Gasoline additives

[Tfrank59]

Not for my valk but another bike I have I posted a question about gasoline additives and the guys really poo-pooed it on that forum. They said no you got to pull the carb off and clean it completely forget that poor-in crap. I thought berryman's B12 or seafoam worked pretty good on a couple of vehicles and bikes I've had, what do you guys say? It's not that I'm unwilling to pull the carb off I already have the rebuild kit but it is a heck of a lot of work and if I can avoid it I will.

[Jess from VA]

It's pretty simple to try additive/cleaner to gas, and try to run it clean.  A few times.  I'd use both Berryman's and Seafoam.  Use the old plugs if you can, but you may need to gum up some new ones.

Then, if no joy, do the tear down with good parts.

Although sometimes a new carb is not a terrible idea, and cost. 

[gordonv]

What's easier, rebuilding your carb or pouring in a bottle of carb cleaner and going for a drive? Which would be more fun?

Whats most important it a 2-5 times strength of the cleaner, and getting it to where the problem is. If it is idle, then you want low rpm. If it's high speed stuttering, then you want high rpm. Drive it accordingly, but also you need to mix it up.

As for cleaner, most feel Seafoam isn't strong enough, start with B-12 and Techron. Clean new fuel is also a good choice. I know choose Chevron for the Techron additive for all fills. Each spring I add in 1/2 can of B-12 to my 1st new tank of fuel.

I've not had any problems on any bike other than my 1st IS in 2010, which had that idle problem (forget it exactly). If I've had issues with my other 2 IS, a GW and a Shadow VT1100T, from long term storage, it's been minor and the above treatment has cleaned it up. I watch my mileage for signs of how well the bike is running, but sometimes that's because I was exercising my wrist a little too much.

Good luck

[Tfrank59]

Yeah you guys reflect my thinking. I'm currently doing the pour-in additive stuff with berryman's and like you wrote Jess if I don't get the results I want then I'll do the teardown. I know with my Miata which had sat around for like 10 years, seafoam did the trick but it took like four tankfulls of gas. One difference is that's a fuel injected motor and not a carb.

[rug_burn]

I'd try Techron, but the effectiveness of these is not enough for anything more than  light deposits of gum, etc.   "Gum" I think is a component of gas that refiners try to get out, but it's easier said than done.  Actually, Mil specs for gasoline include some small allowable percentage of gum.  that's part of what builds up in your carb when you let it sit and dry out.
   So yeah, sometimes in a bike that sits or has sat for too long, maybe these can help, but i've never seen a test of this vs. just running a bunch of new, clean gas thru it.
   Hard to know what  the reality of the situation is without some testing.

[Valker]

I bought a Valk that had 15,000 miles on it. It was 16 years old! It ran terribly, but ran. I added several different cleaners, one for each tank of fuel the next weekend while putting about 1100 miles on it. By the time I got home, it ran perfectly. Saved me a bunch.

[old2soon]

    B 12 chemtool. I always have a couple cans on the shelf. Long term storage-Marine Stabil. The Marine Stabil has to be run after putting it in the gasoline. After the Stabil I run at least 35-40 miles to make SURE it gits into the carbs. Then I retop fuel tank before parking her. I have a post from around 2017 where I extoll the virtues of Marine Stabil after me being down fer a year after my ankle break in 16. Good luck with yer additive search. B 12 helped the injectors in my naturally aspirated 3.8 in my 06 Pontiac Grand Prix. RIDE SAFE.

[h13man]

My Valk had the Garage Queen carb syndrome. 1/2 can of SF to full tank of fresh 87 and she was cured in 2.5 mi. I use Berry at season start up and couple times thru the season there after. Also been using Supertech fuel additive for winter layup instead of Stabil. Bike runs/starts better on that tank after sitting 4 mos.

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

I sell and use Amsoil products with great success. I don't push them on anyone. Your bike; your choice. When I first purchased my Valkyrie used, I was not a dealer or a user of Amsoil. My bike ran OK, but there were some hiccups and flat spots, and I knew the carbs were not perfectly clean. I used Berryman B12 with good success. I did, after reading posts about it here, use far more than the recommended dose, but either way, it worked. Since starting my business, I have had the opportunity to use some of Amsoil's fuel products on other items with great results.

[ridingron]

I've had a lot of used bikes. My thought is if it starts and runs, run a heavy dose of carb cleaner through it. If it's not better after 1200-1500 miles, it's not going to get better. I use the name brand that was on sale (Sea foam, Techtron, B12, Lucas).

[hueco]

I used to have carb problems quite often. Ran all kinds of fuel additives. Even disasembled and cleaned the carbs and replaced slow speed jets.  I did the desmog. Have not had any carb problems since. If you have not done desmog I highly recommend it. Good luck.

[da prez]

  The carb rebuild depends on what year the bike is.  If it is a pre ethanol bike , then the carbs need a rebuild. When ordering parts , make sure the gaskets are not new old stock. The carb kit must be compatible with the new fuel. 
  I had a learning experience a few years ago.

                                    da prez

[Tfrank59]

  The carb rebuild depends on what year the bike is.  If it is a pre ethanol bike , then the carbs need a rebuild. When ordering parts , make sure the gaskets are not new old stock. The carb kit must be compatible with the new fuel. 
  I had a learning experience a few years ago.

                                    da prez

The carb is a Khein on a '04 Suzi RMZ (yeah, going back to dirt biking again, after a 6 year break.  We all need exercise ).  I'm sure it's had more than a little ethanol gas run through it, and I believe it sat for like 5+ years, so I'm doing the B12 treatment, in non-ethanol gas, for this tankful and if it's not improving pretty quick I'll pull the carb.  If it weren't such a pain to get the carb off (remove entire sub frame and rear shock), I'd have done it already.  After all, it's just one carb to clean, right!

[Tfrank59]

So a follow-up on this...I pulled the carb and it totally needed to be manually cleaned.  I could see right away that there's no amount of additive that would have cleaned out those tiny orifices that were clogged, plus all the varnish in the bowl.  I hated doing the tear down--ended up doing to 2x to get the settings just right--but it was necessary.  Sometimes there's just no short cut.