Let Bike sit for weeks, now seems fuel starved

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

and the bike is suitable for demoing to a prospective buyer again.

Speaking of that, someone suggested in another thread to contact the people in the area that do the MSF courses. Right about now they might be looking for some replacements after a hard summer of newbies. The GZ seems to be one of their favorite bikes.

[alanmcorcoran]

I think the guys at the class Moedad and I took said all of the bikes were "donated" by dealers. Maybe I am misremembering.

[b1pig]

my wife's bike does that pretty often. If it sits for a few weeks, it doesnt want to start. i found the fastest way was to pull the left side cover off and put my hand over the intake/filter inlet. the "choke" isnt really a choke. its a mixture enrichment. caping the intake off forms a stronger suction and helps pull the fuel through the carb. i also run a little Lucas through our bikes every now and again.

i read recently that the 10% ethanol has a "shelf life" of roughly 45 days. this can vary by the environment. higher humidity, shorter... vented tank... shorter... sealed tank, low humidity... longer...
Also... alcohol attracts water. water will cause separation of the fuel mix. water at the bottom, gas in the middle and alcohol at the top. 3 spoon fulls will contaminate a tank.

Lori's GZ sat all winter. I pulled the fuel line off the carb and drained roughly 8-10 ounces of gas into a clear bottle. Definitely had water in it. swished and drained some more, and it ran pretty good right away when i got it going...

[Water Warrior 2]

Shelf Life. Never would have occured to me. Thanks for that info.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by b1pig

I pulled the fuel line off the carb and drained roughly 8-10 ounces of gas into a clear bottle. Definitely had water in it. swished and drained some more, and it ran pretty good right away when i got it going...

There is an easier way.

On the bottom of the carb, there is a drain nipple with a small hose attached (I think). Where that attaches to the carb, there is a shut-off screw. If you open that screw, you can drain some out of the tank (petcock on PRIme) AND drain the carb float bowl at the same time.

I used to do that with my bikes every spring; started before Stabil became widely available.
Now I don't but have considered starting to do it again. I definitely would do it if the first run of spring ends up running rough.......or being VERY hard to start.