Modern gas in US

Recently, during car trip to AK, let my bike stand for just under three weeks...something I seldom do----On start up yesterday, it ran like crap, having been ok when I parked it.

Tank was about 3/4 when parked----got to gas station and topped up with pure gas....ran a little better and I expect will in the future as I use gas/fill up/ride. Nothing to get excited about, but bad gas fact of life in US. What was in tank came from high volume/new gas station.

That's most likely due to water seperation from the fuel John, you think E10/15 is bad wait until E 85 is released onto you. If you're going to leave the machine unused for more than a few days then fill it to the brim, this will stop the fuel from absorbing the water vapour in the unfilled section of the tank.

john grinsel wrote:

Recently, during car trip to AK, let my bike stand for just under three weeks...something I seldom do----On start up yesterday, it ran like crap, having been ok when I parked it.

Tank was about 3/4 when parked----got to gas station and topped up with pure gas....ran a little better and I expect will in the future as I use gas/fill up/ride.   Nothing to get excited about, but bad gas fact of life in US.   What was in tank came from high volume/new gas station.

Exactly what is " bad gas " ?

Bad gas---can be watered down/stale/dirty, etc.

I store my Swing in Idaho for up to twelve months at a time. I fill it to the brim with ethanol free gas. You can Google "ethanol free gas stations near me". Where I store my Swing the E-free gas is premium.
I wait for the reserve indicator starts to flash, then I add "STA-BIL Storage" enough for four gallons of gas, then drive to the gas station and fill it to the brim with E-free gas, then back to the house for storage. I also attach a battery tender.

john grinsel wrote:

Bad gas---can be watered down/stale/dirty, etc.

Never ran into that myself, I try to buy from bigger stations with a higher traffic flow. When I do store I double the Stabil dosage and never had a problem so far.

"BAD GAS"-- Filling when a tanker truck is unloading his gas into the tanks of a gas station. I skip a station that has a tanker unloading gas. Stirs up all the sediment in the tanks. Some stations do not replace their pump filters regularly.

Here in Hawaii, I fill up three of my five gallon gas cans when I fill up my truck. At home I use coffee filters in a funnel to do my own filtering. Sometimes I see rubbish in the used filter.

Ethanol is only good in a drink not in your fuel.

It takes the same amount of energy to make a gallon of ethanol as it produces. US. alternative fuel mandates keep it flowing other country's similar I'm sure. I'll stop at that.

Pure gas gives more power and better fuel mileage because it has more BTU s than 10-15% blends.
More than 10% could damage a SW engine and likes to eat some fuel hoses. Ethanol likes to absorb water and ruined many a bike-boat etc engine.

Stabilizer and full tank for storage every winter no problems in 24 years so far.

Who stores bike in winter? I keep them on the road....and use them as transport.....even in cold climate like northern Wisconsin. I realize not everyday is riding day.

Right clothes is secret.

I left my SWing for nearly 4 months this summer with 2/3 tank. Covered bike and it worked fine upon my return. That said it was in a normally dry climate.

I leave my lawn mower and weed eater for the winter so to be safe I drain the fuel out of both of them this is at our summer place (was Washington now Northern Nevada). Fill with fresh fuel in the spring and they run great...

john grinsel wrote:

Who stores bike in winter?  I keep them on the road....and use them as transport.....even in cold climate like northern Wisconsin.   I realize not everyday is riding day.  

Right clothes is secret.

John you are a dedicated rider. I'll ride on a day that starts out above 32F and into 50F but its 5-6 hours sometimes
staying warm takes gear. I'm only a weekend rider and winter can keep it parked for awhile. Ride on.

john grinsel wrote:

Who stores bike in winter?  I keep them on the road....and use them as transport.....even in cold climate like northern Wisconsin.   I realize not everyday is riding day.  

Right clothes is secret.

I do. At minus -20 at times, I do. Sits from basically late October to May.

WI/MN even in winter have days you can ride. I know I have lived and worked there. Salt is the thing that is hard on your bike.

john grinsel wrote:

WI/MN even in winter have days you can ride.  I know I have lived and worked there.  Salt is the thing that is hard on your bike.

Well, I guess it depends on what you call winter and where you are referring to. In my part of the state I won't see a bike until probably April or May. I know further south in MN you'll see a bike out on an extremely nice day.

As implied above, almost all of US can be open to riding during winter months. (Maybe except for Erie, PA, when some winters bring lake-effect snow from October through May).

Now, with fuel injection, which has eliminated battery-killing cold carb starting, it's tempting to get some fresh winter air and take a ride for a pack of gum or a Snickers.