Running bike out of gas

[themastiffman]

My bike is a newly purchased 05 200. On my sons bike klx110 I have encountered hard initial starting and it just generally runs like crap for the first 10 minutes of each ride unless I have run the gas out of the carb before putting it away the ride before. I was told by the dealer that this is due to the small amount of ethanol blended into almost all gasolines on the east coast during the last year or so separates in the small passages over a few weeks storage time between rides and takes time to clear out. I found this hard to believe but I have never encountered the problem when I have run the bike out of gas at the end of previous ride. I have encountered the problem EVERY time I dont run the gas out if I let the bike sit longer that 4 days to a week. My KDX responds similarly in the hard initial start if the gas sits but starts 1st kick every time if I run it out. Has anyone else run into similar circumstances or do I just have gremlins? I have conducted this experiment numerous times with the same result but I dont want to run my bike to lean by turning my petcock off while ending my ride. Any info or opinions are appreciated.

 

[IndyMX]

As do a lot of others on here, I drain my tank and carb after each day of riding. I may leave it in overnight, if I know for sure that I'll be riding the next day, but never longer than that.

If you leave gas in the carb much longer you increase the chance that the fuel will foul and leave a nasty mess in your carb.

It's become just one more step in my post ride cleaning process. Sounds like something you should think about too..

 

[John Harris]

I'm from the old, old school and I still run the gas out of my two strokes after every ride. Gas will evaporate and leave oil to gum up the carb otherwise. I am told that with current gas quality that it is even more of a concern. I still have periodic problems with water/moisture in gas from time to time. It accumulates in the bottom of the carb--just loosen the big drain screw in the bottom of the carb and flush everything out periodically. Don't get me started on ethanol in gasoline, but my opinion is that is poison for a two stroke. Strive to buy gasoline for you two stroke with out alcohol in it. Cheers John

 

[themastiffman]

I totally agree on the ethanol in gasoline issue, but I am told by some seemingly informed people that recently an additive in gasoline called mtbe or similar was banned by the EPA a year ago and replaced by ethanol or a chemical derived from ethanol in all gasolines. It is very coincidental that during this time period is when I began having the described problems with my son's bike. I usually ride once a week or every other week and cant justify draining all the fuel from my bike after every ride as alot of my rides are with my son and 20 - 30 minutes in duration. Just wondering if I was damaging anything by running with the fuel **** closed for a minute or so at low speed to clear the fuel out. This had never been an issue with all my/my kids bikes/atv's in the past because I use stabilizer in all my fuel. Never know when things are going to sit longer than I want them to. Stabilizer does not seem to help with this problem.

 

[IndyMX]

I think for the time it takes, and the effort involved, draining the carb float bowl correctly, is much safer and easier than running the engine dry the way you are proposing.

It causes no harm at all to turn the drain plug on the float bowl.. Running a 2 stroke out of gas like you suggest could cause damage in the long run.

 

[themastiffman]

Thanks for the input. I will more than likely start draining the bowl. Also wanted to inform everyone on what I heard about the fuel composition. Thanks again