23 replies to this topic

[Shiney005]

I hadn't ridden my KTM since we moved house two years ago, so I thought I would get it out of the shed, drain the fuel, charge the battery and take it for a spin.  When I looked in the tank, the 2 litres of petrol was a brown colour, so I pushed it around to the back of the shed and tipped the whole bike upside down to empty the tank. Once back on it's wheels I looked in to see this mess.

 

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I think the biggest mistake I made at this point was to push it back into the shed in disgust until the following morning. By then, the brown crap (I will call it varnish as that is what it looked like) had dried and gone hard.

The varnish could have only come from the unleaded, so I naturally filled the tank back up with a fresh batch and left it there for a few hours to emulsify. I then removed the tank and gave it a good shake up before taking the cap off and tipping out what was perfectly good clean fuel. The varnish was still there and still hard. 

I removed the fuel pump (it's injected) which was totalled. $1,100 from KTM, but I found an aftermarket one for $400 on Ebay.

 

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I then had a bit of a google but really couldn't find much. One bloke mentioned that he was going to try CT18, and without any further posts to give an outcome to his experiment I thought I would give it a go as well. After all, CT18 does have a mild acid in the detergent so it should work. I left it in the tank for 24 hours, while also shaking it four or five times. I then removed the cap and tried giving it a light scrub with a bottle brush in the places that I could reach. I tipped out the CT18 and squirted the hose around inside and was left with this.

 

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The CT18 had hardly touched it.

I was starting to look for second hand tanks online by now, but at that time I also happened to be painting doors for our house renovation and had the metho out to clean brushes. I poured a little bit over the old fuel pump and bugger me if the varnish didn't soften up immediately.  I tipped the rest of the bottle into the tank and gave it a shake up only to find that half an hour later it had dissolved 90% of the varnish, and with a quick squirt with the pressure cleaner I ended up with a nice clean tank again.  I soaked the fuel pump for a few hours as well, but it is seized solid, so I just have to wait for the new one to come in the mail.

If this was a car fuel tank, it would have been a hell of a job to clean it up, so the moral of the story is to drain the unleaded from anything you aren't going to use for the next year.

 

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[Shiney005]

I should also mention the battery.  KTM's have been factory fitted with a lithium battery since 2016. The battery in my bike wouldn't even turn on the dash lights. I thought it was toast, but I put it on my fancy Noco charger and set it to charge lithium. Less than 5 minutes later I walked past it and the green "fully charged" light was on. I put it back in the bike and it turned over like it was brand new!!!

[yel327]

Good advice Laurie. I bought a DRZ400E in April, haven’t used it yet. The fuel has stabiliser in it but I’ll drain it next weekend and fill it again. When I stopped it last I ran the carby dry.

[Indy Orange]

I’ve been thinking of using a fuel stabiliser in my car ,it rarely gets driven ,but started a run for half and hour or so every few weeks ,can you recommend a good fuel stabiliser? Certainly don’t want that gunk in my car.Paul.

Edited by Indy Orange, 16 November 2024 - 08:23 PM.

[rexy]

Thats pretty unlucky.

 

The corolla I rescued after siting for several years started and ran fine without touching the fuel in the tank.

[Indy Orange]

I use 98 in mine.

[neglectedtorana]

Since this is fuel related,

 

I have a KZ750 and I left it for 8 years in the USA with fuel stabiliser and drained the carbies, biuoght a new battery when it was time to get it going and it started but sounded a bit rough, I drained the tank, put fresh fuel in and left it full, didn't drain the carbies. There was a slight petrol leak somewhere at the base of the tank but I didn't have time to fix it.

 

I then shipped it to Aus which took 14 months and the battery was gone when it arrived, put a new battery in and it started. Have since drained tank, refilled with Shell 98, cleaned and balanced the carbies and it runs well. The leak at the base of the tank was very slight but getting worse and coming from a low fuel level switch, overnight the fuel had dissolved/softened the plastic electrical plug on the switch.

 

I think it was the Shell fuel that dissolved the plastic.

It survived 14 months with a slight leak and fuel in it from the USA and a few days with Shell fuel and the plastic is ruined, it also dissolved paint off a cover for the starter motor.

 

In the States the service stations don't have the same nose irritating smell I find here, one of the fuel/oil reps I spoke to years ago said there was lots of chemicals in fuel here as a way to dispose of the chemicals. Don't know if its true but I have noticed a ig quality difference between fuel here and in the States.

[RallyRed]

Yeah, that varnish stuff is a bitch.

Had a YFZ450 quad bike that was in the shed for yonks, on the next ride it had a horrible hesitation. I guessed it maybe had a clogged up accelerator jet or something....back at home pulled the carby and stripped it and it everything inside was that lovely dark brown colour...took for ever scrapping / picking it all out and then some carby/brake clean to finish it off..never got 100% of it out.

  Should have tried good old metho!

Edited by RallyRed, 17 November 2024 - 10:10 AM.

[Shiney005]

I’ve been thinking of using a fuel stabiliser in my car ,it rarely gets driven ,but started a run for half and hour or so every few weeks ,can you recommend a good fuel stabiliser? Certainly don’t want that gunk in my car.Paul.

I put the Nulon Fuel stabiliser in my cars back when we shifted up here as I knew they wouldn't get driven for ages. I don't know if it has worked yet.  I though the bike would get used more regularly so I didn't bother with that.  

 

Thats pretty unlucky.

 

The corolla I rescued after siting for several years started and ran fine without touching the fuel in the tank.

It probably had better quality fuel. I reckon unleaded has been getting worse every year.  My old man parked his EH ute out in a paddock when he bought his new HQ in 1973. About 12 years later I put a battery in it and fired it up on the fuel that was still in the tank. A few years ago when we were having car races on the farm, we would drive around until we saw a VN or EA in a front yard with grass growing up around the wheels. The owner would say it doesn't run and we would tow it away for a couple of hundred bucks. Once home, all it took was to replace the fuel and they were off and running!

 

I use 98 in mine.

This was 98.  I use it in everything that isn't diesel.

[Indy Orange]

Thanks Laurie.

[Oobli]

My KTM 380 sat in the shed for 10 years, so long all of the fuel in the tank evaporated (along with the brake fluid....lol). I recently got it all fired up again. Nil sludge in the tank or carby. Always used 98 oct and Valvoline 2 stroke racing oil (great cheap oil!)  Nearly killed myself testing it though.....reflexes and skills aren't quite what they used to be for riding that old banger.

[Shiney005]

I borrowed one of those for an enduro years ago. I couldn't believe how much torque a 2 stroke could make.

[yel327]

I borrowed one of those for an enduro years ago. I couldn't believe how much torque a 2 stroke could make.

 

Did you ever get to hop on an old RM or IT 465 or 490? Damn scary things! Not so much torque wise but the power delivery hits like a Tsunami when you are used to 4 stroke thumpers.

[Shiney005]

No, only the CR 500. The KTM was totally different. Much more rider friendly but not much slower.

[Rockoz]

Did you ever get to hop on an old RM or IT 465 or 490? Damn scary things! Not so much torque wise but the power delivery hits like a Tsunami when you are used to 4 stroke thumpers.

I had a YZ250 in the mid 80s.

Another mate had a YZ125, and another a YZ490

The YZ490 taught me to ride a lot better.

Not that I rode it often.

The idea was to keep in front of it to avoid the brick sized rocks it used to throw out.

It was a handful to ride as well.

Probably has as much power low down as the 250 had wide open.

Then when you hit the band it went crazy.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

Edited by Rockoz, 05 January 2025 - 08:39 AM.

[Balfizar]

Did you ever get to hop on an old RM or IT 465 or 490? Damn scary things! Not so much torque wise but the power delivery hits like a Tsunami when you are used to 4 stroke thumpers.

I had a WR 500 Husky (2 stroke) and then a 510 TE Husky (4 stroke).  The WR was faster  (160 kph +) and the 510 was more fun with torque everywhere in the rev range. Great for popping wheelies everywhere in the rev range.

I won the Bert Bayliss open class Clubman Enduro (WR) in 1985 and was second in 1986 (after a big endo).  Also owned Geoff Ballard's works factory Maico 490 for a while.  It was insane (how did he ride it ?)  5th gear at 120 kph it would flip if you wrapped the throttle on in a split second.  Sooo, hard to keep under control with that much power.  Sold the Maico frame to a mate and the engine to a guy in SA who put it in a 500 cc midget dirt track 4 wheel racer.  He blew the opposition away and won the national championship. He could lift the front wheels off the ground in acceleration.  Big bore  enduro racing was so much fun.

Edited by Balfizar, 05 January 2025 - 11:20 AM.

[yel327]

I had a YZ250 in the mid 80s.

Another mate had a YZ125, and another a YZ490

The YZ490 taught me to ride a lot better.

Not that I rode it often.

The idea was to keep in front of it to avoid the brick sized rocks it used to throw out.

It was a handful to ride as well.

Probably has as much power low down as the 250 had wide open.

Then when you hit the band it went crazy.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

 

A friend of mine converted an RM465 into a trike in the 80's. It would have been lethal. With the extra traction and smaller rear tyres (solid rear axle), you'd never have kept the front end on the ground. The ATC250R's were bad enough!

 

Another mate had an old RM250Z (last of the air-cooled RM). I remember him and a few mates out racing around a property, the mates had the new "fast" bikes, I think they were WR450's. They couldn't keep up. the old RM left them for dead on a flat track.

[yel327]

Good advice Laurie. I bought a DRZ400E in April, haven’t used it yet. The fuel has stabiliser in it but I’ll drain it next weekend and fill it again. When I stopped it last I ran the carby dry.

 

I moved this bike from one shed to another yesterday. Started first go. I'll drain the old fuel out and mix it into the Ram, and put fresh stabilized 98 in it. The wood chipper I have, had 12 month old stabilized 98, moved it too. It started first go as well. So the stabilizer works, in the past these would have had issues. 

[Shiney005]

New pump is in the tank but it still won't fire. Injector is probably glued up with the same gunk.

[hanra]

What stabilizer are you using? 

[RallyRed]

Not old fuel related...but a mate had one of those Husky 500s. He brought it up to the sand dunes one weeked. Total killer of a thing...it had no, like NO..brakes at all. He was saving up for the bits.
One little ride and gave it straight back to him.

Edited by RallyRed, 06 January 2025 - 11:12 AM.

[yel327]

What stabilizer are you using? 

 

I've been using Penrite Fuel Stabiliser but there are plenty of others.

[claysummers]

Was using a Honda one I got with my big Bob mower. Now this:


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[hanra]

I've been using Penrite Fuel Stabiliser but there are plenty of others.

I should prob be putting something like this in my cars as they sit for months without being started.