustion process, protecting the integrity of your oil and all metal parts. Varying the RPM while doing this is helpful too.

Did this on all my bikes - 20 years on a '95 ST - and never had the carbs apart.
 
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larryg

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Zin, if not to late to chime in, I highly suggest a fairly rich mixture(double what directions show) Sea-Foam and ride it a while. Have had bowls off bike multi-carbs and amazingly clean inside! For winter storage, I higly recommend Star-Tron mixed in fuel and rode a bit to get treated fuel to carbs. Works like a charm come spring.....fires right up and no stutter, shudder nor popping;).
BTW, even WallyWorld now carries both:).
I have a 1980 CB-900 Custom, which has four carbs.
When I bought the bike 6 years ago the carbs were all gummed up, from neglect.
After pulling and cleaning them (not fun!) I have been adding Startron ever since - because I absolutely don't want to do that job again.
I put about 1/2 oz in the tank - at every fillup. The bike is not ridden a lot lately (since I bought my ST1300, lol) - sometimes it sits for months.
The bike always starts right up and runs fine - NO more carb problems, in six years.
I am a total believer in Startron, for any carb'ed engine. Very easy insurance, and has totally worked for me - highly recommend it, if you have carbs!
(use it all the time, not just winter storage). Buy it here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product//B00D3IEIY0/ref=twister_dp_update?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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Agree with everyone here as far as preventing and curing bad fuel. The question I have is if this issue showed up a couple of months back, when did you put it away? Assuming normal or even light use, i would assume november, and if so, I wouldnt think a month or even 2 should allow the fuel to gum up that badly... but, i could be wrong. Im wondering if you havent got another issue than fuel gumming. Also, Im sure you are aware but It should be mentioned to drain the existing fuel before you try solutions mentioned and to keep your tank full in the winter to reduce condensation forming. It is really worth searching out fuel with lower ethanol levels, especially or at least at storage time. Sometimes, premium has less ethanol and in the U.S. there are still ethanol free stations http://www.pure-gas.org/
Unfortuneately, not in New Jersey
 
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Oh wow, youre right. That sucks. That is surprising. Good reason to go for long drives to PA... LOL
 
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