carb icing

[squid36]

a workmates having problems with carb icing on his sv650 he`s had the carb heaters fitted but its made no difference, the weather at the moment isnt what i`d call cold so i can only see the problem getting worse as it gets colder, he`s lost all confidence in the bike as it`ll cut out at anytime ,ie roll off the throttle in the 3rd lane of the motorway and bam no power leave it a couple of seconds and it`ll go again,, any ideas on getting over this problem ? i`ve heard theres a petrol addative but dont know what its called, any ideas will be greatfully recieved,
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[Ichy]

Really suprised that he is suffering at the moment, would of thought it was still too warm? Sounds more like fuel starvation. Have a search of the threads on this site, there's loads of info.

[Bezzer]

It is cool enough for icing along with the moisture we've got, especially if you're on faster roads when you get more cooling effect. The additive he wants is Silkolene Pro-FST, top stuff

About now is the worse time for icing because of all the moisture in the air and the temperature is coming down, come the really cold weather you don't get it because it's drier and you need both to affect the carbs.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[the grim reaper]

Although, as it's an SV, are you sure he's not suffering with moisture affecting the front HT lead/Sparkplug? They all do that and they need a mudguard extender and liberal application of grease to prevent it. The fairing lowers do a good job of stopping it too, although this is the expensive route.

Having said that, I had a little carb icing on the Blade yesterday, loads of spray being lifted up by cars.

Cheers

Grim
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[Ichy]

[Bezzer]

Could be, it's marginal icing weather at the moment,usually it's a lot cooler at this time of the year, the extra speed of the motorway takes the intake temperature right down, but he's also got carb heaters, , loses power when he rolls off - ie coming off the mains onto the idle circuit which is iced, as it slows it warms and with the heaters as well the bit of icing disappears pretty quick.
20 years biking and never had it you've been making the right choice of bike. Kwackers are notorious for it with Suzukis not far behind, always had trouble with the different GS's I had.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I am surprised at someone getting carb icing problems in the current fairly mild weather (although no real experience of the SV, and it could be exceptionally prone to it). Have suffered carb icing on bikes in the past (FZ750 was the worst, and would take several minutes to clear), but only when a hell of a lot colder than this and when damp (foggy mornings were worst). Vaccuum in the fuel tank would be my first point to check (ie, fuel tank breather blocked).

I would be inclined to look elsewhere for the problem first.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[stinkwheel]

Or does it have a fuel pump that is momentarily cutting out? I've never had a bike with one, but mates have had them do wierd things in the past.

An old favourite way of dealing with carb icing on GPZs (which are bad for it if they have no carb heater) was to cover half the radiator with a bit of cardboard.
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[Ichy]

[squid36]

cheers for the tips, i`ll pass them on to him, when i said it cleared after a couple of seconds that was just the way he said it when i quizzed him about it he said it was a couple of minutes befor it`d run smooth again, he`s put a bit of plastic in front of the rad as suggested and he`ll let me know how it goes, i told him to out the SV and get a honda lol i ride mine all year round with none of these problems, he just looked at me and told me to p**s off you smug git!!!!!!!!!!
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they say life begins at 40 but i think it begins at 140 !!!!!!!

https://www.mayhem-paintball.co.uk/ essex premier paintball site

[Kickstart]

Hi

Hondas get carb icing as well, and an electric carb heater kit would probably kill the charging system on a Honda .

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[sickpup]

[instigator]

Rode my ninja today for the first time (well, I did jsut buy it) up the M6 for 400+ miles.

As it got darker, colder and wetter, I did notice it was harder to maintain a single speed, say 70mph. If it dipped, I would turn and turn the throttle until it reached 6k where it takes off. I mean, literally, it's hitting a brick wall sometimes before 6k. I can onoly assume thats carb icing.

As I got into town and back onto the motorwya, all was fine.

[bish777]

My XJ600 was awful, Any hint of cold and the carbs would ice up.

Lead replacement additive seemed to lessen the problem.

My GSXR1100 with pods can be vulnerable at speed but as the air comes off the engine and is warm, at lower speeds it doesnt really suffer.
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GSXR1100J