Carb care for hibernating Goldwings

[Saltspringer]

A friend of mine, who had a 1975 GL1000 in Germany, shared this tip with me for Goldwing carb care during a winter layover.

Wolfgang was tired of dealing with carbs that, despite all his best efforts at draining and cossetting, always seemed to have carb issues each Spring, just when he wanted to get out riding. His solution was to drain the gas tank and add a splash of gas stabilizer, disconnect the fuel pump output pipe, slip over a extra section of clear plastic pipe, drain the carbs of gas, tighten up the float bowl drain bolts again, and then carefully pour ATF transmission fluid down the extended fuel line, until all four carbs were completely full and would no longer take any fluid.

I have just recommissioned my GL1000 after a year and a half in the back of the garage, and stored it using this method.

When it came to riding again, I opened up the float drain bolts and let the ATF run out. I then spun the motor with the fuel line reattached and the fuel tap on, until at least some gas was dribbling out of each float bowl drain. This seemed to flush out most of the residual ATF, at which point I closed the float bowl drain bolts, spun the engine again and the bike fired up. It blew a small amount of smoke for a minute or two, and then settled right down to a smooth idle.

I liked Wolfgang's solution because I suspect AFT, over several months, tends to creep around the carbs, keeping everything (brass, gaskets and O rings) lubricated and unable to corrode. In addition, it seems to prevent stale gas lingering and dry out in the hard-to-drain passageways.

In my case I pulled the extended fuel pipe to the vertical and filled it with ATF. Periodically I checked the level over the months in storage and found, once filled, the ATF level didn't change. I suppose this shows the float needles are gas (oil?) tight, however if the level had fallen significantly, and the bike was on its side stand, it might be worth pulling the plugs to make sure the two downhill cylinders had not gradually accumulated oil.

My GL1000 carbs took almost exactly 150cc's of ATF, and I used a fat syringe to squirt the fluid down the extended line. It seems an easy and cheap way of caring for your carbs and I will use this method again next winter.

Andy

[Whiskerfish]

I think any decent light weight oil would be fine for long term preservation. In military turbo shaft engines we pumped the Fuel Control Unit (Read carbs) full of 1010 oil. It is a basically just a Mil Spec petroleum based light weight oil and worked well as a preservative and corrosion inhibitor.

[toomanybikes]

why is the ATF method better than more common methods: fully drainage the gas or run Stabil through the system and leave the carbs filled with Stabil fuel?

[robin1731]

why is the ATF method better than more common methods: fully drainage the gas or run Stabil through the system and leave the carbs filled with Stabil fuel?

Gas will evaporate. That leaves a nasty residue. Good practice is to use your favorite cocktail in the fuel, run the bike to be sure that fuel gets into the bowls, then drain the carbs completely.

[toomanybikes]

why is the ATF method better than more common methods: fully drainage the gas or run Stabil through the system and leave the carbs filled with Stabil fuel?

Gas will evaporate. That leaves a nasty residue. Good practice is to use your favorite cocktail in the fuel, run the bike to be sure that fuel gets into the bowls, then drain the carbs completely.

Thanks for the data point. I always run Stabil-gas thru the systems before winter sitting season. Some times I drain the carbs, other times I leave the Stabil-gas in the carbs. Some people say draining the allows the rubber bits to dry out, but I can't imagine that's an issue over 4 months of winter.

I'll try draining all the carb'd bikes this year.

[Sidecar Bob]

ATF includes ingredients to make rubber seals swell so I don't think I'd want to fill my carbs with it.

I have always run the carbs dry and then opened the drain screws to let the last bit out of the float bowls (put a rag underneath to catch it) and the only time I ever had a problem the next spring was when the carb to plenum seals went bad (in retrospect there were symptoms of them causing problems the previous summer so that had nothing to do with being stored). And that includes the years when the bike wasn't taken out of storage.

This would be a good place to recommend draining the tank whenever you store any bike. In addition to the fuel going off (& eventually turning to varnish) if you don't take it out of storage when you expected (my 'Wing's PO broke both ankles at work and was unable to ride again so it sat for 10 years before I got it; I'm glad he had drained the tank), any water that gets into the tank (a few drops when filling up on a rainy day, condensation from moist air entering when you ride on a humid day &c) will sit on the bottom where it can't evaporate and if you don't drain the tank occasionally to let it evaporate it will eventually find another way out.