Carb cleaner

[Lordcargo]

I have a 79 R65. It has been sitting home in Tucson, AZ for the summer while I have been up in Butte, Mt. The carbs were drained but I was thinking of running a carb cleaner through the tank when I get back in a week or so. I have used Sea Foam on my 2001 Vakyrie and my 2014 Goldwing with good results. I am just hesitating due to the age of the R65. In the old old days people used to say this stuff would damage the seals. Any thoughts ?

[Barry]

I doubt a fuel additive would damage the seals because it's nothing like as strong as neat carb cleaner sprayed directly into the carb.

[Tony Smith]

I doubt a fuel additive would damage the seals because it's nothing like as strong as neat carb cleaner sprayed directly into the carb.

I doubt that a fuel additive would do anything other than empty the buyers wallet. If the carbs need cleaning - clean them.  Scientific studies have proved again and again that "magic potions" added to fuel do little, if in fact anything, and carb/injector cleaners are the worst offenders.

[BPT]

I can't speak for motorcycles but I've recently used the Seafoam in my car on the recommendation of my mechanic and it worked to get rid of a mysterious Check Engine Light.

I'd heard the same thing Tony said about them not doing anything for mileage, performance, etc. but worked in my case for cleaning some gunk or build-up.

Again, not saying it would be good for a BMW carb, no idea there.

[wilcom]

The only "valve job in a can" or close to it was a product here in the States called Alemite CD2. It was guaranteed to free sticky lifters.

Back n' the day(50's 70's) lubrication wasn't as good as it is now and I would say 10% of the vehicles would have a sticky lifter or many. They would set there at idle going clack/clack/clack with the lifters that would not pump up.

What ever detergent the CD2 had in it was sure Kryptonite to sticky lifters. I would bet you that you could add a can of that to the oil and the lifter would be fine before you could drive around the block. Bought several cars with noisy lifters for a real good price because of that. Too bad they don't have CD2 for airheads 

[Billmc]

I have used SeaFoam on a regular basis for a number of years ever since the corn lobby got the ear (wallet) of the Energy Tsars and invented Ethanol.
It overcomes a bunch of the bad effects, helps keep the lines and gaskets from self destructing and stabilizes the fuel in the tank and gas cans during the winter. Whether it actually cleans anything internally I have no clue

[BPT]

In your bike or cars or both, Billmc?  My car is an 01 with 226,000 miles on it.  I'd never used the stuff before but my mechanic recommended it after chasing a check engine light for a while. He mentioned a few places I could have some build up, can't remember where he thought it was. He told me to run several cans through but it seemed to work after just 2.

[Tony Smith]

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-gasoline-additive-Sea-Foam-live-up-to-its-claims

[Lordcargo]

Thanks for the feedback ! I guess bottom line is it won't hurt and it may help slightly.

[Billmc]

In your bike or cars or both, Billmc?  My car is an 01 with 226,000 miles on it.  I'd never used the stuff before but my mechanic recommended it after chasing a check engine light for a while. He mentioned a few places I could have some build up, can't remember where he thought it was. He told me to run several cans through but it seemed to work after just 2.

I have used it in all my vehicles: Cars, trucks, motorcycles, lawnmowers, outboard motors.
Again, I cant say that it 'cleans and freshens' (they do seem to run better after a full treatment) but it does work on neutralizing the ethanol and stabilizing the fuel....

[BPT]

My guy told me to expect to see a lot of smoke which I did not.  And I didn't have to run as many cans through as he said so maybe it wasn't that bad.

Never noticed any difference in running, just know that the CEL finally stayed off after being off and on for a while.