Bringing back to life

[dschmitta]

Hey everyone,

Have '80 xs11g. Hasn't been started or ridden in almost 2 yrs. wanted to get up and running and restore to original glory. What a fantastic motorcycle! Anyways, wAnt to go slow and get it running solid and go from there. Only thing done for storage was Stabil and Marvel put in tank and run thru carb bowls. Would love any and all advice in what to do and NOT do to get bike cranked back to life. Thanks to everyone. Dave

[bikerphil]

Here is a good list of things to check on a bike that has been sitting for a while.....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=792

[donebysunday]

Fuel

Hey everyone,

Have '80 xs11g. Hasn't been started or ridden in almost 2 yrs. wanted to get up and running and restore to original glory. What a fantastic motorcycle! Anyways, wAnt to go slow and get it running solid and go from there. Only thing done for storage was Stabil and Marvel put in tank and run thru carb bowls. Would love any and all advice in what to do and NOT do to get bike cranked back to life. Thanks to everyone. Dave

I'd like to double up on the tank (fuel system) cleaning.
If it sat until the fuel evaporated there may be residual solidified fuel varnish (it's hard to tell !). The Marvel oil may have prevented this ? The red stabil is crap, blue stabil good, ethanol fuel bad non ethanol good.
What I've done in the past, put a bottle of Chevron Techron (not Chevron with techron) in the tank and top off with non ethanol fuel. Put the tank on the shelf while working on other things and let the Techron do it's slow cleaning (2 weeks or longer if possible).
Pull float bowls see what's in there, clean them out, clean petcocks, replace lines add filters. This should keep you busy for some time as finding the place (room) where the filters can go and trying different length line (buy extra line !) is much more time than you would think (stay calm !!!!!), don't push yourself !

[dschmitta]

Reply

Thanks for advice. These items will definitely keep me busy. I did use the RED stabil. I'll have to get the blue. I got used to buying the red before they were marketing the marine engine and long term blue. Thanks and will let u know what I find. Dave

[donebysunday]

Blue

Thanks for advice. These items will definitely keep me busy. I did use the RED stabil. I'll have to get the blue. I got used to buying the red before they were marketing the marine engine and long term blue. Thanks and will let u know what I find. Dave

You will notice the blue bottle has ethanol treatment right on the face.

[dschmitta]

Ethanol

Nice. What also is a good treatment for de-ethanol ing my fuel? I cannot find local non ethanol fuel. Closest I can get is 5-10%. Thanks

[DiverRay]

You can run the "pump gas" at 5-10% with almost no problems. Here in California 10% is all we have, plus the other junk they put into it! Remember, the bikes were designed to run on REGULAR gas, NOT PREMIUM! The new octane rating( last 20 years ) is 87, 89, 91 at most places. The 87 works most of the time, but you may need the 89 if you have a carbon problem in the chambers. Carbon is caused by unburned fuel, usually from running 91 octane in these engines.
Don't forget to sync the carbs once it seems to be running well! Makes a BIG difference on how smooth the bike is. Carbs will be adjusted to the gas at that time, so have a tank of clean gas you plan on running most of the time. If your cheap, Costco gas, or if your like me, Chevron, Shell or Union 76 regular.

[dschmitta]

Bringing back to life

Thanks for tips. Have heard sooo many different points of view on the fuel subject that it's real hard to know which way to go on the subject

[vedgar]

Costco gas is top tier.

Cosco gas gets a top tier rating, check it out.

[dschmitta]

Will do. Thanks for ur help

[DiverRay]

Cosco gas gets a top tier rating, check it out.

Sorry, but NO!!
Coscto gas will give you LESS MPG, as measured by both me and a friend. It also does NOT have the detergent package that top tier fuel has, because of cost.
My dad drove a tanker for a few years, so I KNOW all the raw gas comes out of the same pipe, but there is much more than that to modern gasoline. The "additives" that cost the money are added from a separate pipe, and the cheap gas does not get any.

[donebysunday]

Nice. What also is a good treatment for de-ethanol ing my fuel? I cannot find local non ethanol fuel. Closest I can get is 5-10%. Thanks

I don't think anything will de-ethanol (take out the ethanol) the fuel, treatments help lengthen the time it takes to break down.
Sea foam, Star-tron, Marvel Mystery oil, blue stabil to name a few. Your local lawn mower, small engine shop could possibly offer some advice as will the great folks on this forum ?
By 30 days the ethanol fuel starts breaking down, ethanol is an alcohol that likes to pull moisture from it's surroundings. It creates a real mess if it sits to long. Put some in an open jar covered by a cloth to sit for a few weeks, see what grows in it over time ?
In my experience small problems start to occur at a couple months (no treatment) and from then on escalates to not running the engine (fuel so saturated with water it won't burn) or sputters, pops, fluctuating RPM, stalling at stop lights etc.. If you want to see what is going on in your fuel system, pull the outer float bowls (still full) and have a look see what's in there.

[dschmitta]

Will do. Going out now to pull outer bowls and start from there

[speedlimit85]

I have the same bike! The gas I have been using is rec 90 non- ethanal.

[motoman]

I have the same bike! The gas I have been using is rec 90 non- ethanal.

With waterways in close proximity, easy to get.