It's Winter! How Do I Stop The Dreaded Carb Icing?
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 10:10 pm
Well, it's getting to that time of year again.
For those who haven't had it yet, here's what's most likely going to happen:
You'll be riding along quite happily - especially if you're on a long motorway journey - then all of a sudden you'll find the bike won't want to rev up to 14,000. It'll just feel like the power stops dead.
Then it won't go above 13k... then 12k... then 11k....etc
If you ride it out hard on the throttle, this will carry on until the revs die completely, but the chances are you'll pull the clutch in, at which point it will die anyway.
So you pull over, and try desperately to restart it. No joy.
If you're unlucky, you'll run your battery flat...
But maybe you'll have a stroppy fag, or pace around swearing and trying to phone Uncle Bernie who's the only person you know with a van. After 10 minutes you'll dejectedly try and start it one last time...
... and bugger me if it doesn't start and run fine!
Well done! You've just experienced 'Carb Icing'. Any bike with carbs can suffer, but ZXR400's are pretty prone to it. Mine used to suffer the worst in freezing fog rather than just cold days.
The good news is (and someone feel free to expand on the technical side), all that's happened is the jets have iced up, and as soon as you switch off the engine, the heat from the engine will melt it if you just wait for a few minutes. Job jobbed.
Personally, it only happened a few times to me, but then I found out early on (most likely from this site) how to prevent it!
Your best way is to stop being a skinflint and fill up with Super Unleaded. Many will argue that there is no difference in power or fuel economy (I say there is) - but one thing it WILL do for definite is greatly reduce the chance of carb icing. Plus it will start better on cold days, so you should be doing it over Winter even if you don't during Summer.
The other way is to use a fuel additive. An octane booster should do teh job, but I can vouch for a few splashes of the Silver STP Total Fuel System Cleaner or the similar product from Wynnes.
***This was a public service announcement brought to you by the letters J and C. Hope y'all have a good Winter***
For those who haven't had it yet, here's what's most likely going to happen:
You'll be riding along quite happily - especially if you're on a long motorway journey - then all of a sudden you'll find the bike won't want to rev up to 14,000. It'll just feel like the power stops dead.
Then it won't go above 13k... then 12k... then 11k....etc
If you ride it out hard on the throttle, this will carry on until the revs die completely, but the chances are you'll pull the clutch in, at which point it will die anyway.
So you pull over, and try desperately to restart it. No joy.
If you're unlucky, you'll run your battery flat...
But maybe you'll have a stroppy fag, or pace around swearing and trying to phone Uncle Bernie who's the only person you know with a van. After 10 minutes you'll dejectedly try and start it one last time...
... and bugger me if it doesn't start and run fine!
Well done! You've just experienced 'Carb Icing'. Any bike with carbs can suffer, but ZXR400's are pretty prone to it. Mine used to suffer the worst in freezing fog rather than just cold days.
The good news is (and someone feel free to expand on the technical side), all that's happened is the jets have iced up, and as soon as you switch off the engine, the heat from the engine will melt it if you just wait for a few minutes. Job jobbed.
Personally, it only happened a few times to me, but then I found out early on (most likely from this site) how to prevent it!
Your best way is to stop being a skinflint and fill up with Super Unleaded. Many will argue that there is no difference in power or fuel economy (I say there is) - but one thing it WILL do for definite is greatly reduce the chance of carb icing. Plus it will start better on cold days, so you should be doing it over Winter even if you don't during Summer.
The other way is to use a fuel additive. An octane booster should do teh job, but I can vouch for a few splashes of the Silver STP Total Fuel System Cleaner or the similar product from Wynnes.
***This was a public service announcement brought to you by the letters J and C. Hope y'all have a good Winter***
