Carbs ... Store Them Wet Or Dry

[79XS11F]

Well .. after a VERY WET fall my bike is in storage in my heated garage. I will be doing so carb work this spring and will likely have them off soon. I am wondering .... Should I store my carbs wet or dry until I start the work I have planed.
Rob

[John]

Store them dry. That way the vapors won't be lingering in your garage, and the fuel won't varnish on you. I was reading here the other day about how the floats can get out of whack from just sitting in an empty bowl, so you can either leave them out of the carbs until spring or store them with the floats installed with the air inlet of the carb facing down, and the floats won't be applying any weight to the adjusting tang, they'll just be dangling on their pivot pin, and they won't compress the spring that is in the float needle.

[Geezer]

You want the tank full of gas with fuel stabilizer and the carbs dry. This way the neither the tank or the carbs will corrode.

Geezer

[Ken Talbot]

When I winterize our XSive fleet (Standards) with the tanks full, I remove the overflow hose and connect it to both petcocks. This way, if the petcocks decide to start leaking a bit over winter, I don't end up with a carport full of gas. You could do the same for a Special with any old short piect of hose.

[skids]

What is an overflow hose, Ken?

[Dragonrider]

Well when I winterize The Dragon ...

Oh, wait.

(looks outside at the sunny blue sky and 70's temps)

Nevermind.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by skids
What is an overflow hose, Ken?

On a Standard, there is a hose that drains off any water or fuel overflow from the recess around the tank filler cap. See part #59 in this fiche view:

[skids]

OK, gotcha, Ken. I thought you meant carb overflow hoses... I haven't ever heard of the xs11's tank overflow hoses leaking (I know that wasn't your point) but the Radian's overflow plumbing was similar in the tank, and if it ever corroded through, the pipe would drain the tank to the level of the hole. Your idea would prevent that problem of leakage as well as the petcocks.

[TADracer]

Ken always has such great pictures

I dont winterize down here in 'South America' dry carbs are the way to go.

[79XS11F]

OK .. So I will store my carbs on the bench dry and ready for the work they need. As for the gas tank I have in the past always drained the tank of gas, added 1/2 a cup of oil, shake for even distribution and store. That oil must of course be rinsed out in the spring but that job is not a biggie.
Rob