Winter project

[Usually_charmingkno3]

Hi I just got my 2009 250 this week just before winter. I got a chance to ride it around the neighborhood for a couple hours though. Over the winter I plan to tear the fairings off and get a good look at everything as well as tidy it up and address any other issues. It will be in my garage, but it's not heated all the time. If I plan to do a minimal tear down could someone give me basic guidance on winterizing. Ive seen dozens of different opinions with empty vs full tank etc

[CZroe]

I stored mine for years with a full tank of Ethanol Free fuel and stabilizer and I will NEVER do that again. Total disaster. It seems like the stabilizer ate away at the brand new petcock and all of the fuel drained through the carbs/cylinders and into the crank. The tank totally rusted.

[CaliGrrl]

Welcome!

[Triple Jim]

Welcome, Nicholas!

Originally Posted by CZroe

I stored mine for years with a full tank of Ethanol Free fuel and stabilizer and I will NEVER do that again. Total disaster. It seems like the stabilizer ate away at the brand new petcock and all of the fuel drained through the carbs/cylinders and into the crank. The tank totally rusted.

I've certainly never had stabilizer cause a problem here, and I use it regularly. If I had to guess, I'd say that moisture got in somehow, maybe before you filled the tank, and it caused the problems you had. You could always put some scrap parts in a jar of fuel and the stabilizer you used, and see what happens over the following weeks. Was this Sta-Bil, or something else?

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

Welcome, Nicholas!



I've certainly never had stabilizer cause a problem here, and I use it regularly. If I had to guess, I'd say that moisture got in somehow, maybe before you filled the tank, and it caused the problems you had. You could always put some scrap parts in a jar of fuel and the stabilizer you used, and see what happens over the following weeks. Was this Sta-Bil, or something else?

Sea Foam. When used as a stabilizer it only claims to stabilize E10 for an extra two years but since I was using E0 (Ethanol free) I thought I’d be good for much more.

I wish I had my Ethanol testing kit back then to verify E0 but the station had a whole separate pump so I assumed it would be the real deal. The original petcock was leaking so after the first couple years I drained the fuel and replaced it along with a full tank of fresh E0. It sat several more years before I found it completely empty.

Perhaps the stabilizers promoting that as their primary use work better. I definitely shouldn’t have let it go that long but people using E0 with no stabilizer seem to have better long term results so I still blame the stabilizer. Regardless, I’m draining the tank if I ever have to do this again!

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by CZroe

Sea Foam.

Oh, that explains it. That stuff contains a fairly high amount of isopropyl alcohol, as listed in its MSDS. I'd never put it in my fuel.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

Oh, that explains it. That stuff contains a fairly high amount of isopropyl alcohol, as listed in its MSDS. I'd never put it in my fuel.

By going ethanol free and then adding Sea Foam, it looks like I replaced one kind of alcohol for another. :/