bad gas

[triwinger]

Hi, I just wanted to share this info with you all, I have a 1982 gl1100 interstate , with a "home built" trike Tow-pac. I'm running a single carb. conversion with a ONE barrel Holley . after getting the "bugs" out and the right jetting. it runs GREAT. My wife and I just returned from a 300 mile ride to the crash site of "flight93" in Shanksville pa. had to go over five rather steep mountain ranges to get there. the bike ran great, and i was more than happy with the trike addition on the winding mountain roads. we had to make a Quick run to Wal-Mart this morning, (on the bike) and stopped at our local Rutter's to fill up with gas. (this is where i usually get gas for the car) well.. we got about two miles down the road and I could feel the difference in performance (very sluggish)and it stalled every time we stopped ..while at Wal-Mart I picked up some STP gas treatment, and ATF. put a good shot of each in the tank and by the time we got to the first stop light (about five miles) the bike ran fine..why the gas from there doesnt bother the car ?? I dont know, I just wonder if all the Fighting of "getting the bugs out" with the carb conversion was due to the gas I was getting there.. ?? GRRRR

 

[joedrum]

the gas today sucks ...and could be a huge reason it was hard to dial in

 

[dan filipi]

What kind of car?
Could have something to do with computer controls compensating?

I have noticed the same thing on my bike from time to time.
Sure would be nice if there was a easy way to check gas with a test kit of some kind.

 

[triwinger]

very good point.my car is a newer KIA so the computer prob. is taking care of things..lol

 

[Omega Man]

I have noticed the same thing on my bike from time to time.
Sure would be nice if there was a easy way to check gas with a test kit of some kind.

Hmmm, gas in Cali is prolly more like moonshine than fuel. :read:

There is this stuff that comes in a tube like toothpaste that stations use to test for water(at least they did 30 yrs ago).

~O~

 

[slabghost]

Could well have been bad gas making setup harder than i should be. A dose of ATF each fill up helps a lot.

 

[mcgovern61]

I'll tell ya.....these car computers really are something! I went down to Florida a few weeks ago to swap cars with my daughter. It is a 2002 Hyundai Elantra with 127K miles on it. We bought it just before she left for Florida just over 2 1/2 years ago and about a week before she left. We did some basic fix ups before heading down, but not much.

I drove the car back to NJ...was averaging 33 MPG at 76 MPH and the engine ran great! Open things up when I got home and found out the car had the original spark plugs!!!! :shock: :shock: :wave:

There wasn't even a small amount of electrode left! :smilie_happy: (Gap was about 78 thousands!) Never had any issues and that darn computer adjusted accordingly.

So....my point.....bad gas might still be compensated for by those car computers....but our bikes let us know right away!! :smilie_happy: :mrgreen:

 

[AApple]

Man...I got ripped off! The title of this thread suggested something TOTALLY different than what I found here.... :smilie_happy:

Bad gas can do weird stuff. You may have also gotten it when the station was either low on fuel in the tank, or they had just filled the tanks. Either one of those things can cause the crap(including water) in the tanks to get sucked up into the pumps, and eventually into your tank. :Awe:

 

[scdmarx]

10% methanol don't help your carb at all! Most cars for the past 15 years or so can handle it ok by compensating adjustments. I'm unschooled when it comes to computerized motorcycles. Alcohol is very corrosive and attracts moisture. Pliable seals and gaskets get hard and metal parts collect white powdery stuff. And there is talk about increasing meth content to 15%. Then there is human error. How accurate is the guy who is adding the additives on a given day? Alcohol offers less bang for the buck, when compared to petroleum fuels like gasoline and diesel. Then there are the "flex fuel" cars better designed to run on the stuff. I think it's all politically driven, myself personally. Bottom line is, as a consumer you just have to run what's available and you just can't be sure of the quality you're buying these days. When it comes to gasoline I tend to avoid the "mom & pop" discount stores and stick to the popular name brands. It might cost another quarter to fill the Wing, but I leave there with a warm fuzzy that costed a quarter. I know it sounds corny, but that's how I roll. I understand that filling your tank with a load of crap is really no more than a roll of the dice. (no pun intended) :ahem:

 

[scdmarx]

OOOPS! I meant ethanol, not methanol.

Methanol is much worse. But ethanol is what's being added to our gasoline.