Big Red no longer missing in action...

Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
16
Location
California
With temps warming up, got my '93 ST (Candy Glory Red, thus the nickname) out of hibernation in the garage and went for a 2- hour ride about 2 months ago. All seemed well. Filled it up with a fresh tank of gas and back in the garage. Maybe 2-3 weeks later, fired it up to go for a ride with friends and wouldn't you know it, I had a pronounced miss. In fact, the bike was hard to start for the first time ever. It would finally stay running, but only with about 2/3-choke and not at all happy about it. Tried to 'ride it out' but the miss persisted at all RPMs. I opted out of the ride and returned her to the garage. A month later (this past weekend), finally had time to troubleshoot. I'd read most of the posts I could find here regarding misses. I couldn't believe I could have plugged carb problems because I did a complete carb rebuild in 2015 with mostly new internals.
So I first removed air cleaner and checked synch (ok), loose hoses/leaks (none found), loose screws (none). Vacuum seemed fine. Buttoned it all up, started up and still had an uneven idle, tho not nearly as pronounced as before. Anyway, long story short, I added Techron Concentrate Plus, went for a ride and within about 15 minutes, the bike was running perfectly. FWIW, I did not drain and replace the gas (as suggested in several threads), since I had just filled up a week or two before. (Although now I'm wondering if maybe I got some bad gas...). Also FWIW, the Techron label says to add the entire bottle of Techron to 12 gallons of gas, so I added half the bottle to the ST's full tank.
Also interesting, my local NAPA did not have this stuff on the shelf. They had just about everything else from every other company, including SeaFoam - and even including a Techron product made specifically for fuel injector cleaning. Was about to settle for something else when another employee overheard the conversation and said he thought they might have some in the back. Sure enough, he brought out a dusty bottle of the Concentrate Plus. "You're the first one who's ever asked for it, and that's the first one I've ever sold," he said, or words to that effect. And this is a guy I've been buying parts from for probably 10 years.
I suggested they might sell more if they actually put them out on the shelf. LOL
 

SupraSabre

48 Years of SoCal Lane Splitting/Commuting-Retired
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Joined
Nov 20, 2005
Messages
9,498
Location
Cedar City, Utah
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12/04 ST 1300s
2024 Miles
000145
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5901
Glad you got it sorted out!

I used Techron Concentrate when I had my mid 80's V65 & V45 Sabres. I have since been using Seafoam, which I feel does a better job. Any particular reason you skipped over the Seafoam?
 
OP
OP
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
16
Location
California
Only reason was an older thread on this site that - more than once - touted the miracle properties of snake oil . . . I mean, Techron. I have used Seafoam many times over the years on cars, almost always with positive results. It was certainly the backup plan here, too. And probably would have worked just as well. But I'm a big fan of Techron now, too.
 
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