bamabikeguy
Active Member
There are plenty of other threads debating 2 versus 4 cycle engines, but the one about "mixing oil" is really a molehill/mountain comparison.
Everything is a tradeoff, 2 cycle engines can go wide open, beat a 4 cycle to the gas station, be mixed and gone before the 4 cycle pulls to the pump.
One of you metric math folks can probably provide a conversion chart, I made one and can't find it.
Simplest thing is to mix a gallon, carry a spare canister or two, according to your needs and destination.
Don't let the oil/gas mix sit toooo long, after a month put whatever is left in your lawnmower and mix another batch.
I have a half gallon hidden on the side of a road about 25 miles away, it's a convenient shortcut from the county seat. That way, when I take new builds without baskets (can't carry extra canisters), I can get a good long workout on a new engine. On the Greygeezer bike, I carry one extra canister, but I'm having so much fun I keep on riding, and know that half gallon is sitting there to get me home....
Then there are my long trips, where I have to mix oil on the road. When I got back from Denver, Dennis asked me to send up the engine to he could look at the cylinder, knowing I had mixed "unscientifically" tankful by tankful.
He said it looked perfect. The engine (25 cc Zenoah) had been broken in properly before I left, probably had 500 miles on it when I departed westward.
The tank on the Zenoah and Tanaka is 22 oz. A bottle of 2 cycle oil is 77ml/2.6 fluid ounces.
The cap of the oil bottle holds 'around' 4 ml ( I measured it with a syringe).
It takes 4 capfulls for a 22 oz tank, 2 capfulls for a halftank.
Sort of like a chef measures a pinch of salt.
So, you could stop at a veternarian, buy a syringe for about a quarter and be exact, or remember "4 caps per tank".
That measurement will carry you for weeks on the road, or occassionally when you have to stop at a NON-ethanol gas pump, fill up to get home.
Carry a bottle with your spare tube/belt, and those moistened individual handiwipes are adviseable in your backpack, oil mixing or not.
It really works out pretty good, that Zenoah could carry me 45 miles on a tank, an hour and a half.
Stopping to fill/mix was also a "rest stop". One or two gas station stops per day is time to shoot the breeze with locals, get the lay of the land, find the "best diner in town" or swimming hole or camping area, whatever the time of the day.
Everything is a tradeoff, 2 cycle engines can go wide open, beat a 4 cycle to the gas station, be mixed and gone before the 4 cycle pulls to the pump.
One of you metric math folks can probably provide a conversion chart, I made one and can't find it.
Simplest thing is to mix a gallon, carry a spare canister or two, according to your needs and destination.
Don't let the oil/gas mix sit toooo long, after a month put whatever is left in your lawnmower and mix another batch.
I have a half gallon hidden on the side of a road about 25 miles away, it's a convenient shortcut from the county seat. That way, when I take new builds without baskets (can't carry extra canisters), I can get a good long workout on a new engine. On the Greygeezer bike, I carry one extra canister, but I'm having so much fun I keep on riding, and know that half gallon is sitting there to get me home....
Then there are my long trips, where I have to mix oil on the road. When I got back from Denver, Dennis asked me to send up the engine to he could look at the cylinder, knowing I had mixed "unscientifically" tankful by tankful.
He said it looked perfect. The engine (25 cc Zenoah) had been broken in properly before I left, probably had 500 miles on it when I departed westward.
The tank on the Zenoah and Tanaka is 22 oz. A bottle of 2 cycle oil is 77ml/2.6 fluid ounces.
The cap of the oil bottle holds 'around' 4 ml ( I measured it with a syringe).
It takes 4 capfulls for a 22 oz tank, 2 capfulls for a halftank.
Sort of like a chef measures a pinch of salt.
So, you could stop at a veternarian, buy a syringe for about a quarter and be exact, or remember "4 caps per tank".
That measurement will carry you for weeks on the road, or occassionally when you have to stop at a NON-ethanol gas pump, fill up to get home.
Carry a bottle with your spare tube/belt, and those moistened individual handiwipes are adviseable in your backpack, oil mixing or not.
It really works out pretty good, that Zenoah could carry me 45 miles on a tank, an hour and a half.
Stopping to fill/mix was also a "rest stop". One or two gas station stops per day is time to shoot the breeze with locals, get the lay of the land, find the "best diner in town" or swimming hole or camping area, whatever the time of the day.
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