Carb icing

As per subject, are 7Rs particularly vulnerable to it?

I had it non-stop from Maidenhead to Bodmin on Tuesday. Not the most
auspicious start to a road trip.

 

Don't know about the 7R, but my 9R suffered from terrible carb icing -
to the extent that it was almost unrideable (1).

However, I found a couple of things that solved the problem. Wynn's
Dry Fuel and Silkolene FST (2) both do exactly as they say on the tin.
I've had no problems with carb icing since using one or the other,
even when temperatures are below freezing.

(1) Unless you keep a positive throttle all the time and go faster and
faster - I don't think the constabules would accept 'sorry officer, I
was doing 120 to stop the carbs from icing'.

(2) Available from most proper car/motorcycle type shops - you may
need to ask and they'll get it in for you.

HTH

--
Elly - a tired Pixie
ZX9R-E1 - 'The bike made me do it!'
Spike - FZ400 - firing on 3 cylinders
MRO#32 ibW#25 BoTAFOT#46 BoTAFOF #46 GP#1 UKRMRM#00 TWA#3
http://www.garagepixies.co.uk
"Angel in the kitchen ... "
elly at garagepixies dot co dot uk

 

To check whether a bike is particularly susceptible to carb icing, you
first need to check the fuel tank.

If it's got a big word beginning with "K" on each side, then the
answer is "yes".
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..73392../..18192.../..3184./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^' RBR Landmarks: 0 Points: 0 Miles: 0

 

You might have a point there.

 

Iso Propyl Alcohol is the ingredient that does the work. ZX9's had a mod
to up the coolant temp with a different thermostat. MAKe sure the collent
filter for the carbs is clean.

http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk/acatalog/Solvents___Reagents.html

You can buy a tanker full:

http://www.hayman.co.uk/finealcohol/default.htm

 

eric the brave says...

I've found that not using the bike in cold weather works well. Having
said that, on the occasions when mine has been out in extremely cold
weather, the carb de-icing kit I have on my carbs does a fine job.

 

It wasn't really that cold, just a bit chilly and very very damp.

As the whole point of the trip was to rack up 700 miles or so on two
wheels (as a warm-up for the French Run), using the car instead wasn't
really an option

 

Exactly - freezing or below, there's usually very little water in the air,
which you need for carb icing.

 

Summat to do with primary and secondary jets (IANAE tho). The primary
(smaller one) is the one that gets blocked up, so at low revs, the bike
really stutters. Open the throttle to get the secondary jet open, and it
goes fine. But, after every run whenI had carb icing, my bike would give off
a small amount of blue smoke on the overrun. Hundred or so miles would clear
it again, but it was always noticeable after an incident of carb icing, when
I decided just to crack the throttle open and keep goping, rather than stop,
let it all warm up, and then carry on.

TBH, I used that Silkolene FST stuff on the 6R. Made not one jot of a
difference. Still, they do it in small enough bottles to keep under the seat
so you might as well give it a go.

 

I'm not sure why you're so worried about "warming up" for the French run.
It's only about 130 or so miles from Calais IIRC.

 

To be fair, nailing it down Streatham High Road isn't easy at any time
of the day.

 

Bear says...

I never claimed to be any kind of mechanic.

I'd better sort out an invoice and then a credit note.