Interesting tank maintenance tips from a motorcycl

[umairhashmi]

The owner of my local bike shop has been into bikes himself since he was 14 and right now is close to 60.He says after every ride always top off your tank with fuel as it keeps the inside of the tank protected against rust and also air bubbles in there and in the long term i am much less likely to have tank problems.Never heard of that one before.Any comments?

 

[johnstein]

good call full of fuel , no room for air or moisture !

 

[BlueHaya]

Even in your car it is good to keep more than a 1/2 tank during the cold months to avoid condensation.  

 

[psycobusa]

always keep any dangerously fast vehicles tank topped off.......you never know when you're gonna hafta outrun the police

 

[steelhead]

I've heard the same things, too. It doesn't hurt to keep your fuel tank full. Only thing...in Korea, the price of gas is 1400 Won, which is about $1.50 per liter. No one around here keeps their tank full for that reason, ie, it's just too expensive. I guess the process of procrastination, that is, not filling up as often, makes it less of a painful reminder that gasoline in Asia-Pacific is a very precious commodity.

Yikes!

 

[Haelo]

It also helps to regularly use in-tank Fuel Injection cleaners, in such a way that you pour some into the tank and let it sit overnight. Helps keep your tank and fuel pump inlet from getting carboned up.

 

[tinbender0]

 

[MN72Busa]

I use the Techron stuff every 1000 miles in my fuel system.

Oh, another thing I will pass on is this. In Minnesota it seems like every gas station sells fuel with Ethanol in their product...I'd say a blend from 10% now up to 20%

What Im doing now before the snow comes is to run 2 or 3 tanks ofsuper 92...yah its higher octane than I want, and have to drive a ways to get it, and costs more, but it has no ethanol in it. A lot of the classic car guys use it, and Ive been told the Ethanol blend when left to sit can ruin your tank...even with fuel stable in it.

 

[Turbo-Torch]

Ethanol has been around my area for decades. Steel mills pollute so blame the cars in the region, bring in EPA emission testing and crap gas.
I remember (back in the disco era) when everybody was clamoring on how it was going to single handedly destroy their car's gas tank, fuel lines, soft carb parts, fuel pump diaphram ect.
Recently sold my Corvair that has seen every type of gas from the past 41 years, 30 of which had 10% ethonal and it had the original fuel tank and fuel lines. It even had years of the oxygenated crap only used in certain counties which was also going to be the end all killer of everything fuel system related including eating fuel injectors alive.
My 31 year old Stingray has also seen it all too and the original bladder inside the tank has held up fine.

I've never heard of 20% being used. Cars are only required to be designed for 10%. If there are gas stations selling 20% I hope they have big bold red warning lables on the pumps. We have plenty of E85 stations around here too but they make it loud and clear as to what you're putting in your tank.

 

[MN72Busa]

(Turbo-Torch @ Nov. 03 2006,21:20) I've never heard of 20% being used. Cars are only required to be designed for 10%. If there are gas stations selling 20% I hope they have big bold red warning lables on the pumps. We have plenty of E85 stations around here too but they make it loud and clear as to what you're putting in your tank.

Well, lets see here...Minnesota may be one of the only states going to this new 20% blend, but its a reality in MN. There waas a big stink about it because basically all car makers, small enging makers state they can use upto 10% ethanol and still have a warranty...ok, so now at 20% it looks like our little test bed of a state for the nation in concerns to ethanol will basically void any manufacturer warranty.

Politicians have kept the concerns and the talk to a minimum, and for obvious good reason, however the issue does come up on talk radio.

As far as running the oxygen stuff or ethanol stuff, Ive had no issues running it....the concern comes when leaving a tank of it sit for 5 or 6 months out of the year.

Im no expert in this field of fuel, but the 20% ethanol will be comming sooner or later...its a great way to keep the corn farmers happy....a whole other world of politics. The only way it wont be a reality is if us MN folks start blowing up our cars, and file class action lawsuits, if there is an issue.

 

[forceofnature]

I belive this guy is correct. An old buddy never kept his tank full on the Ninja and it was so rusted on the interior it sounded like sand was in it.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

Having 24 and 27 yr old CBXs, I've learned to top the tanks off everytime they're shut down for the night. I also run some gas treatment thru the systems every so often especially during the colder months. With 12 carbs to deal with I do NOT want any rusty fuel tank problems.

 

[Turbo-Torch]

(Valium @ Nov. 03 2006,19:30)

(Turbo-Torch @ Nov. 03 2006,21:20) I've never heard of 20% being used.  Cars are only required to be designed for 10%.  If there are gas stations selling 20% I hope they have big bold red warning lables on the pumps.  We have plenty of E85 stations around here too but they make it loud and clear as to what you're putting in your tank.

Well, lets see here...Minnesota may be one of the only states going to this new 20% blend, but its a reality in MN. There waas a big stink about it because basically all car makers, small enging makers state they can use upto 10% ethanol and still have a warranty...ok, so now at 20% it looks like our little test bed of a state for the nation in concerns to ethanol will basically void any manufacturer warranty.

Politicians have kept the concerns and the talk to a minimum, and for obvious good reason, however the issue does come up on talk radio.

As far as running the oxygen stuff or ethanol stuff, Ive had no issues running it....the concern comes when leaving a tank of it sit for 5 or 6 months out of the year.

Im no expert in this field of fuel, but the 20% ethanol will be comming sooner or later...its a great way to keep the corn farmers happy....a whole other world of politics. The only way it wont be a reality is if us MN folks start blowing up our cars, and file class action lawsuits, if there is an issue.

As long as the cars are made to run off it, I don't see a problem with more ethanol. Thing is they need to release the cars FIRST and then bring the gas onto the market and phase it in over time like when we switched from leaded to unleaded.
Of course the 20% would need to be cheaper otherwise why bother when there's a pump with 10% right next to it.

That's crazy they're doing something like that in Minnesota, never been there but I always pictured that as one of the cleanest states where pollution wouldn't be an issue.

The E85 has been around here for over a year and it's a bit cheaper than regular 87 but your dual fuel car gets way less mpg with it so it ends up costing you more in the long run. Less power, less mileage and more cost, why even bother? Now if the stuff was $1.00 a gallon I'd be all over it!
Pretty safe to say that if you were using 20% ethanol in a normal car or Busa your mileage and power would drop a bit.

I just don't understand all this tree hugging alternate fuel crap. The EPA wants to push it but in the end it isn't more economical or cutting down on pollution. They need to try dropping the damn price of the fuel to encourage manufacturers to build the cars and consumers to buy them. Technology will eventually improve and we'll get something that works.

Hybrid cars are the biggest joke. May as well buy a Ford Excursion as it'll cost less over the course of 10 years.

 

[Projekt]

American domestic fuel prices are controlled by a choice few families. Most of which live in Houston. Their trillion dollar bread and butter is Gasoline, Diesel and other petroleum based fuel products. If they were to allow the lower pricing of alternative fuels not to mention Diesel (which used to cost twenty five percent of what it does now), they would seal their own coffins from the inside.
The very reason that Diesel fuel's price was inflated in the not too istant past is because critical technological advancements were made in powertrain development to use diesel. Europeans have had high-performance clean diesels for well over ten years. So it is very convenient that americans were forced to pay more for their diesel fuel so as to keep the appeal of clean fast diesel cars out of the US market. If anybody thinks that the EPA has the United States' best interests in mind and operates autonymously they have a lot to learn. Fact is that the EPA works for the people in control of the government and not in order to keep things clean.
How did GWB manage to pass major deforestation projects, petroleum exploration projects, and keep us out of International Global Warming Emissions limiting initiatives under the nose of the EPA? Because his friends control it.