Oh No! I Got Bad Gas!!

[biglou]

Had some trouble with my kTm for the first time in the 13 months that I have owned it. My buddy Joe was riding with me, just putting along when he said it just quit as if the kill switch had been pushed. Hmmm, well, it did sit for about 30 minutes while he was taking pics of me jumping. Maybe he fouled the plug (This bike has never, not once fouled a plug. No kidding). I changed the plug, no fire. OK, maybe there is water in the gas. I drained the float bowl. Still no fire. Well, lemme pull the carb off and check the jets to see if they're plugged. No problems there. Put it back together and she missed and sputtered for about 3 seconds but didn't quite catch. After that, nothing. No fire. OK, we're done for the day. It is 100+ degrees here and we had been riding for about 4 hours at that point. Actually, probably 30-45 minutes of ride time on the kTm since I had Joe busy with the camera!.

On the drive home, I am thinking reeds for some reason. Just remembering justql's GasGas dying like that all at once at BadlandsMX in texas. So this morning I tore into her. Kill switch: working, no sticking contacts. Reeds were perfect. Gap on the stator was perfect. Spark was good and strong. Compression was 195-200 PSI. Well, heck. That's about all I can think of! I had just put two fresh gallons of Amoco Premium in her yesterday. I usually mix the day of the ride and only keep what I burn for the day, then discard the rest for fresh gas next time out. I really wonder if I could have gotten bad gas from Amoco? I have used them exclusively for 2-1/2 yrs now.

Last step: Drained every last drop of premix out of the punkin. Poured it into friend's wife's car, and went up to Texaco for some of their Premium, which is one pump octane point lower than Amoco's 92 at 91 AKI. Anywho, after draining the float bowl, and letting it refill with the fresh Texaco fuel, the bike fired first kick and sounded great! Music to my ears. Nice to know that everything on the bike is in good shape.

The lesson here is, bad gas can be a major PITA! I would have never thought I'd get bad gas from Amoco, but I guess there's a first time for everything. It can sure make you work at it to hunt that problem down. Lesson learned! :D

 

[YZDezertGuy]

wow! Bad gas is one thing I never think of! Glad ya got the beast running! This brings a question to mind... is it okay to keep a couple gallons of premix in a plastic gas can for say... a week? Would that make it bad?

 

[biglou]

I'll go one month. That's my limit. A lot of guys will only go one week or even less. One month in a sealed metal can kept in a cool place is reasonable. I had probably a quart or two left in the tank from a ride four weeks ago. I poured in the "fresh" two gallons that I pumped and mixed yesterday and after about 30 minutes, she just stopped running. Very strange, but that's the only thing I changed that made her run.

 

[Rooster]

When I first read the title to this post, I was half skeered to look! :moon:

I'm kinda on the month max plan too. I've only once had gas go so bad I couldn't get my bike started, but that was over an entire winter. I just pour any leftovers into my weed eater, leaf blower or chainsaw (they run on anything), if I have a bunch, I run it through my lawnmower.

 

[Joepro9]

Any guys In the PA area, I hear stay away from sheetz gas for bike and law equipmet, I dunno why, but a mecahnic at my dad store told me this. I use citgo instead, so far no problems. But wow, not to use sheetz,(the best place around the area) my neigbor actucally grew up with the founder of the company, I better not tell him Im not running sheetzs gas. ;) Wow I am weird :(

 

[Ol'89r]

Originally posted by RoosteR13
When I first read the title to this post, I was half skeered to look! :moon:

Me too. I figured Elk had to be involved somehow. :) :)

 

[Chief]

Hi Lou.

Sounds kinda freaky. Too bad it cut your ride short. Who woulda thought? I'd expect bad gas to possibly make for poor performance, but never a dead bike.

I also use the amoco (93) religiously. I keep 6 gallons max on hand and only pre-mix enough for one ride, usually 2 gallons. When I'm done, the leftover pre-mix sits for about a week until I ride again. The unmixed stuff could be sitting for up to 5 weeks though. I guess that's a long time, but I haven't had any problems (yet).

Thanks for the Experience. BTW, Very nice pics!!!

Joe Chief

 

[JuliusPleaser]

I've used AMOCO for ten years, and I've never had a problem with their gas. I guess anything's possible. Now I'm gonna be paranoid.

Glad you figured it out before you tore the motor down. :)

 

[jharmon]

It's probably not the supplier of the gas, but the container they keep it in. If you had problem with Amoco gas, then I would tell the manager of the station. There may be something wrong with the holding container underground.

That happened in my town. The gas was fine for the longest time, then people started to have problems with there cars running. The owner of the gas station found that there MAY have been a problem with the underground tanks. Foretunately for him, the problem was small enough where the EPA didn't have to get involved.

It's not too hard for the manager to test the gas either. It could save Amoco a whole lot of money, and a lawsuit if they detect any problems quickly.

I'm glad nothing happened to the bike Lou.

 

[1999RM125]

is it just me or do us in canada have better pump gas? i mean the lowest premium gas ive seen is 92, i always go to Davis fuels and get 94 premium...

 

[Chili]

Originally posted by BigLou
Last step: Drained every last drop of premix out of the punkin. Poured it into friend's wife's car

So what does the friends wife think of you dumping the bad gas in her car? :)

 

[Chief]

Great info jharmon.

The Amoco station I use just had everything redone, tanks, credit card pumps etc. They sell pretty good pizza, have picnic tables inside and out, and I can ride to it if need be.

I've always complained that I had to go inside to pay, but now that they have the autocard pumps, I think I'll still go inside. They seem to have a habit of hiring beautiful women, what was I thinkin?

Also, take it easy on Lou. He never said he poured bad premix into his friend's car, he said he poured it into his friend's WIFE'S car. There could be a major difference here. I'm vouching for you Lou, but to save face I think you might explain your decision and stick to it. ;)


Chief

 

[BSWIFT]

Glad to hear that was your problem Lou. Easier fix than a top end.

 

[jboomer]

How do you dispose of the old gas? I've always just used it anyway, no matter how old it was.

 

[biglou]

I would have dumped it into my truck, but I just filled up that morning. I put what I could in the mower and its gas can, and dumped the rest into a friend's wife's car. It will mix and burn fine in an auto, I just didn't have any room in the truck for it.

 

[smb_racing]

Your premium stuff is 91-92 octane out there? :eek:

 

[oldguy]

Lou I wouldn't condem the gas station so quick. I have had similar where one bike ran fine and the other wouldn't on the same gas. Possible you got water in the gas washing the bike or transporting it in the rain in your truck. Very little water in the carb bowl can cause alot of problems. We often drain the bowls just to prevent water accumulating there.