Fuel stabiliser, yes or no?

[Rocky20]

Bike has gone away earlier than normal this year, it’ll probably be 6 months before it’s used again, is fuel stabiliser worth using? What’re the pros and cons of it? Just don’t want the fuel going gloopy etc in the lines/injectors.

[Jazoli]

No its not necessary, at all.

[Lincsls1]

IMO, its probably not necessary, but I doubt there are any cons other than the cost of a bottle.
I'd also say, at typically £10-12 its not expensive once a year, if it gives you some peace of mind, put some in!

[CoolHands]

I used it once. I think it’s worth it for peace of mind if storing for a few months

[the cueball]

Nope.

[AceOfHearts]

I use it, especially in carbed bikes. Cheap insurance and bikes always start right up in spring

[s1dew1nd3r]

Rocky20 said:

Bike has gone away earlier than normal this year, it’ll probably be 6 months before it’s used again, is fuel stabiliser worth using? What’re the pros and cons of it? Just don’t want the fuel going gloopy etc in the lines/injectors.

You can actually buy "storage fuel" which is ethanol free fuel...

https://aaoil.co.uk/product/r-storage-plus/

its not cheap BUT it will do the job, failing that get yourself to one of the newer Esso Synergy+ garages they sell a 0% ethanol fuel called synergy99+! brim your tank!

[Max5476]

Now that normal fuel has gone to E10 I would be a bit more cautious about storage. I will probably fill a tank or two with premium before it goes away for winter.

The storage fuel mentioned above sounds interesting particularly for older classics more likely to become clogged.

It depends a lot on the age of the bike, and what the garage is like that it's being stored in.

[srob]

Max5476 said:

Now that normal fuel has gone to E10 I would be a bit more cautious about storage. I will probably fill a tank or two with premium before it goes away for winter.

The storage fuel mentioned above sounds interesting particularly for older classics more likely to become clogged.

It depends a lot on the age of the bike, and what the garage is like that it's being stored in.

As mentioned above, I think it will depend what fuel you have in it. E5 (super unleaded) may well be ok but I'd be wary of leaving E10 for long. From what I've read, the higher the ethanol content the higher the moisture content if left as the ethanol clings to water.

We drain all the fuel out of all our bikes when we leave them for long, but they're older and carb'd. E10's a bit of an unknown in this country for now so I'd air on the side of caution.

[Krikkit]

E10 is indeed hygroscopic, best thing to do is either drain it or just follow it to the brim - the smaller the surface area revised to air the better, and the bigger the volume for the absorbed water to dissipate into.

[J B L]

What if you fill it up a couple fo time with 97ron and above? Aren't all these premium petrol E5 still? (Ultimate, Momentum etc...)

[srob]

J B L said:

What if you fill it up a couple fo time with 97ron and above? Aren't all these premium petrol E5 still? (Ultimate, Momentum etc...)

Yep. I think you'd be ok with an E5 - I inadvertently left some E5 (Super unleaded) in my 63 Velocette for over a year and started it a couple of weeks ago. Didn't expect it to go but it literally started first kick. I was a bit annoyed as I had a weekend of tinkering in the shed planned to strip the carb' down

[Kawasicki]

Some of it is bad for your bike

https://youtu.be/chsGBhB5g7o

[HughiusMaximus]

I think I recall reading that Esso premium petrol is ethanol free - its what I use when putting the bikes to bed for the winter!

[Green1man]

Fuel stabilisers don’t seem very effective based on this analysis. Better hunting out some ethanol free fuel IMO.

https://youtu.be/UvS_D4_lF5U

[AceOfHearts]

After watching that I'm glad that I'm using Stabil!

[Rob 131 Sport]

AA oil appears to be out of stock for 20 Litres. I want to store the bike and lawnmower over the winter and was planning to use the Esso Synergy 99.

However I’ve heard that in the North West the fuel is not Ethonal Free. I’m down in the South East every week and will pick some fuel up in a can (2 lots of 10 litres).

However my Petrol cans absolutely stink of fuel and I didn’t want to transport them in the car. Can anyone recommend a high quality can (10 or 20 Litres) that is leak proof and isn’t going to smell after the first use.

[kimducati]

Rob 131 Sport said:

AA oil appears to be out of stock for 20 Litres. I want to store the bike and lawnmower over the winter and was planning to use the Esso Synergy 99.

However I’ve heard that in the North West the fuel is not Ethonal Free. I’m down in the South East every week and will pick some fuel up in a can (2 lots of 10 litres).

However my Petrol cans absolutely stink of fuel and I didn’t want to transport them in the car. Can anyone recommend a high quality can (10 or 20 Litres) that is leak proof and isn’t going to smell after the first use.

You could also try your local garden equipment shop and get some Aspen fuel. It comes as a premix for 2 stroke weed whackers, etc or neat for 4 strokes. From memory a bit dearer than the stuff mentioned above but the BIG advantage is that it doesn't smell - well, not of petrol anyway, just a faint white spirit sort of smell, not 'orrible to have inside the car.
Petrol nowadays smells more like diesel than petrol to me - the old four / five star (pre unleaded) had a 'clean' smell which disappeared once any liquid had evaporated away, not the mucky oily smell which is left on your hands / clothes / carpet now!!
kim
eta The best cans are the old fashioned 'jerry cans', they have a very good seal, but once you've had petrol in them, they'll stink - see above!!

Edited by kimducati on Monday 11th October 20:53