What's your thoughts on Seafoam..

[falconbrother]

In the winter I don't usually ride as much.  The bike may not get cranked for a month or so.  So, I add a good portion of Seafoam to the gas.  It seems to clean out and keep the carbs functioning well. 

[northernvalk]

I use it religiously but there are others who use newer products.  I have destroyed one motor with seafoam, garden tiller that had been neglected it's whole life.  The seafoam worked too well, huge chunks of carbon came of the head, scored the cylinder up and bent to con rod! Carefull, it works well....

[da prez]

I use marine stabil. I prefer it to sea foam. For cleaning,  berrymans b 12.

                       da prez

[Jess from VA]

In winter (less, but not no riding) I always use marine stabil AND Seafoam (or Techron) and run it through the fuel line before shutdown (on a full tank).  And now since I am only using non-corn-polluted gas, I don't use StarTron (or Lucas) corn gas treatment (but if I have any corn gas in it, then I use all three additives).

It may be overkill, but in 10 years or so with my bikes sitting for much of the winter (and trading back and forth between two bikes every 3-5 months, year round), I've never had a carb issue, and that's the goal.

Also add some B12, Techron or Seafoam occasionally during the summer riding season. 

 

[falconbrother]

I use a half bottle in my crankcase on the Suburban right before an oil change (200 miles or so).  It sure turns brown oil black.  Must be cleaning something.  I also put it in my lawnmower in the spring every year. 

[hubcapsc]

I've never used any kind of additive, I get non-ethanol when
they have it wherever I need gas, but plenty of ethanol has
gone in there...

Sometimes in the winter, I suppose my bike might go
a whole month without being ridden...

My bike starts easy and without having ridden
other people's 1500s hardly ever, I think it runs OK.

We've all seen the gunk inside of carbs on bikes that sat
up, but I'm starting to think it doesn't happen over night...



-Mike

[..]

I use marine stabil. I prefer it to sea foam. For cleaning,  berrymans b 12.

                       da prez

 

[Savago]

In winter (less, but not no riding) I always use marine stabil AND Seafoam (or Techron) and run it through the fuel line before shutdown (on a full tank).  And now since I am only using non-corn-polluted gas, I don't use StarTron (or Lucas) corn gas treatment (but if I have any corn gas in it, then I use all three additives).
Also add some B12, Techron or Seafoam occasionally during the summer riding season. 

+1 on what Jess said: Stabil marine for when the bike is seating and Techron/Seafoam at beginning of Summer.

I heard that Seafoam may not be recommend for more modern engines (e.g. Honda ST1300) as it has some oils that supposedly can be bad for the exhaust pipes catalytic converters.

[Houdini]

I use marine stabil. I prefer it to sea foam. For cleaning,  berrymans b 12.

                       da prez

 

+2

[98valk]

Stabil 360, it emits fumes that coat surfaces not submerged in gasoline including the carb interior above the bowl.

[old2soon]

I use marine stabil. I prefer it to sea foam. For cleaning,  berrymans b 12.

                       da prez

 

+2

       +3      Mine sat fer near bout a year and had it NOT been fer Marine Stabil don't wanna think what WOULD have happened had the gasoline Not been treated, Warmed it up after that long and it idled just like It's sposed to do. No/none/nada/zero high speed miss. Oh and B T W-the idling correctly and the no high speed miss was all on the old treated gasoline. RIDE SAFE.

[cookiedough]

for those who religiously used seafoam, do what I did and sign up online as a user with autozone.  They have the gallon jug of seafoam 52.99 online which in its own right is a good deal, but then wait for them to send you an email for either 20-25% off ONE non sale purchase.  Ends up being a GREAT deal then and I go thru a gallon jug of seafoam in 3 years between 5 cycles and 2 ATVs and smaller misc. garden/mowing eqmt.  Just do NOT over-do it in small engines since once I put too much in the lawnmower gas tank being a push mower and would NOT keep running had to drain the gas out to get it to keep running again. 

I know a few valk owners who like to dump in a whole 16 ounce bottle of seafoam per full tank every now and again but I think that is overkill IMO.  I usually just do 3-5 ounces tops per full tank of gas on the valk finding that to me is plenty, but I doubt 8 ounces would hurt anything for 5-6 gallons of gas in the valks. 

I do hear stabil 360 is good stuff if can find on sale and do not need to use even 1/2 the amount of regular red stabil.    Winter storage I run 91 octane non ethanol full tank,  2 ounces or so of mystery marvel oil (MMO), 5-6 ounces of seafoam, and the correct amount as indicated on the stabil label per gallon.   At first startup sitting 3-4 months come April 1st or so sure brings a foul smell of carbon buildup firing it up for the frist time in the garage almost enough to fumigate the entire house. 

[Hef]

I use SeaFoam in everything I own and have done so for many years. Never had a carb pronlem on anything. On the Valkyrie, half a can to a tank full of gas. Great stuff,

[Tfrank59]

You know up until yesterday when I talk to a professional mechanic about seafoam I thought it was the best thing in the world. It revived my 1991 Miata which had a nasty clog in the fuel system and I run it through my Valkyrie and my other bike as well especially in the winter months to stabilize the fuel, but this guy yesterday told me it's hard on everything inside the engine especially oil seals, for what it's worth. He told me to use Redline instead.

[98valk]

MMO and seafoam are old '50s-'60s technology and use low temperature ingredients which solidify aka carbon up, on the back of the hot valves.  There is a reason the EPA addressed this in '95, top tier is the result http://www.toptiergas.com/
Any fuel additive should only be of the PEA technology.

there is post that list products that have plus lots of other good info
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1865221

[¿spoom]

IMHO, the fact so many people use so many different liquid products for so many intents in so many dosages (and over doses) and are happy with the results (real and imagined) goes to show how resilient these bikes are to both petting and beatings. The only thing I use SeaFoam for is diluting the oil in small 4 stroke applications like a rototiller or lawnmower that's down on power and I suspect a valve is sticking or not closing fast enough from the spring. I had excellent results in the sump of a 5 HP Briggs Quantum powered push type motor. It made a difference after running at a slow idle for around 10 minutes with no load followed by being drained and replaced with fresh oil. Since it had way more power during the next yard mowing, with no other things being tried, I did tear it down and clean up the valvetrain. For winter gas stabilization I use "imported" no alcohol gasoline with regular Stabil in the recommended storage mix. Never tried the B12 for fuel system cleaning because I had good results in the late 80s/early 90s getting rid of a carbon buildup tapping noise in a 3.0 V6 Toyota 4Runner. It was under warranty and low miles, Toyota tech gave me 2 bottles and said, "these engines do that, put in double the Techron label's dosage BUT wait until you can run out the entire tank in a week or less. Figured they were just trying to blow me off, but for 2 free bottles and no leaving the vehicle behind, PLUS getting a written service report of the complaint and what they recommended I figured, why not? I had a 12 mile drive each way to work, speeds from 5-mph to stop and go, so no trouble burning a tank in less than a week. I dumped it in at the closest station to the dealer and topped off the tank. Noise was gone by the time I was down to a quarter tank, a few days later.
That said, I don't know if that means squat in my '97 Valk. I do know that injected vehicles are a lot more tolerant of the corned gas mandated in my area, and carbed engines, especially little cheap ones are not. My mower, chipper/shredder, edger, chainsaw etc. all get nursed from a 5 gallon can of no-alcohol mid grade from 100 miles away, mixed with regular Stabil in the low label dosage. Not worth the risk to do otherwise, as I've been stung using the corndog juice in the past.

[cookiedough]

IMHO, the fact so many people use so many different liquid products for so many intents in so many dosages (and over doses) and are happy with the results (real and imagined) goes to show how resilient these bikes are to both petting and beatings. The only thing I use SeaFoam for is diluting the oil in small 4 stroke applications like a rototiller or lawnmower that's down on power and I suspect a valve is sticking or not closing fast enough from the spring. I had excellent results in the sump of a 5 HP Briggs Quantum powered push type motor. It made a difference after running at a slow idle for around 10 minutes with no load followed by being drained and replaced with fresh oil. Since it had way more power during the next yard mowing, with no other things being tried, I did tear it down and clean up the valvetrain. For winter gas stabilization I use "imported" no alcohol gasoline with regular Stabil in the recommended storage mix. Never tried the B12 for fuel system cleaning because I had good results in the late 80s/early 90s getting rid of a carbon buildup tapping noise in a 3.0 V6 Toyota 4Runner. It was under warranty and low miles, Toyota tech gave me 2 bottles and said, "these engines do that, put in double the Techron label's dosage BUT wait until you can run out the entire tank in a week or less. Figured they were just trying to blow me off, but for 2 free bottles and no leaving the vehicle behind, PLUS getting a written service report of the complaint and what they recommended I figured, why not? I had a 12 mile drive each way to work, speeds from 5-mph to stop and go, so no trouble burning a tank in less than a week. I dumped it in at the closest station to the dealer and topped off the tank. Noise was gone by the time I was down to a quarter tank, a few days later.
That said, I don't know if that means squat in my '97 Valk. I do know that injected vehicles are a lot more tolerant of the corned gas mandated in my area, and carbed engines, especially little cheap ones are not. My mower, chipper/shredder, edger, chainsaw etc. all get nursed from a 5 gallon can of no-alcohol mid grade from 100 miles away, mixed with regular Stabil in the low label dosage. Not worth the risk to do otherwise, as I've been stung using the corndog juice in the past.

agree 100% on best to use non ethanol gas for small engines, especially ones that use very little like rototillers or gas weed eaters.  I probably should use non ethanol gas for my lawn mowers as well but for past 30+ years no issues using them weekly so gas is fresh even if 87 octane NON ethanol but come winter always run 91 octane non ethanol in them last tank or two with stabil/seafoam also in LOW doses since gas tank VERY small - do NOT over-do it in small engines though.  My lawnmowers clunk out over 20  years each due to rusty frame mostly around the back where the push rods attach to the deck even welding or putting sheet metal brackets bolted on to make it last another few years before retiring them, well before any major engine troubles.  Best thing to do on lawnmowers and most important is yearly oil changes.