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2004 sat for 5 years with 1/4 tank of gas

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Ratchet 
#1 ·
Guess I got busy and very very side-tracked. Had it on the center stand for about 5 years.......I trailered it home, added a couple gallons of gas, installed a new battery. Figured there was roughly a 0% chance of this thing starting, but what the hell. Pushed the starter button and it fired immediately. :surprise: Idled perfectly. ??? I've put a few hundred miles on it since, and can find no problems. How is this possible? Just put on new Staintunes and updated my power commander fuel map. Really shocked that it literally sat in one spot without ever starting since March of 2015, but acts like I rode it last week.

Glad to be back on the v-strom. :hurray::hurray: Yes, it's 15 years old now; but, I don't care. 32,000 miles and runs perfectly.
 
#3 ·
These engines don't really give a damn about less then optimal conditions. For giggles, when it was -25F outside last year, I wanted to see if it would start because cold starts are fun. It cranked slowly, but after a second or two it must have fired and immediately ran at fast idle without complaining.

Wouldn't make a habit of it because I know its not good for it to start without getting good and hot, but hey, its a dependable engine even at temperatures its not designed for.

Just as long as those magnets are good, lol.
 
#6 ·
I gotta assume even though only ¼ tank, you had it inside or at least not exposed to extreme weather

my recent experience is different, I had to derust the tank, replace the fuel pump, replace the fuel pump relay, replace the tip over sensor, replace the front brake calipers (rear caliper was able to get freed up) just to get it running and safe to ride, gonna have to replace the instrument cluster too

all this after leaving it outside 2½years in northern new england weather, rained on, snowed on frozen, thawed, refrozen, maybe an ice storm or 2, and setting in the beating sun in between
 
#7 ·
I think the guys that are suggesting extreme precautionary efforts missed that Max is in So Cal and the weather here is not prone to the vagaries a lot of the country can experience.
Likely the gas in the tank, though a bit stale was enhanced by his adding gas. Since he's put a few hundred miles on it by now probably little or none of the old gas would still be there. Since it still runs well there is no need to do exploratory surgery of the fuel system. If it ain't broke, don't fix it?
 
#8 ·
You have already run it a few hundred miles so it's probably fine, run a bottle of Techron through the system with the next fill up and call it a day. My 99 FXST sat for 6 years under a cover in humid Florida while I was working in the Balkans, came home installed a battery and fresh fuel, it lit right off.
 
#10 ·
still running fine (well.....except the for the charging issue)

3 tanks of fuel run through it with no problems. Probably needs to have the throttle bodies balanced....which I'll do when I go back to the garage and get my handy home-made balancer (the tied and true 1x4 with a loop of clear tubing willed with transmission fluid). The only problem I have is that it's charging only at about 12.8 - 12.9 volts. So, next I have to pull the stator cover off and see if the magnets have moved. After 3 tanks of fuel it really was spinning slowly when I'd try to start it. This morning, it would not start. Very slow discharge. This topic has been beaten to death over the years :beatdeadhorse5:...so I'll leave it there. :grin2:
 
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