3 quick questions

[1986cb450sc]

I just got my bike out of storage on monday, put the battery in and after a little bit of cranking, it fired right up. I was amazed, i didnt thinnk i was gonna start that easy(i put it away in novemeber). Couple questions before i start putting the miles on this season.

1. Do i NEED to drain the gas that has been treated with fuel stabilizer, or is it ok to run through that tank.
2. I want to throw some SeaFoam in the next tank, how much should i put in? and will it do any damage to seals/gaskets etc?
3. I have a clutch/springs coming in the next week, and i dont want to change the oil till i install the clutch, if i rode the bike till i install the clutch w/o changing the oil, am i doing any damage to the bike, since there probably is some moisture in the crankcase from sitting through the winter?

Thanks for the help.

[Snoopy]

Well when I bring a bike out of storage after being stored with stabil, i run the gas thru and have never had any problems.   I just put some seafoam in my bike to help clear the grunge out, read the bottle  and it should say how much to put in the tank i.e. so much seafoam treats so much gas.  If the oil is at the limit to where it needed changed when you parked the bike i would reccomend changing first, but if not personally i have never changed it after sitting for a winter.  but thats just my 2¢'s worth.

[Brittles]

I'd drain that old gas and burn it in my car. Like Snoopy said, probably not a big deal if you don't, but I'm a little anal about stuff.

John

[detdrbuzzard]

i would use the gas in the bike the fill up and add seafoam and even if you need an oil change the few miles you may go over milage will not make a difference, i would wait until the clutch work was done

[Bumblebee]

1. Push the start button and ride.
2. Why do you want to add seafoam? What's the real world purpose?
3. Ride then change the clutch, oil and oil filter when the hardware arrives. The moisture in the crankcase will burn off while your riding. A few more days isn't going to hurt anything.

You did do a return to service inspection of some kind didn't you? You know, things like cleaning the chain, air pressure check, making sure all the bolts are tight, no new corrosion anywhere, no critters setting camp in your wiring, stuff like that.

BTW, if you stored the motorcycle properly, you would have done an oil change and rode it for a hundred miles or so before putting it up for the winter. The idea is to get the old oil that's full of corrosive combustion generated chemicals out of the machine before setting it up for storage. The short ride after the change burns moisture out of the new oil before storing.

Five months storage is nothing unless it's been submerged in water, something corrosive or severely neglected. Go have fun.

[Snoopy]

Good point bumblebee.  The only reason why im putting seafoam in my tank is because the bike sat in storage for about 6 years and I put in after we cleaned the carbs.  This was to clean the rest of the gunk out.

[1986cb450sc]

1. Push the start button and ride.
2. Why do you want to add seafoam? What's the real world purpose?
3. Ride then change the clutch, oil and oil filter when the hardware arrives. The moisture in the crankcase will burn off while your riding. A few more days isn't going to hurt anything.

You did do a return to service inspection of some kind didn't you? You know, things like cleaning the chain, air pressure check, making sure all the bolts are tight, no new corrosion anywhere, no critters setting camp in your wiring, stuff like that.

BTW, if you stored the motorcycle properly, you would have done an oil change and rode it for a hundred miles or so before putting it up for the winter. The idea is to get the old oil that's full of corrosive combustion generated chemicals out of the machine before setting it up for storage. The short ride after the change burns moisture out of the new oil before storing.

Five months storage is nothing unless it's been submerged in water, something corrosive or severely neglected. Go have fun.

Some good points here. As far as the seafoam, most people on here swear by it, i figured i'd give it a try to keep things clean in the carbs.

No i didnt do the oil, because i knew i would need to do the clutch this spring.

Thanks for the info.

[Brittles]

You guys do what you want, but I wouldn't be runnin'  5 month old gas through my machine.....stabil or not.

John

[Bumblebee]

You guys do what you want, but I wouldn't be runnin'  5 month old gas through my machine.....stabil or not.

At this very moment I'm sitting on 60 gallons of 8 month old fuel with no sta-bil. It runs just as good as the stuff that comes out of the gas nozzle at the station. No decrease in performance. No sludge. Same mileage.
I've ran fuel that was stored for up to 18 months and had no problems with it. Over the years I've had more problems with ethanol fuel right out of the pump than non ethanol fuel that's sat around for over a year. Ethanol fuel that's sat around is no worse than the stuff out of the pump.
At one point I did run fuel that has sat in a fuel tank for 4.5 years just because it was sitting around and I didn't feel like pouring it out on the ground. It tried to start but it ran like crap so I diluted it with new fuel at 3:1 and mileage dropped a good bit however it didn't hurt anything.

As far as the seafoam, most people on here swear by it

I've noticed that too. I'm a bit sketpical though however that's a potential topic for another thread when I haven't been up for 21+ hours straight and expecting a 3 hour break before running for another 20 hours...and NO, drinking seafoam won't fix the misfiring cylinders in my brain at the moment. 

[Brittles]

You guys do what you want, but I wouldn't be runnin'  5 month old gas through my machine.....stabil or not.

At this very moment I'm sitting on 60 gallons of 8 month old fuel with no sta-bil. It runs just as good as the stuff that comes out of the gas nozzle at the station. No decrease in performance. No sludge. Same mileage.
I've ran fuel that was stored for up to 18 months and had no problems with it. Over the years I've had more problems with ethanol fuel right out of the pump than non ethanol fuel that's sat around for over a year. Ethanol fuel that's sat around is no worse than the stuff out of the pump.

Like I said, to each his own. But it's not for me.

John

[Sideways]

I always run the gas with the sta-bil in it, I 'swish' the bike back and fourth a little to mix it up (have no idea if that helps or not)
I also put seafoam in even though I'm not sure it really does anything, I figure it's not going to hurt and it's a cheap thing to do if it really does help.

I didnt know about changing your oil before you store it though,i'll do that next  year.