Vintage Bike Question

[Bear]

I bought a 1981 Yamaha 650. In 1981 there was no Ethanol, so I would expect that the Ethanol could cause real issues. Can anyone suggest a fuel additive that would add lubricity to the fuel as well as lessening the bad effects of the Ethanol ?

Synthetic oil would probably not be a good idea.

 

[kenstone]

I remember the 1st time around when they called it "gasohol" and the 1st tankful ate thru the excelorator pump diaphram in my Toyota truck.
So gas was running directly into the intake manifold, via the vac line.

We're lucky enough to have stations that sell non eth gas, and what I try and use in my 83 Ascot.
I put an aftermarket petcock on it and some eth gas ate up the Oring in the sediment bowl, in a little town in northern Nevada...on a Sunday.
After several attempts to match the Oring at an Ace Hardware, I ended up using a faucet washer, and it's still in there.
Ken

 

[charlie b]

Just run it.

My 84 Guzzi runs just fine on all of it. No additives needed at all.

 

[Bear]

Thanks a million, guys. I plan to ride this bike, not just take it to Vintage Rallies. If the bike has to sit a few days, I'll run the fuel out of the carb. My concern was lubricity. I still have vivid memories of what unleaded gas did to my Universal Blue Jacket Twin inboard on my first sailboat--the valves were severely damaged. People would use Re-Lead or Marvel Mystery Oil to retard the eventual demise of the engine. We went through the same drill when Sulfur was taken out of Diesel Fuel.

The NT runs beautifully on Shell or Mobil 87 Octane with a dollop of Star-Tron fuel treatment (Recommended by my mechanic who drag races his Kawasaki) When touring, I use enough gas that it has no chance to sit in the tank.

 

[Pick]

Alex, I knew a boat guy who swore by this stuff from ValvTect:
http://www.valvtect.com/ethanol.asp

Never used it myself, but might be worth a look.

 

[Bear]

Jim,
We use Valv-Tech with the diesel on Ariel III. Some marinas even have Valve-Tech pre-mixed at their diesel pumps. I use it in the Suburban's Turbo Diesel.

Tech-Tron seems to be popular around here with the vintage car owners. Some of them go 50-50 with Aviation Gas. I am just trying to keep it simple. I like Charlie B's advice to just ride the bike. That should keep the fuel fresh.

 

[charlie b]

Your bike was made when unleaded came out so should be fine with valve seats and guides.

If I am going to let the bike sit for a week or two I will make sure I put some stabil in the tank and run it through the carbs. Have done that with lawn equipment for years. Had a generator sit for almost 4 years and fired up just fine.

I normally use Chevron or Texaco gas so it gets a little Techron all the time.

And, yes, riding it often is the best solution

 

[Warren]

I ran my 1977 XS650 with regular pump gas and it did ok as long as it didn't sit for long. The stock CV carbs that come with these bikes have very small pilot jets and they plug up at the drop of a hat. Over the years I became an expert at pulling the carbs to clean the pilot jets. Riding it a lot will help. As for oil the XS650 community loves 15W-40 diesel oil.

 

[DirtFlier]

[...My concern was lubricity. I still have vivid memories of what unleaded gas did to my Universal Blue Jacket Twin inboard on my first sailboat..."]

1981-82 is when the US made the switch to unleaded fuel so I think you're OK in regards to recession of valve seats.

Honda motorcycles of that era ran terribly when cold because of too lean jetting that was chosen to pass EPA standards. Even in So Cal, some of the bikes required what anyone would consider a prolonged warm-up before you had assurance that you could take off from a stop without the engine dying.