Soooooooooooooo, we made it over the hump with all the cold and snow this winter and everyone is itching to start riding again. Here’s some advice to help you keep your engine out of my shop.
- Change your gas. The old fuel that’s been sitting in your tank for 6 months is junk. Fuels is cheap……I’m not.
- If you live in a part of the country that gets cold temps, the local gas station is selling you “winter fuel”. I’m not going to get into why you shouldn’t run it in your Blaster but it’s made to help with winter starting of cars, not air cooled Blasters.
- The jetting you were running last spring in 80 degree temps at 90% humidity is not going to work on a 38 degree morning. Try to let the temp become somewhat stabilized and jet accordingly.
- Finding a field full of snow and pinning the engine in 6th gear while traveling 6 MPH will only cost you a top end if you’re lucky.
- Use race fuel if you can find it. Even if you mix it 50/50, it’s better than the crap that comes out of the pump. Think of it this way. Race fuel costs about $10 - $15 per gallon. High test is $4 per gal. If you buy 5 gallons of each and mix 50/50, you have 10 gal of fuel @ $7 per gallon. That’s about 3 ½ tanks of fuel. How much gas do you use in a season? Let’s say……50 gal per season. Now multiply the 50 gallons of fuel by the extra $3 per gallon to run 50/50 mix. That’s $150 per year extra for the peace of mind to know you’re running good fuel. $150 won’t even get you a new top end.
- Yesterday was 55 degrees here in Connecticut and a bunch of people hit the trails. Over the last 24 hours, between my phone and email, I know of 5 engines that will be visiting my bench due to operator error. Not a good way to start their season.
