Fuel Additives

[Brad Moores]

What is the collective wisdom regarding fuel additives, particularly in this age of the current gasoline mandates? when I downshift I get some exhaust gurgling.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Brad

 

I don't know what the collective wisdom is but my personal take is: if your bike needed a fuel additive then the type & amount to use would be in your riders manual.

 

The exception here might be using a bit of Techron once in a while after long storage or on a bike that sits a lot & isn't ridden very much.

 

If the gasoline you use is so bad you need some type of additive then you need to find another brand of gasoline.

 

[Brad Moores]

Thank you. Think I'll try the Techron. I have heard many of my boating friends complain about the effects of biologic fuel additives required by the government on their four stroke marine engines and was concerned about the backfire on my RT as being gasoline related. Hence the question.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Brad

 

I presume by backfire you are talking about post fire in the exhaust system not a true backfire into the intake?

 

If you have a real backfire issue then you have serious issues.

 

If it is just a post fire in the muffler type of problem then talk to your dealer about that. A little cackle on throttle roll of is somewhat normal but a lot of post firing isn't.

 

Are you completely closing the throttle at roll off? If you are not completely closing the throttle on decel you might not be getting complete fuel shut off.

 

In any case your post firing or backfiring won't be helped with any fuel additives.

 

[RTinNC]

I use Sta-bil all the time and have never had a problem. But never use any others. I have only heard good things about Techtron.

[racer7]

The most important thing about your fuel is to buy it from a place that sells volume and monitors tanks well. Had a friend nearly roast an 1100RT when he got a tank of what had to be at least 50% EtOH from a low volume joint in FL- the lean mix wouldn't burn at first and when diluted enough raised the EGT so much it broke loose an adhesive bonded part of the HES system from heat. It also melted plastic close to the pipe while riding...

 

If you have a station that sells pure gas premium near you, use it. Nothing good comes from EtOH in gas.

 

That burbling isn't a true backfire- just a lean condition in the pipe aand of no importance. Tends to be a lot more noticeable on a new bike for some reason.

[zhukov1942]

The dealer recommended AMSOIL to combat ethanol's effect on the fuel gauge strip. My strip was DOA when I bought the bike, after getting that replaced I put AMSOIL in the tank every couple of months. So far the gauge has held up.

[Dave_in_TX]

The dealer recommended AMSOIL to combat ethanol's effect on the fuel gauge strip. My strip was DOA when I bought the bike, after getting that replaced I put AMSOIL in the tank every couple of months. So far the gauge has held up.

 

And without the use of additives, the original fuel strip on my 07 RT was working fine when I traded it in with 140k miles on it.

[Guest Kakugo]

The only additive I ever added was a lead replacement on my old Triumph. Other than that I tend to steer away from them.

I get some gasoline issues once in a while (mostly noticeable is degraded mileage due to old/poorly preserved fuel) but they usually go away after a couple of tanks.

[w2ge]

I've used Star-Tron after reading some positive reviews about it. A few of the motorcycle dealers around here -only- carry this stuff now...

 

http://mystarbrite.com/startron//content/view/93/123/lang,en/

 

[6speedTi]

Try looking at Lucas Oil Fuel injector cleaner and Conditioner.

I buy it buy the gallons two at a time and use it on all my vehicles.