Cleaning Carbs
 

Have my bike in for repair and the mechanics told me that the carbs needed cleaning and would cost two hours labour so have decided to try and do it myself. Had a motorbike less that a near, mechanical knowledge is minimal. Where do I start?

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

Hi and welcome to the org. What running problems does your bike have that makes the mechanic think the carbs need cleaning? Removing and stripping the carbs is not the easiest of jobs for someone with little mechanical knowledge.

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

Before you take carbs off to clean put a whole bottle of redex (500ml) in a full tank and run the bike - I found that cured the problem on a previous carbed bike which would not hardly start or tickover at a decent speed - I kept using normal dose of redex after that and never had another problem with carbs.

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

I was going to say the same :D

Wilkos were doing cheap again the other week.£2.00 for a 250 ml bottle :smt118

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

I'm going to run some Redex through my system, as I fired the Sv up for the first time in months and it's got fuel in it from April 2016, it wasn't happy, tickover was high and lots of pops and bangs even when the engine was warm.

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

Remember also that the fuel companies change the blends from Summer to Winter which can have an affect and RedX and similar additives can stop this change-in-fuel effect.

My SV is basically Winterized ATM but I start her up every other week and take her off the Paddocks stands and also use all electrical switches to get current through the connections and operate the brakes and gears etc.

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

Well it my fault as I've neglected my Sv and not started her up, although she's in the garage and always on the optimate, so at least the battery is fully charged.

Fresh fuel and Redex tomorrow, and hopefully more miles this year

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

I like to disconnect my Optimate and let the battery run down a bit(Alarm draws current) so the Battery gets a bit of cycling.Batteries and electrics are just the same as mechanics,they like to be used if even only a little.

Ever noticed that riders who commute everyday and only change oil and filter and consumables can go years without a problem but come Spring how many,"Winterized" machines suffer.

This is the first year in many that I've not ridden All-Year :(

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

a good long (2hr plus) run with good fuel in will also help.
Mix of twisty roads, change of gear, etc etc.
I use BP ultimate, and i've noticed a significant difference if you do this if the bike is a bit lumpy and running not that well.
In fact every bike i've had that has had carb issues, just doing this takes things to a point its bearable.....
Just a thought.

Re: Cleaning Carbs
 

Ultimate and such does work because it has more cleaners, but in my experience Redex works very quickly. I tried 97 RON in one carbed bike and it actually ran worse (there is actually less power contained in high octane fuel and it is only if ECU has knock sensors to optimise spark timing that an engine can get better results). Our Honda cars like high octane because they have compression ratio (11:1) and ECU / knock sensors to take advantage of it.