Bad Fuel, No Go.

Well the other day I went out to the shed to fire up "Rosie". Thats funny. Usually fires first try on choke ?? Open the throttle a tiny touch, try again and she splutters into a very sick sounding life. Only running on ONE cylinder, #4. Oh NO ! Could then smell the faint smell of fuel. Living on an Island ( no bridge to the mainland ), your options are simple. Fork out big dollars to transport it over to a workshop, or, attack it yourself. A big sigh, and out with the tools. What a pain of a job to remove the carbies, or should I say, putting them back on is the real pain. removed all the jets and cleaned and blew. Primarys looked to be blocked by some clear looking gunk. The primarys are so tiny. My bike was jetted by the previous owner so not sure on the exact specs. The mains are stamped "86", which I was very confused about. Rang a good mate in the trade and he assured me that would be quite right as some jet kits are numbered differently. Drained what fuel was in the tank. Cleaned everything that I could get to. Put her back together. As I stated above, what a job to get the rear throttle cable located. Fresh fuel. Choke. A few cranks and Rosie burst back into full life. Ahhhhhhh. Relief. A bit rough, as I had moved the cable adjusters to refit them. Should make up an overhead fuel can feed system, so that I can run her without the tank on and make adjustments. Anyway. Two adjustments and she is running and sounding like she should. Probably saved myself a good $200 min.
She will be going over for a real Tune next month.

Good save
How long since she had been running and how long since a tank of quality 98?

She had probably been sitting for a fortnight, but I would start her and idle for a minute every couple a days. We always bring over 98 in plastic jerry cans. The small shop/servo here only has reg' unleaded.

Hammy wrote:She had probably been sitting for a fortnight, but I would start her and idle for a minute every couple a days. We always bring over 98 in plastic jerry cans. The small shop/servo here only has reg' unleaded.

I run a tank of 98 every 5 - 6 tanks of 91 especially if starting a trip on the B1250. Supposed to have a cleaning function Makes me feel better
You need to "ride" more mate
Its about 2 weeks since I fired mine up too. I'm waiting for the sprocket cover to come back from Gus. Might park the FZ and ride the big girl to work tomorrow

Does anyone know of a good fuel additive for carby models. I have read pommy forums talk about "seafoam" ?

Hammy wrote:Does anyone know of a good fuel additive for carby models. I have read pommy forums talk about "seafoam" ?

Yanks use Sea Foam when they "winterise" there bikes. I think all you need to do is ride Hammy

I Know 4WA. I dont catch a barge enough to get off this rock. But Hey ! I love it here. ps. Some good rides coming up this year.

Hi Hammy,

Stabil is a fuel stabiliser. It also has a fuel system cleaner property. If you are not riding the bike for a while, this is the stuff you need to mix in your fuel prior to parking it up. It prevents rust in the system and gumming up as you have seen first hand.

Nulon make a fuel system cleaner.....

http://www.nulon.com.au/products/Fuel_Treatments/Total_Fuel_System_Cleaner/

Heard good things about it and am half way through a treatment (500ml treats 60lt). You would want to when it costs $22 for 500ml.

Did you happen to have a look down into the intake tract of the head while you had the carbs off to see how much carbon had built up on the back of your valves?

Speaking of Fuel i see that our fearless leaders are trying to phase out unleaded, leaving us with premium or E10 Blend.
now i accidently filled up with E10 a while ago and the bike did not like it, it ran like a hairy goat even coughed and stalled, never done that before. Mr Suzuki says that E10 is suitable to run but all my friends say not to use it and they have a wide range of different bikes, so the question i ask is E10 going to be ok to run or just cough the extra and go premium

Are you sure E10 is ok? I thought the manual said 95% petrol or a max of E5 (which isn't sold in Australia) but I'd have to go and get the manual and re-read it. Come to think of it, I'd actually have to find it.

I can't get 95 at any servo within 150km of here.

According to the book of Bandit, Gasoline/Ethanol AKA Gasahol, Blend up to 10%. Gasoline/Methanol blend up to 5%

ok the bike can use it but it makes mine run shit.