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Ok, NOW I am officially impressed!

4K views 30 replies 9 participants last post by  RoadHopper 
#1 ·
As odd as it may sound to some, possibly most of you, I have not yet actually even seen a can of Sea Foam. Never laid eyes on one. Today I bought a couple. Since the bike sat for 3-ish years in the garage I knew the carbs would be gunked up to whatever degree. It would run with the choke applied but would only idle that way. One blip of the throttle would kill it. I have been looking at threads here and you-tube videos on pulling them and cleaning the jets etc etc. I was not looking forward to doing that but, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Last night I watched some you-tube videos on how to drain the carbs (which I knew anyway) and fill with SeaFoam to let sit overnight without having to pull them out. I figured what the heck, it's a lot easier than pulling them myself and a lot cheaper than hauling it to the nearest Kawasaki place to let them do it. Let's see what it can do. Well, I didn't even do that much (yet). All I did was pour some in the tank glug-glug-glug and turned around to do something with another bike I have. It sat for about 5 minutes. First time starting up the thing reved up on command basically going up and down the rpm's with not perfection but definitely working far, far better. WOW! I am officially impressed! I know it's not done yet but it went from barely running to, oh say 3/4 of normality with just that being done. Never again will I be without some.
 
#2 ·
Many of us have been, and still are, members of the Church of Seafoam.

I too doubted its powers, but now my bikes, even the fuel injected ones, get their dose of the miraculous liquid on regular basis.

Over the all the years I've been here, I've seen doubters come and change their beliefs. The amount of testimonials on its wonder are large.
Never ever have seen a negative report.

Welcome to the church!
 
#3 ·
Minus my Vulcan, the last used bike I purchased (2004 KLR250 2 weeks ago) was fed some Seafoam into the fuel tank and within a mile of riding, the throttle response and overall acceleration improved vastly. Even my fellow offroad buddy rode it before and after the Seafom was introduced and commented on how it improved throttle and pickup. Goes to show that "snake oil" products do have their purpose.

Ultimately, I pulled the Keihin carb off last Saturday for a thorough dip-n-scrub and now it's much happier.
 
#4 ·
Now you are accepting what a number of us had doubted initially but came to believe after accepting the reality of just putting a small amount into a tank of fuel and running it through. Think about making this a semi regular part of your fill up procedure. Initially I would do it with each fill until the changes level off and become consistent. Then every two or three fill ups should keep you running clean. Also make sure you add a little extra if the bike will sit for any length of time and be sure to do it again when you get the bike back on the road. With the fuel additives at the pump it is the best insurance I have found for a smooth running motor. I usually carry a bottle with me at all times. I just picked up a few extras to get me going for the new season at Wallyworld for under $7.00. That is about the best price I have seen over the last two years.
 
#13 ·
A friend at work about ten years back brought something to work one night that was amazingly hot. The bottle even said it was good for removing gas and oil stains from concrete! It warned not to put more than two drops on whatever you were eating. I seriously, no joke, thought one dude was going to need an ambulance when he put a teaspoon on a burger. He turned all sorts of different shades that a chameleon would be proud of. He got a thousand yard stare and wouldn't move for a half hour. I wish I could remember what that stuff was. Heck, it might have glowed in the dark. It was a legitimate food item but should have been sold in auto parts stores.
 
#16 ·
Ok, back to the original thought process of this thread...... While doing nothing to the bike other than Sea Foam in the tank, I actually ran it up and down my cul-de-sac today. That was the first time it has moved on its own power in three years. Since starting this thread I put some additional Sea Foam in the tank and have been running it several times a day until it is at operational temp so that the carbs can have a decent amount of the gas/Sea Foam run through it. So it went from a state of only able to idle when in full choke to idling normally and getting out on its own at least into third gear before running out of road. Cool! It did backfire quite a bit when in decal on the slowdowns but I'm so happy to just have it move on its own that I'll overlook that for now. I am impressed by both the machine and the Sea Foam. Yes, I am a full fledged member of the Sea Foam congregation now.
 
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#17 ·
I dislike to spell incorrectly. Above I wrote "decal" when I mean "decel" for deceleration. The bike backfired when in decel..........
 
#18 ·
One more follow-on to this thread: After airing up my back tire I put some more miles on it today. I'd say it's now improved to over 90% back to normal. There's still a slight hesitation if I open the throttle too much but I believe that will work itself out as time goes by (and SeaFoam goes through). Not bad results for a machine that did not run for three years.
 
#19 ·
Just curious... backfires... are they the double barrel shotgun type that turn heads, or are they the popcorn machine type? pop, pop-pop, poppity pop . . .

And... do you have a California model by any chance? With the emissions charcoal tank and two air lines coming from rear of the fuel tank?
 
#20 ·
Popcorn type and not a California model. The backfire is barely there at all now.
 
#21 ·
Adjusted your idle recently? That affected mine quite a bit. ( no clue why though ).

:nerd:
 
#22 ·
Now that you mention it, yes I did.
 
#25 ·
1) SeaFoam only in the gas tank. 2) No, I did no other adjusting to the carbs aside from idle speed. 3) As for the sipping method (assuming you mean draining the gas out of the carbs and filling with SeaFoam for a good soak), I was going to do that but first tried simply putting it in the gas tank. The results from that were good enough.
 
#27 ·
Found this article awhile back on SeaFoam. I am itching to do it since my '87 is pushing 30k. I did SeaFoam in the crankcase then 300 miles and an oil change recently and the oil is already near pitch black as well. Anyway, this article discusses the "sipping method" which is basically cleaning out the combustion chamber and bottom of the valves then letting a pool of SeaFoam soak on top the pistons for about half an hour. Only thing that is keeping me from doing this is that i know less than beans about where to find a vacuum line that gets to the right place, presuming one exists. I could T two hoses if need be, but where they would go in, that's where i get lost.


How to use SeaFoam to clean your Engine - The RIGHT way!


About the crankcase application... I noticed a HUGE difference right about 200 miles after i put some in. I noticed practically zero difference from applying to the gas, but that's where the rest of the can went until it was empty. Shifted smoother, picked up noticeable power, warmed up quicker, etc. It took a few days, but when it happened, it was all at once.
 
#26 ·
If you became a believer after sea foam in the gas tank then wait until you drain the carbs and put sea foam in the carbs. You'll be singing hallelujah.
 
#28 ·
Think you could detail that for a n00b like me? Like... step one, stick your finger on the little screw, step two, pull this hose, step three... etc?

:notworthy
 
#29 ·
Maybe I'll put some in the crankcase. The oil was changed soon before it wound up sitting for those 3 years. (I didn't know it was going to be sitting at all.) So while the bike was inactive, it did have pretty fresh oil in it which is better than sitting with old oil in it. I might toss some in the oil and drive around for a weekend, then change it out. I've got some more projects to do on it here soon anyway. I need to run down to the local McClendon's hardware store and pickup some nuts and bolts. Yesterday I picked up the strap metal and a few more pieces in preparation for installing highway pegs similar to what Knifemaker has so I'll need those nuts and bolts. I am also going to swap out the back cylinder ACCT for the other MCCT I have (front cylinder is already done). I may as well do the SeaFoam/oil change thing, too. As far as putting SeaFoam into the carbs and/or cylinders, I'm not as confident that I can do that yet and right now it's running decently so there is no immediate push to do so. I understand the theory of doing so but the practical application of doing that on this bike is a stretch for me at this time. It only has 10,600-ish miles on it so I doubt there's too much of a buildup internally and as I said, it's running decently enough for now.
 
#31 ·
According to the manufacturer... even though they advise 1.5 oz per gallon for fuel, there is no actual limit. The product is made from oil, alcohol, and mineral spirits ( generically speaking ) and is basically a fuel source all by itself. It won't make it past the oil ring from the crankcase, and it's practically "spent" by the time it gets past the carbs. So to get it to do any cleaning between the compression ring and the exhaust... the valves, etc... it needs to be dropped in to soak a bit from the top. I suppose one could just pull a plug, drip a bit in from there.... ( shruggs ) but i'd much rather find a hose so it could be added from the vacuum while the engine is running as advised. I've heard tell it does most of its work while sitting, which makes a lot of sense. From the look of my oil, which is still fresh and new and jet black, i need to find me some cheaper oil for quite a few batch treatments as well. Also, there is no actual limit for running it in the crankcase. It will limit itself and obviously is residual enough to survive past an oil change. The manufacturer says it can simply be added to the crankcase and let sit as well. It's not going to eat anything except the "varnish" holding the carbon onto the metal, basically.

So far... i've yet to hear from any of the experts here on the site in regards to where that hose might be, or if it exists.
 
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