Modern Buddy

I have read a few comments here about how the ethanol in gas can gunk up the engines on Stella 2T's. What are the recommendations on how to reduce the effects of build up? Any fuel additives I should use or will these just create more of a problem? Is there any gas stations that do not use ethanol in their gas?

The ethanol fraction of modern gas isn't in and of itself harmful, it's more an issue when storing the bike (and its gas) for more than a few weeks. During that time, the ethanol can separate, attracting water, and forming a whitish gunk. Not a big issue for more modern fuel-injected engines, where a pressurized fuel system can blow things through, but potentially bad for classic carbureted engines with very small (easily plugged-up) non-pressurized jets.

I typically don't use any fuel additives during the riding season, as between my two scoots I'm running them often enough to keep things moving through the system. So far, I've had success with Star Tron one year, which claims to combat ethanol separation, and using Stabil for winter storage. It's important to run the engine some after adding these additives to the tank, so that the treated fuel makes it up into the carburetor parts. The scoots have typically started up fine after a month or more of inactivity.

If my scoots ever 'feel' gunky, like an occasional misfire or hesitation, I sometimes add a couple ounces of SeaFoam to the tank and run it through.

I don't have any stations near me that have ethanol free gas. Try this site for locations near you:

http://pure-gas.org/

Keep searching on this topic in the forum. Lots of good info and debate regarding ethanol in gas and strategies to combat the effects.

IMO, I have many 2 stroke and 4 stroke machines and as long as you are not leaving fuel in long enough to go stale you shouldn't be at too much risk of gumming things up. How long does it take for fuel to go stale? that another topic of debate. I try to not let gas sit for longer than a couple months, but temperature and humidity play into that as well.

StarTron.... Dont use gas thats more than 30 days old. Siphon it out and put fresh in..
Like Pete says.. use some Seafoam when you think you need something when it runs crappy if you think its due to stale fuel.
good luck

I prefer K100. I splash in a little every few tanks.