Fuel Mixture Stale gasoline! Gotta start using stabilizer. Brand suggestions? Ratio?

[Max-M]

My 49cc Huasheng 4-stroke had gotten gradually more difficult to start, and the top end was down by about 10 MPH -- really dogging it. Then it occurred to me that I've been refueling my bike from the same 5-gallon gas can that I filled up many months ago. The way these little engines sip gas, I very infrequently need to fill the little 1.5-liter tank. Plus, the bike and the gas can are stored in an unventilated shed, so the gas has seen some very high temperatures because of the above-average heat that we've been having this spring and summer.

I feel like an idiot for not sooner making the connection between stale gas and my performance decrease! But I'll only be filling my tank at a gas station from now on. With the fresh gas that I put in the tank this morning, the bike feels about 150% of what it was yesterday.

I learned just how stale my old gas was when I removed the fuel line from the carb and spilled gas on my hand before draining it into the 5-gallon gas can. Any time that I've gotten gasoline on my hands before this, the smell was extremely strong and hard to wash off. This time, I almost felt like I didn't need to wash my hands! What a great illustration of the stale gas situation that was.

In addition to only filling up with fresh gas at the pump, I also want to start using gas stabilizer. With the 10% ethanol gasoline mix that we get around here, I think that's important. Does anybody have suggestions on a brand of stabilizer? And a mix ratio?

Thanks.

 

[tooljunkie]

i find STA-BIL a very good product,i have a couple vehicles that have been sitting for many years,i run them regularily,and add a gallon or so every year,with stabilizer in it.
another one is sea-foam,it has mant benefits ,not just as a stabilizer.
you may also want to rethink your lon term fuel storage,the price of gas,we cant aford to let it spoil.
wasnt an issue 15 years ago.

 

[Anton]

Old gas is definitely an issue with not only motorized bikes but also any type of vehicle. I used a jerry can of old fuel once and my dirtbike ran like absolute ****. The way to get around this is to every now and then empty your jerry can into your car and buy fresh fuel. At least that way you can rule out one potential issue with a motor not running correctly!

 

[darwin]

Use a smaller can so it will be used up sooner or just fill the 5gal can half way. Yea here in the winter I ride less frequently and i'm always worried about gas sitting for a couple of months or so. The performance issue is something i'll have to remember, usually i'm only thinking about the gas gumming up the carb.

 

[Esteban]

Old gas is EVIL to small engines. I just got thru working on a pressure washer that had not been started in 2 years. The gas left in the tank smelled awful ! For my small engines, I use 89+ octane, & add stabilizer per instructions on the containes. I use a little " Seafoam " at different intervals, but NOT all the time. I also agree with the suggestion above to only use a small gas can. I little precaution goes a long way !

 

[Skyliner70cc]

I use a double dose of stabil before storage and 1/2 dose during riding season. I still have fuel left over in one of my bikes from last fall and I put 2 hours on the bike today trying to burn the last of it. I normally use lowest octane available (85 octane) but I use 87 when I'm using anything more than a full dose of stabil. Stabil decreases the octane rating of the fuel.

I had forgotten to stabil a HS49 cc powered trike and I didn't feel like pulling the carb or draining the tank. I poured Seafoam into the tank (about 4 oz) and then started engine with starter fluid. It took about 20 minutes of running the engine at full throttle to clear out the gunk in the carburetor-the engine was barely above idle at full throttle setting and when it fully spun up to full rpm I new the seafoam had done its trick. I then topped off with fresh fuel.

 

[darwin]

I love the hs49cc it has a drain on the bottom of the carb, undo that puppy and it will drain the tank and all. Then just pull about 5 times and run her out shes empty ready to store.

 

[Max-M]

Thanks for all of the responses.

From now on, my solution to the stale gas situation is this: I'm only going to fill my bike's tank at the pump. I really don't have any need to store gas in my 5-gallon Jerry can because I'm within a 1/2-mile of several gas stations/convenience stores. So, I'll pull up to the pump on my bike, put about $1.50 on my credit card for a fillup, and move on!