RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,754
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
I had a 650 for many years but the carburation/modern gas main jet always plugging up if it sat more than a few weeks was driving me nuts. I do miss the snap of that 650 motor but enjoy the WR250r's fuel injection.
Unless there was some other problem like a decaying fuel line or rusting fuel tank, I have a hard time believing that the fuel was causing a blockage of the main jet. Even if the main was blocked, it's the idle jet and choke/enrichener that control fuel during starting. Fuel doesn't go bad in just a few weeks either, but it does go bad, and it will make a bike hard to start (that's how I picked up a Yamaha XT225 for $500 less than the asking price).
If you know you won't be riding for a while, do yourself a favor and add Stabil or some other preservative to the tank before your last ride, then drain the carb (or run the engine with the petcock off until it dies). Especially if your riding is intermittent, make it a point to drain the carb because it could turn out to be several months before you throw a leg over again, and that's long enough for the gas to sour. Not a bad idea to keep a battery maintainer hooked up as well, especially if the bike has a lot of electronics, or an old school analog clock.