Carb Heater Upgrade
 

I am in the process of doing a carb heater upgrade on my 2001 SV650S. It has been a pig in winter (definately worse since I added a stage 2 induction kit) when I have got caught without the Pro FST additive. I have intended to do this for a couple of years, but it is one of those jobs I never got around to - till now.
First I have extended the wires on the temperature controlled switch so the temp sensor is right at the front of the bike in the cold wind blast and not warmed by the engine or radiator. Next I have fitted an indicator LED to show when the temp switch has worked and a manual switch too (I have believed for some time that in damp/wet/humid conditions that the temp switch doesn't come on soon enough - ie the switching temp is set too low for these conditions). Lastly I have upgraded from 15w to 25w heaters. Will it fix it 100%? I don't know, and will probably have to wait for next winter to find out!
A quick plug for a pair of brand new standard 15w 13650-25E01 carb heaters I didn't use in the for sale section.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

tried the ultimate/ultra/super fuel?

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

No:confused:

Heard super unleaded is better but not a cure.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

still it helps.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

Premium unleaded was a wonder cure for my bike over winter, i could literally go spluttering into the petrol station and after filling would be fine.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

The Pro FST does work, its main constituent is isopropyl alcohol.

Complete suppression of carb icing with isopropyl alcohol.

Source

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

That's about 2.5dl of Pro FST per tank. I don't know what Pro FST costs in England, but around here it's around £18 per litre. So if I was to use Pro FST during the winter, it will increase my fuel costs with 30%.

Carb heaters are probably the cheapest and simplest solution in the long run. Carb icing is caused by moist air being cooled down to freezing temperatures in the venturi. No fuel additive will prevent this fully. Heating the venturi will. I have no experience with carb heaters on my SV, but my ER-5's carbs are heated by coolant and they definitely don't ice.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

£13/5l for the isopropyl

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

Never really had a problem on the SV with this issue, but interesting fix (if as you say it works), could you take a pic or two of the relocation of the sensor, might help others if they want to do the same.

Cheers Mark.

Re: Carb Heater Upgrade
 

...and where did you get 25w heaters from?