a 'Stig worthy' seat and drained carb bowl

[Iahawk]

did my end of season oil change on my Helix tonight and chuckled as I put the Helix seat on the Kymco ...thought that THIS is the kind of seat Stig needs on his Like! ...but then he might be in a sportbike riding position as the bars are about at seat level!

Drained carb bowl on Helix and about 2 oz of gas came out. I always drain carb bowls at season end (or even if I won't be riding for a few weeks). I don't think everyone realizes how much gas sits in a carb bowl...waiting to gum things up.

[Stig / Major Tom]

OK now - quit messing with me!
I opened your pic and went -" hot/dam that's a nice lookin' seat!"

....aah, wait a minute..!

Good pic - nice clean nails - good focus - no dead deer or goat parts hanging in the background, etc.

That's a fine looking scooter.

Stig

[rjs987]

What's a "carb bowl?"
Haven't heard that term for a long time. But then all my vehicles are FI.

Oh, wait, I think my wife's Metropolitan has a carb bowl. And my JD tractor... and my push mower... and my snow thrower. I guess I have more carb bowls than I thought.
I just run Sta-Bil throughout the system on everything that might sit for longer than a week and never have a problem. Everything starts right up first try, even after sitting for 6+ months.
I usually don't do that with my AK or 2 cars since those get used almost every week.

[Iahawk]

I also use stabil and ethanol free gas in my bikes but my People's carb will still get clogged. I hadn't ridden my Kymco in probably 6 or 7+ weeks (and failed to drain carb bowl) when I started it up to do the oil change. Had a heck of a time keeping it running and then when it did it wouldn't take any throttle without dieing. Clogged pilot jet..again. That's why I have 3 of them for the Kymco. Can always keep a spare, clean one on hand. My notes in my maintenance spreadsheet say to 'clean carb' before next riding season.

It's easy on the People..I unhook the carb from the airbox and intake and flip it over with everything else still attached. Remove float bowl, pull jets, clean (or replace with clean spare) and put it back together. Easy.

(pic attached of a previous 'in bike' carb clean)

[Stig / Major Tom]

Hawk, nice post - good pics as always!

I wonder....what if you ran a good Top Tier fuel?
 Maybe even let it sit with some SHELL 93 Nitro in the tank?
Top Tier fuels have all the additives and cleaners required by modern engines using ethanol laced gas.

You're using 'old school' stuff, and still having carb issues.

I mean - I understand you love wrenching at least as much as you do ridin' ....Couldn't hurt....could it - some SHELL NITRO in there?

Stig

[Iahawk]

no Shell stations around here. I have a nearby BP and Casey's and Kum and Go...no more dedicated hose/nozzle for ethanol free, either. All pumps by me now are new(er) and use shared hose for 3-5 choices of fuel. I always wonder how much ethanol fuel is in that long black hose from the last guy before my ethanol free starts flowing (?).

I have fueled up my my van and then filled a gas can to be sure I get ethanol free fuel in the past but it's kind of a pain. Easier to ride to the station. My Helix carb doesn't get clogged as quickly as my Kymco...and both have similar sized pilot jets.

If I ride regularly it's not a problem..or even if I remember to drain the carb bowl...it's when I let gas sit for a month or more that the tiny, human hair sized passages seem to clog.

[rjs987]

I don't bother trying to find Ethanol free gas. Never had an issue with E10 for the last 40 years of using it. I always go to the Costco just down the street where there is Top Tier gas... all E10. It is rare in Iowa to even find true Ethanol free gas even available since almost all of it has SOME Ethanol mixed in. And I'm not talking what is left in the hose or what the pump says. I just dump Sta-Bil in the tank and then run the engine to get it to flow throughout all the parts of the fuel system. If it will sit until warm weather, or cold weather for the snow thrower, I put the wheels up onto wood boards or elevate the machine completely off the floor on wood (to get the wheels off the concrete floor) and park it until the season comes back around.