Some customers call me three years after a rebuild to get their carbs repaired after they have broken them in an attempt to rebuild them themselves. Two things. Why did they not use fuel stabilizer, and why didn't they contact me before destroying their carburetors? It's puzzling. As near as I can tell, folks apparently believe having their carbs rebuilt each season makes more sense than properly treating them with Sta-Bil. I don't get it.

Sta-Bil works! Its effectiveness claim is two years, and I have proven it. On my own bike, I simply run it full-time so it is always in the carbs' circuits. Then if I don't ride for three or more weeks, when I want to ride again I'm ready. The fuel is, I mean. And if the bike has sat longer, like maybe a handful of months, all I do is crack the drain screws and open the petcock to flush out the float bowls and I'm ready to go. Either way the bike starts right up and idles great. I don't have to remove the carburetors and flush them clean. This after 18 months sitting one season a few years ago. For planned storage periods, same thing except draining the bowls beforehand eliminates that need on starting. How hard can this be?

One thing though. It does little good to put the stuff in your tank and them not ride the bike enough--I think 2 miles is sufficient--to get it into your carburetor's circuits. I hear from folks all the time who haven't thought this through. It must be in the carbs, not just in the tank.

And more thoughts. It is like forums to ignore or "dis" Sta-Bil. Something so simple and effective they just have to screw up. And as is usual with vintage Honda forum advice, ignore the nonsense surrounding this subject on forums such as sohc4.net. First, Sta-Bil is not harmful to your carbs. Do you really believe people who say this? Second, there is absolutely no connection between preserving your fuel and its having ethanol in it. One does not affect the other. Fuel does not gel because of ethanol. The whole ethanol meme itself is false, made up, fallacious. Like so much in powersports media, where excuses and imaginary scenarios and extemporaneous, unqualified dribble take the place of objective reality, the ethanol scare is just one more example of forum derangement.