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Hey guys,
I was pretty much resigned to the fact our Kats have carbs and we have to live with temperamental cold starts and inconsistent power delivery. OK, I guess we could tear the bike down to the frame, remove and rebuild the carbs every six months to improve operation.
... Well this spring I pulled the bike from hibernation and fired it up with the old fuel which was stabilized before I parked the bike for the winter.
Sure enough, my bike ran like crap, stumbling and missing even with the stabilizer in the fuel.
I have NEVER opened up the carbs for any internal maintenance. My 2005 is approaching 8yrs old with 60,000kms.
Anyway, I picked up some STP complete fuel system cleaner and dumped about 1/3 of the bottle into my tank containing the stabilized 2012 fuel. It was interesting as I poured the STP into the tank I could see the STP liquid react with the fuel in the tank. (sort of like when you drop dish soap into a sink of greasy dishes)
Long story short... the bike is running like new! The engine is running better on the choke, and once warmed up fuel/power delivery is smooth and linear (just like new!). I can tell the carbs need to be sync'd again but I am very happy with this chemical experiment.
I don't know if the STP is really good or if the combination of the STA-BILŪ and STP is the magical cure???
It would be interesting if there were some other guinea pigs out there that could confirm... maybe I'm just mad!
I was pretty much resigned to the fact our Kats have carbs and we have to live with temperamental cold starts and inconsistent power delivery. OK, I guess we could tear the bike down to the frame, remove and rebuild the carbs every six months to improve operation.
... Well this spring I pulled the bike from hibernation and fired it up with the old fuel which was stabilized before I parked the bike for the winter.
Sure enough, my bike ran like crap, stumbling and missing even with the stabilizer in the fuel.
I have NEVER opened up the carbs for any internal maintenance. My 2005 is approaching 8yrs old with 60,000kms.
Anyway, I picked up some STP complete fuel system cleaner and dumped about 1/3 of the bottle into my tank containing the stabilized 2012 fuel. It was interesting as I poured the STP into the tank I could see the STP liquid react with the fuel in the tank. (sort of like when you drop dish soap into a sink of greasy dishes)
Long story short... the bike is running like new! The engine is running better on the choke, and once warmed up fuel/power delivery is smooth and linear (just like new!). I can tell the carbs need to be sync'd again but I am very happy with this chemical experiment.
I don't know if the STP is really good or if the combination of the STA-BILŪ and STP is the magical cure???
It would be interesting if there were some other guinea pigs out there that could confirm... maybe I'm just mad!
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