What's living in your fuel tank?

[max]

Like an avid youtuber i came across a clip of the owner of an nice MV, what struck me was the damage to the aluminium base of the fuelpump assembly, this bike is 12 years old and had done a measly 5.000 Km. when the bike failed and stopped mid-stream.

The owner mentions that he left it for a long period before using it again.
It appears to me that water had accumulated in the bottom, possibly because it had mixed with fuel with an ethanol content ( water combines with the ethanol and sinks to the bottom, it can also be separated out this way to get rid of the ethanol ) looking at the dark "waterline" on the alu base which seems to be just at or below the lowest level the fuel pump suction intake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKSXTEIYAbU

( The comments are also worthwhile reading )

Could be something to think about if bikes are left for a long time in storage with the new fuel mixes these days.

To test for ethanol take a sample from the tank, pour in a measured quantity of water and mix it with the fuel and see if the water/ ethanol mixture has increased the content in the bottom, some other good yt video's show this method to separate out the ethanol for long term storage purposes.

[the Ferret]

My bikes certainly don't sit for long periods of time. Probably 3 weeks is the longest without being ridden, but I prepare for longer storage by using the additive Seafoam added to the 10% ethanol gas we use. They have never failed to start or run cleanly. My lawn equipment will often sit for 6 months and no issues starting or running when prepped with Seafoam. Come to think of it the last time my ATV with snow plow was used was last February. I will be getting it out in the next few weeks and ready for snow season. I'm counting on it starting and running well too.

[pdedse]

Seafoam good

[Gone in 60]

I started using Techron Powersports formula not too long ago, as we can only get 10% ethanol gas here. Yeah, probably snake oil, but one Amazon reviewer said he started getting better mileage after using it, so I'm expecting miracles. Just yesterday my bike took 2.7 gallons rather than it's regular 3 even gallons to fill, so... But, I did get a bad tank of gas from the station near my office not too long ago, and had to drain the tank and flush it all out, so anything that can help is good.

Funny thing about what's in gas tanks... I watched someone's You Tube video recently about changing the gas filter in a Bonneville. When he turned the tank over and removed the pump/filter assembly, a large piece of vinyl tube fell out, that must have been from a fill jug. He mused that the previous owner must have dropped it in there.

[GoldOxide_imp]

I believe modern top tier gasoline is so "good" in the past decade that I almost never use a fuel stabilizer, especially if the machine is going to be used in six months or less.

Small stored quantities might get treatment (e.g. lawnmowers), but I have never had starting, nor ongoing functional or performance issues after a length of storage. If I were storing for longer than six months, than I would likely always use a fuel stabilizer.