bummed

[DGS65]

Due to life getting in the way of riding my bike has sat for a little over a month sadly it did not want to start yesterday.  After a bit I finally got it to run but clearly it is not running well I poured some seafoam in the tank I hope this will help.  I noticed the tank seems to be near empty which seems wrong to me I believe I had much more fuel in the tank.  I checked the oil and there is no fuel in it the cylinders are not locked up so I don't know where the fuel went.  Part of the problem starting it was I don't think there was enough fuel to reach the pickup tube until I put it on reserve.  We are just getting into Winter and I know it will be a while before I will be riding again but I was hoping not to have to pull the carbs in the Spring.  I will try to let it idle for a bit if I can this afternoon and I plan to pick up none ethanol fuel for the winter I'm hoping this will help!
Any other thoughts welcome.

[Hook#3287]

Assuming the bike was fuel starved.

Stabil marine

Drain the carbs and tank, add new gas with above additive.

Run bike for 5 min or so.  Should be good till spring

If clogged jets, same process with a bottle of  b-12.

Let it sit for a day or so and run her again.  If that doesn't do it, repeat.

It would probably work better if you could ride her some to get the treated fuel passing through the carbs, but with the weather, you can only do what you can do.

Hope this helps.

[Chrisj CMA]

If the fuel was low (reserve area) and the fuel valve NOT set on reserve of course its not going to start but you may have run the battery down  trying.  You may also really sucked the carb bowls dry.  The bike in this situation would take a mile or so RIDING to clear up.  I doubt you can easily get it running right on reserve at idle very quickly.  If you haven't tried to ride it after switching to reserve and getting it started you really don't know what you have yet.

[gordonv]

Most of us consider Seafoam a mild cleaner, not a fuel stabilizer. There is a difference. I did use Seafoam my first winter when I started riding 9 years ago, but didn't have any running issues in the spring. But i did add in 1/2 can of B-12 in my 1st fresh tank of fuel after being taken out of storage.

Like Chrisj mentioned, until you get the bike out riding again, will you know if you have any problem or not.

The most important thing to do, is to insure the tank is fully filled with fuel. This will prevent rusting. Bad fuel can be cleaned out fairly easily, but rust needs work.

[DGS65]

I cause my biggest concern is what happened to the fuel in the tank?  The petcock was off where did it go?  I replaced the petcock a few months ago granted I used a cheap china valve but even if it failed the fuel had to go somewhere I just don't know where.  It's not in the oil, it's not in the cylinders or even the exhaust so where did it go?  I must be missing at least a gallon or two minimum.  If I have time tomorrow I will pull it out tomorrow and at least let it run for a bit.  I would like to pick up fuel first and they just don't sell none ethanol locally.   

[gordonv]

I live near the ocean (2-300 yards from the Fraser River), on the Wet Coast, it's the start of the winter rains (very little freezing weather), in the parkade there is usually a lot of condensation, and locally I buy only fuel with up to 10% ethenal, and I have not had problems.

Only the last year started using Marine Stabil (I didn't know there was a version for marine). My bike sits without running for about 4-5 months. I know many from the US say they have issues with their fuel, but, knock-on-wood, I haven't yet had any problem that didn't clear up after a full fresh tank of fuel in the spring and some Berryman B-12.

I also do my best to run Chevron fuel in the tank, it includes Techron, a cleaner.

[Chrisj CMA]

I cause my biggest concern is what happened to the fuel in the tank?  The petcock was off where did it go?  I replaced the petcock a few months ago granted I used a cheap china valve but even if it failed the fuel had to go somewhere I just don't know where.  It's not in the oil, it's not in the cylinders or even the exhaust so where did it go?  I must be missing at least a gallon or two minimum.  If I have time tomorrow I will pull it out tomorrow and at least let it run for a bit.  I would like to pick up fuel first and they just don't sell none ethanol locally.  

Do your kids have a mini bike, four wheeler or boat?  

[Hook#3287]

I cause my biggest concern is what happened to the fuel in the tank?  The petcock was off where did it go?  I replaced the petcock a few months ago granted I used a cheap china valve but even if it failed the fuel had to go somewhere I just don't know where.  It's not in the oil, it's not in the cylinders or even the exhaust so where did it go?  I must be missing at least a gallon or two minimum.  If I have time tomorrow I will pull it out tomorrow and at least let it run for a bit.  I would like to pick up fuel first and they just don't sell none ethanol locally.  

Do your kids have a mini bike, four wheeler or boat?  

good  question

[..]

Reminded me to put some Stabil in my carbs tank.



 

[DGS65]

I cause my biggest concern is what happened to the fuel in the tank?  The petcock was off where did it go?  I replaced the petcock a few months ago granted I used a cheap china valve but even if it failed the fuel had to go somewhere I just don't know where.  It's not in the oil, it's not in the cylinders or even the exhaust so where did it go?  I must be missing at least a gallon or two minimum.  If I have time tomorrow I will pull it out tomorrow and at least let it run for a bit.  I would like to pick up fuel first and they just don't sell none ethanol locally.  

Do your kids have a mini bike, four wheeler or boat?  

LOL my kids are grown and out of the house I wish it was this simple!  I got home late today so I didn't have a chance to run it but maybe tomorrow.  I had a long day,  my installer blow the radiator in one of my work trucks so that killed my day and my wallet. 

[pancho]

I also have fuel disappear when my bike sits,,, never have figured where it goes. I notice it in the miles per tank I get as I keep track of my MPG every tank. I never smell gas in the shop,, does not go into the oil, but if the bike sits for a week or two, I might record 23 MPG on that tank. If I am riding, I will get 32 or 33 MPG on those tankfuls. I hope you can get to the bottom of it as it has always been a mystery to me.

[RWhitehouse]

Mine developed an issue with a float sticking on the right side rearmost carb. Every now and then you'd flip the gas on (has a Pingel) and gas would immediately start pouring out. A few taps and it'd sort itself out, but was doing it more and more frequently. Tried a tank w/Seafoam and didn't seem to help.

Eventually pulled the tank off, and hooked a little funnel to the fuel line going to the rails. Carbs were still full of gas. Started it up and let it run, pouring seafoam straight into the funnel. Got smokey as the fuel was replaced with straight seafoam. Kept it going as long as I could before it stalled, rapping the throttle and opening the choke to pull the seafoam into all the carb circuits.  Let it sit overnight. Next day, drained the bowls, put the tank back on and fired it up. Lots of smoke for a minute or two but cleared up and the float hasn't stuck since (throttle is also a lot crisper, so may have had some partially plugged jets as well- although it perceptibly ran fine before aside from the intermittent carb leak)

Give the "seafoam soak" a try. While I haven't done it on the Valk, another shadetree trick for carb issues is to have it running, rev it up, then slap your hand over the carb throat. This creates a huge vacuum spike (far higher than would ever normally occur when coasting) and can actually "suck" crud out of the jets, namely, plugged idle circuits. I've had moderate success with this over the years- sometimes it does nothing, sometimes it slightly helps, sometimes it makes a big difference. But it's free, quick, easy, and can't hurt anything, so to me always worth a shot before yanking and disassembling carbs.

[DGS65]

I finally had some time to let the bike sit and run with seafoam in the tank.  I let it run for maybe 30 minutes while I made ammo for tonight's match.  I'm happy to say the bike is running great!
I picked up some non ethanol gas I plan to run some through the carbs before I put it away for the Winter.  I hope to bring the bike over to my in laws to store in their garage for the Winter to make a little room in my garage.  I have to rebuild the carb on my snow thrower but I can barely move in my garage at this time.