Is it a good idea to throw stabilizer in the tank and run the bike for a few minutes to get is all into the carbs etc. and then shut off the fuel supply via the petcock and allow the bike to run itself out of fuel?<br /><br />Would leaving the carbs effectively &quot;empty&quot; for the winter be better, worse, or neither compared to just throwing stablizer in there and having the &quot;stabalized fuel&quot; sit in the carbs??

I use stabilizer in my boat (all the time as I never know how long it will sit)&nbsp; in the lawn mower as winter approaches , in my bike the last couple of tanks, even in my jerry cans&nbsp; as the fuel we get ripped off for (or buy) has a very short shelf life do to the biodegradable junk they add. Bein doing this for years and it seems to help.&nbsp; I never shut off the fuel and run the carbs empty so not sure if this would be better or not. On the old fuel/oil mix 2 stroke it helped but that was back when we still had lead in the fuel. Seen lots of nice green carbs back then. Without stabilizer you can get the same green mess. I have had stabilized fuel sit 2 years in a jerry can and still burn ok. (Knew I left that can somewhere)

OK, so there&#039;s one guy heard from... but now that it&#039;s getting close to winterize what do the rest of you think?&nbsp; Do you leave the carbs and lines full of stabilized fuel (presumably to prevent drying/cracking) or close the fuel shut off to reduce the chance of fuel varnish gumming up the works?&nbsp; Enquiring minds want to know.&nbsp; I plan on doing the former.

I always just stabalize the fuel with the Motormaster Fuel Stabilizer and it works fine for me.<br /><br />I actually ride around the last few weeks of the season with stabilizer in the tank - that way I&#039;m sure it&#039;s reached everywhere and also I&#039;m prepared if winter comes in unexpectantly.

Either way works. I like draining the carbs. Its just really a personal prefrence

Been kinda busy recently and haven&#039;t had a chance to throw in my 2 cents on a few articles.&nbsp; In my opinion, I think you are better off putting Stabil in and running the bike for a few minutes to make sure it works its way through the system and then topping off the tank.&nbsp; On a carb bike, you can drain, BUT, unless you do a good job, you are likely to still get varnish build up in the spring on the parts that didn&#039;t throughly drain.&nbsp; Then you end up having to tear the carbs apart for a cleaning - which is what should be done in the fall if decide to skip the Stabil route.&nbsp; On a FI bike, draining is not even an option any more.&nbsp; <br /><br />Also, remember to fill any metal tank as full as possible while storing for winter so rust doesn&#039;t build up on the inside of the tank.&nbsp; Condensation from the air will &quot;sweat&quot; on the sides of the tank where it is not covered by gas and start rusting.&nbsp; The other option is to drain the tank dry and spray fogging oil into it, but I think the Stabil answer is just so much easier to do.

add proper amount of stabilizer
run engine for 5-10 mins
shut off fuel supply and run dry. Drain carb manually by removing the plug screw
if there is no shut off like my bike. You save burning so much gas by just draining the carb. Keep tank topped up to avoid condensation at top end.