I use some seafoam typically once a month, followed by Lucas in the next tank.
Thank you, Ross -----Original Message----- From: "Kurt Nolte" <[email protected]> Sent: 6/17/2014 8:31 PM To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: What to do to clean out Ethanol gas fromsitting for 45 days?? I haven't done a big study into oil additives because I don't really use them. On my cars I do run a quick high detergent additive (the "flush" products) every fourth oil change (~20k miles) or so the regular oil change, but that's more out of habit than any real data driven results. It probably doesn't do much but the $6/ two years isn't much money even if the results are minimal. Most of the gasoline additives are just solvents, and most consist primarily of those lightweight distillates that gasoline loses very quickly. They're good solvents, so they do help dissolve and "flush" resting deposits that might be starting to form. If I'm not mistaken (and I might be) there was an article that went around a year or two ago from one of the car rags that contained a spectral analysis of what was in some of the popular additives; it was mostly benzene, one of the highest proportion light distillates in gasoline. Gas "stabilizers" are also mostly solvents, though they're heavier and less prone to evaporation. This is how they help keep your fuel system from going to crap when you let it sit, by holding those sediments and heavy distillates in suspension for extended periods of time. At one point they actually listed the contents on the bottle; I found one from the 80s while cleaning out storage that listed isopropyl alcohol, 5% methanol and one other alcohol that escapes me as the primaries. Stabilizers are good things to use if you're going to be storing something with fuel in the tank. They do serve a valuable purpose. I used to prefer the StaBil brand, but when they jumped on the "blame ethanol for everything, so we can sell 'curative' products" bandwagon I just started storing stuff dry. I don't have much of a summer/winter schedule here in SC, because it's pretty much summer all year; I can't really help you much with that, I'm sorry. I know that we here on the list love to swear by SeaFoam, and it's helped me grow hair in places that I didn't even know hair could grow when used as a tonic, but I have no data that isn't anecdotal to back up its efficacy. I imagine it's mostly benzene, probably some alcohols as they make great cleaning agents, and possibly a light detergent but I doubt it. I use it when I know I'm not going to get a chance to ride for a while, as a sort of stabilizer. As far as feeling a difference? The butt dyno lies like a rug! We like to self validate things to make us feel like we made the proper choice. I wouldn't worry too much about using them or not using them; you aren't hurting anything, you might possibly kinda be helping, but if you have doubts and want to stop using them that's a perfectly valid choice. If you want to spend money on something to help, pay attention to your gasoline choice. Find a good brand from a station that turns over its supply regularly and patronize it, even if it's a couple cents more expensive than the bargain basement price. Even if you use 4 gallons a week (160-200 miles per tank) all year and the difference between the good stuff and the cheap is $.05/gallon it's still less than $12 more annually. You'll spend more than that in additives. A frequently cycled supply of gas at the station means less time for it to decompose in the tanks, less opportunity for water contamination, and you get a closer to ideal fraction split in your fuel. Keep your tank out of reserve if you can, as it reduces the chance of drawing in the sediment laden bottom layer of gasoline. OR you can make it a point of riding often and practically running dry every tank, so you just burn that stuff off before it can settle. My apologies if I rambled a bit this time; I've been feeling a little sick all day, and it's completely killed the editing brain. -Kurt On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 6:39 PM, apexadam <[email protected]> wrote: Kurt, What is your take on gasoline/oil additives intended to clean or enhance the fuel and combustion systems? I'm constantly buying into marketing claims and spend a few extra dollars on additives. Admittedly, I often "feel" I notice a difference in performance. Do you have a Summer/Winter system for your MC that you employ? What about for your cars? I am asking because I enjoyed your straight forward and clear response. -adam On Monday, June 16, 2014 7:04:20 PM UTC-7, Kurt Nolte wrote: You're mistaken on the residue. That's gasoline. All gasoline leaves that residue; it's those sediments and heavy volatiles I mentioned, when the lighter fraction evaporates it leaves them behind. Ethanol evaporates with no residue. There is only one chemical in ethanol: ethanol. There are anywhere from 150-500+ chemicals in "gasoline," varying in proportions from country to country, by region, state, and sometimes even municipality or station. Some of these compounds aren't even flammable, and a great many of them aren't even deliberately added and have no real value as motor fuel. Infrequently used engines run on any fuel without proper draining, stabilization and preparation will suffer the same build up and clogging fates. People have been fighting this fight since before ethanol was even considered as an additive for fuels. As for your mileage, the only way to validate your results would be for someone to fill your tank for you, NOT tell you what it is, and run that way for an extended time. Only then could you make a meaningful comparison of results, because it would eliminate your subconscious' affect on your results. These sorts of tests performed by people far better funded and equipped than any of us have confirmed that there is no statistically significant fuel economy variation between E10 and E00 fuel in motor vehicles. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data." -Kurt On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 9:55 PM, Tommy Hill <[email protected]> wrote: Say what you will, but I get 120-125 miles per tank and fill up with 2.7 gallons. After one tank of ethanol-free gas, I filled up at 147 miles with 2.7 gallons. Granted, only one tank, but I am trying the next tank to see. And I have spent more than I care to think on my boats and the problems that ethanol creates. In frequently used applications, cars, motorcycles, etc it doesn't matter, but when it sits, the ethanol evaporates and leaves gummy crap on any moving parts. Float valves stick, jets clog. Pain in the butt. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
