Seafoam available in Beijing?

**Taimur** · 10-04-2009, 07:24 AM

Yeah, it seems Techron is quite similar to Seafoam. My bike is FI and I've had her for about 5 months in Beijing. The owner before me had a getoff and seemed to have just parked the bike for a long time thereafter and most of the basic maintenance items had to be redone by me to get her up to standard. Air filter, oil/filter, battery, rad flush, front pads plus plus. My idle was a bit unsteady and the bike was sometimes stalling at red lights. My mechanic told me he thinks it's dirty injectors. I was thinking fuel filter but I was wrong.

Took it in today for a proper injector removal, cleaning and flow testing. Took about 2 hours in total, much shorter than I anticipated but pretty expensive. It was totally worth it though because my idle is now rock solid at 1200, my lower end feels much more responsive and stronger, mid range stayed the same while high end feels a bit more eager than before. I'd say the lower end is where I feel the most improvement. The icing is that the engine and exhaust note sound a bit smoother too. That never hurts!!

Still want to get that Seafoam stuff and use it every few months to keep things clean... maybe the effects on FI is more than on a carbed engine?

**ChinaV** · 10-04-2009, 04:30 PM

I had to replace the (very expensive) fuel filters on my fuel injected V-Strom after 25,000 kilometers. That's not normal. I always ran the best gas I could find in it, but now I just stick to 93 octane from Sinopec or BP. I know it sounds strange, but 97 octane in China seems to be worse for FI than 93.

If you have a FI bike in China, it might be a good idea to pull the fuel filter(s) every 15,000 kilometers and soak them in FI cleaner. Most modern FI systems do a good job of keeping the injectors clean, (my V-Strom has two filters inside the fuel pump), but if they become clogged, it will burn out your pump.

You should be able to find FI cleaner pretty easily in Beijing at Metro or Walmart.

Cheers!
ChinaV

**Taimur** · 10-07-2009, 12:45 AM

Great advice! I'll probably pull it next oil change and have it cleaned with something. Apparently a new OEM filter is about $250 so definitely worth the maintenance hassle.

**Taimur** · 10-07-2009, 12:48 AM

Also I'm a bit wary to use the 93 octane because acording to my service manual, gasoline used outside of North America should be rated 95 or higher for this model (only 91 in continent).