Summerizing - run it every month or run it dry and drain the bowls

MichaelAngelo

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Oct 31, 2020
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Barrie
Seems to be the endless debate - does anyone with a lot of experience want to advise one method or the other?

I usually have been leaving the fuel in with stabilizer and running the sled every 2 months... but had my main jet plug up with this method when I didn't start it for 3 or 4 months at a time. I have a 2000 Venture 600 for reference.

This year wondering if I should just run it dry... but then would it be worth trying to get to the carbs to drain the bowls?
 

i start all of mine every 30 days in the off season and run the liquid cooled ones until both coolers are hot to the touch. the air cooled until they are blowing hot air out and the hood is same temp as air coming out the vents. all sleds are filled up with fresh 91 gas and seafoam when put into storage. the 78 et340 still going great stored this way.
 
I have fuel shutoffs installed in mine and add yamaha fuel stabilzer to them as well. top off the tanks, run until warm with the fuel stabilzer to make sure it gets to the carbs, then shut the gass off and let them stall. Only failure we have ever had in like 40 years of my family doing it this way was the crank in my viper, but I really think that was the damp storage it was in and the fact that the viper cranks seem to be prone to that failure. That year we summarized early and the snow hadn't melted yet so the garage got pretty damp that summer. It is stored 4 hours from home so we didn't realize how damp things were until much later in the spring. Never gave it a thought until my crank seized up the following winter
 
Thanks for the replies guys!!

Seems like I should leave the tank full. Which would mean if I do go the dry carb route would need fuel shutoffs.
 
i look at another way as well. i don't need to run to the gas station during a power outage if i need gas for the generator. i just take it out of the sleds as they are styored at home.
 
I run them every couple of months. Never have to clean carbs. I do drain old gas out and use fresh stuff every winter, as it seems my compression is a bit above normal for some reason, and dont want detonation. :D
 
Last edited:
Seems to be the endless debate - does anyone with a lot of experience want to advise one method or the other?

I usually have been leaving the fuel in with stabilizer and running the sled every 2 months... but had my main jet plug up with this method when I didn't start it for 3 or 4 months at a time. I have a 2000 Venture 600 for reference.

This year wondering if I should just run it dry... but then would it be worth trying to get to the carbs to drain the bowls?
Where do you store it?
The most important thing I find is the proper environment for storage, which is dry with some air flow.
All of my machines are put away and not started until winter comes.
Put some stabilizer in the fuel, run it for a little while. I also yank on the the oil cable where the adjuster is right in front of the air box so it's pumping max oil for a few minutes.
I have no problem with running the carbs dry either, especially if it was to be stored for more than one year.
 
Where do you store it?
The most important thing I find is the proper environment for storage, which is dry with some air flow.
All of my machines are put away and not started until winter comes.
Put some stabilizer in the fuel, run it for a little while. I also yank on the the oil cable where the adjuster is right in front of the air box so it's pumping max oil for a few minutes.
I have no problem with running the carbs dry either, especially if it was to be stored for more than one year.

Garage is attached to the house so should be relatively dry and ideal.
 


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