MC Mechanics - Fuel System Help

[Werewolf]

I am not a mechanic. What I know about engines wouldn't fill one written page.

In my cars I normally run a can of fuel system cleaner thru a tank of gas about every 3000 miles or so.

I'd like to do the same on my motorcycle (Honda Shadow 750). Of course I'd only use about a 1/4 can to stay in proportion (full can for 15 gal tank).

I ask because I normally run Mobil 1 in my cars and wanted to do so in my MC. Found out you can't do that. Mobil 1 is too slippery for a bike with a wet clutch. That made me wonder what else might be different.

So can I run carb/fuel system cleaner in an MC or is there something about MC carbs that's different enough from a car's to preclude its use?

[cfabe]

I don't think there would be any difference in a motorcycle carb that would be different, so it should be safe. I do question the utility of using those cleaners, but that's another issue.

[Big_R]

I periodically run some Sea Foam through my motorcycles and had no trouble.  

Ryan

[Fatcat]

The fuel cleaner can't hurt anything.

Regarding the oil, I think the general consensus is that as long as the oil isn't stamped "energy conserving", synthetic shouldn't cause any problems. My Dad likes the Shell Rotella 5-40W synthetic and the stuff that AMSOIL sells. YMMV, of course.

[Morgan]

I raced 600 SuperSport motorcycles for years (Honda CBR series) with AmsOil full synthetic oil - never a problem with the wet clutch.

Sounds like something some small "motorcycle specific" oil company would say - and it's snake oil.

[Werewolf]

Actually it was the Honda mechanics in the service department that told me not to use it...

I really like Mobil 1 - been using it for years in my cars.

I'mmmmmm sooooo confused!

[BillBlank]

Mobil 1 is a car oil. In most cars the engine and gear box do not share the same oil, in most motorcycles they do.  If you put car oil in your bike the shear forces created in the gear box will rapidly tear apart the polymer chains in the oil and degrade its lubricating qualities. This would be bad. Unless truely desperate putting synthetic car oil in bike is a bad idea.

I use semi synthetic on the bike only because the milage I do makes replacing fully synth every 4000 miles a little expensive and I have NEVER experienced big enough performance gains (+1 bhp max so less than 1%) from using fully synthetic oil in my daily driver GSXR750 to justify the extra costs. My track bikes do drink it but they also have baffled sumps and get the clutches replaced regularly anyway.

[bountyhunter]

I ask because I normally run Mobil 1 in my cars and wanted to do so in my MC. Found out you can't do that. Mobil 1 is too slippery for a bike with a wet clutch. That made me wonder what else might be different.

Don't know why not.  I have run every other brand of synthetic oil in my KZ-750 which also has a multi-disc wet clutch.  It is SUPERIOR to regular oil, not too slippery.  Can't understand why yours would not work with syn oil.  

For the record, I don't use Mobil 1.  Try the other types and I bet they work (Castrol, valvoline, etc).

So can I run carb/fuel system cleaner in an MC or is there something about MC carbs that's different enough from a car's to preclude its use?

You can use it.  Add about one ounce per gallon of gas.

[bountyhunter]

Mobil 1 is a car oil. In most cars the engine and gear box do not share the same oil, in most motorcycles they do.  If you put car oil in your bike the shear forces created in the gear box will rapidly tear apart the polymer chains in the oil and degrade its lubricating qualities. This would be bad. Unless truely desperate putting synthetic car oil in bike is a bad idea.

That's why full syn oil is better in a bike.  Before syn oils (I am really old) the dealers warned us to only use castrol GTX because it had the best resistance to viscosity breakdown and damage... but you could feel the clutch getting rough after as little as 300 - 400 miles.  With full syn oil there is no change because the oil stays slippery.  It costs more:  $4/quart on sale, about $2/quart more than Castrol GTX.  So for each oil change, that's a premium of about $8 to go up to full synthetic.  If you change the oil every 3000 miles, you will probably change it less than 25 times over the life of the bike.  At $8 more per change, that adds a total of $200 increased oil cost over the life of the bike.

Dirt cheap for what you get.

[bountyhunter]

So can I run carb/fuel system cleaner in an MC or is there something about MC carbs that's different enough from a car's to preclude its use?

BTW:  sonce MC fuel systems are gravity fed, you will see a fine dark sediment (dirt) accumulate everywhere...  the bottom of the tank, the fuel filters, the float bowls, etc....

The only way to get it clean is to take the tank off and drain it and flush it with clean solvent.  Also, remove the gas feed tap assy and clean it out (you won't believe what you are going to find in there.... dirt, cat hair, rust, and other junk).  The float bowls are usually easy to remove if the bike has carbs.  If it's FI, they are harder to clean.

BTW:  many new bikes don't come with "in'line" fuel filters and they are a REALLY GOOD idea to minimze the amount of garbage getting from the tank down into the fuel system.

[caseydog]

http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?category=1

These guys talk more about fluids and filters than we do guns.

Ray

[bountyhunter]

FYI:  I have been two wheeling for about 40 years.  The only true case of a mortorcycle not being able to run synthetic oil was one year back around 1982 when syn oil was first getting popular, Kawasaki had one model where the clutch composite material was glued to the discs with some kind of adhesive that dissolved in one of the ingredients in one specific brand of syn oil (don't remember which brand, probably Mobil 1).

KSaki never did that again.  I have a 1979 KZ750 I have had and been riding steadily since new with about 75,000 on the original engine now.  I have used nothing but synthetic oil for at least 20 years.