STP additive or dead fuel pump?

[Mark Rivera <marr@xxxxxxxx>]

Okay... So I went to the store and picked up some "STP Gas Treatment" ( 
http://stp.com/fuel_treat.html ) because we've been having lots of rain 
and humidity/condensation at night. That, and in the nine months I've 
had the bike I've never emptied the tank to get any water out, or change 
the fuel filter, etc. (I was going to change the fuel filter this 
weekend, but that's another matter.)

The product claims to be "engineered to remove water" so I thought hey 
why not.. can't hurt anything since "this product is safe for all 
gasoline engines."

So, I pour this stuff into my tank when I exit the store, and now the 
bike doesn't start. (On my way to the store I had taken a 40-mile 
detour/ride and nothing seemed amiss.)

I thought I had better get this stuff out of the bike asap, and was 
planning on removing the tank and dumping the fuel to make way for a 
fresh 5.5 gallons. After I walked the bike 2+ miles to my garage (thank 
goodness it was 2:00am), that's when I noticed there's no 'whirr' sound 
when I flip the kill switch to the start position.

(I'm not sure if the 'whirr' sound was there when I first tried to start 
the bike after adding the STP.)

Is that noise the fuel pump? Did this additive damage the pump? Or did I 
by trying to start it too much? Is it just a coincidence and the STP 
stuff has nothing to do with the problem?

Tank is off, fuel is drained as much as I could manage. While I was 
following the Clymer to get it removed, and depressurizing the fuel 
system, practically all the gas came out of the tank. The book said "a 
little" would come out, but no, it was around 4.5 gallons. Dead pump's 
valve stuck open or something? STP to blame?

'97 R1100R, ~51k mi.

thanks
Mark

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