Fuel requirements and additives

Orion61

XS650 Addict
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What are the fuel requirements of the xs 650? Did they change between the Leaded and Unleaded years?
Can you run Ethanol in them? Regular Unleaded has changed to Ethanol in my small town. Should I be adding a Lead substitute or other addititives?
I run Seafoam in all my other gasoline engines, and I have in this so far.
I am sure this has been asked, but the search feature here is a bit limited.
Larry
 
Hi-test with ethanol in mine for 12k, starts and runs well with no problems, Seafoam in the winter. Save your money for other things than additives if you run the bike regularly. JMO.
 
I was just wondering about the Valve seats and valves, those engines were designed to run with the lead as a lubricant. As far as $ one bottle of Real Lead treats about 18 gallons,
Not to hard to carry a 2 oz bottle inside a side cover. I have made a couple Velcro pouches that I carry small things in.. very handy! Silicone is a great adhesive and totally reversible!
Ethanol is notorious at attacking plastic and synthetic parts in fuel systems.
The way I think of it is, " I am not only trying to maintain a treasured possession, but preserve it for generations to come" My 33 yr old Son wants my XS in the worst way...
I told him to go find his own..:heart::boxing::poke::hellno::laughing: Try to stay 73 on up due to the refinements made in them..
So many have yielded under the blow torch. Personally some are cool, but for me it is a sad thing to see.
I can hear those tiny souls screaming with every neck that gets cut and raked...:eek: :guns: :devil: :gun::cussing:that's my :twocents: worth!
I think I'll go have a :cheers: now, later....

Larry
 
Not an expert, but I have done a little research. My opinions:
Never heard of Real Lead, but I doubt it contains any lead. I don't think there are any additives that contain lead. Lead is poison, let's keep it out of the air and our lungs.
99% of us are not using lead substitutes, and we get along fine.
Ethanol is another matter. Quality fuel line and carb seals and o-rings and petcock gaskets are ethanol resistant. I can't think of anything else plastic or rubber that the ethanol in the gas will contact. However old ethanol destroys engines, carbs and tanks. If your gas is going to sit, you need an Ethanol Stabilizer. Lots to choose from, I'm sure they are all good, but after researching and comparing, I think "Ethanol Shield," from lawn mower and small engine shops is best.
Nothing wrong with SeaFoam, but now that we live in an ethanol world, I think your money is better spent on an ethanol stabilizer. If you are really paranoid, use it religiously, but I only use it when I think the gas might be sitting for a while. I hardly ever drive my cars, so I always add it to them. I never add it to my #1 bike, that gas is constantly refreshed.
 
I like alcohol as much as the next guy. But I don't want it in my bikes, cars, or anything else (mowers, outboards, etc.) that sit much. We run a small fleet of trucks that get filled with 87 octane 10% ethanol fuel every couple days ($30K worth in 2013). We run these trucks at least 125,000 before trading them without fuel related problems. But for the stuff I care about it's 91 octane non-oxy fuel. My bikes sit in heated storage from mid November to mid April with tanks full to the top, carbs empty. Never had a problem with this system.

roy
 
Good strategy, I used to do the exact same thing, but now, the closest ethanol free gas is 200 miles away at the marina in Corpus Christi. In the whole state of Texas there are like three places where you can get it.
 
I haven't seen non-ethanol gas in my area for a very long time.
My valve clearance checks stay pretty much normal, so I'm not seeing any valve recession in my '71, which I'm guessing "should" be running leaded fuel. :shrug:
I do know it will kill a fiberglass tank in no time, though.
 
Well, there is the new Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 race track right here in little ol' Austin... Thanks for the idea, but ethanol stabalizer works okay, and is easier and probably cheaper for me.

On the other hand, I will be drag racing my El Camino near here in May:

2014%20Belton%20Flyer.jpg

Texas is the El Camino capital of the world, and this is the largest El Camino gathering in the world
 
That is the issue I have Real Gas is nowhere in sight and now they are telling us they are pushing for 18% alcohol in the next couple years! I'm in the Midwest, everybody in Politics wants to please the Farmers and use Corn to keep prices high.
I am one of those people that realize Ethanol consumes MORE resources to make than it produces. Figure the fuel to Fertilize, Plow, Disk, Plant, Cultivate, Harvest, then Haul,
Grind, Ferment, and Distill, it comes out a neg. 10 or 15%.. Oh well it gets votes..
I am into my bike for the long haul. I cannot think of a single possession I have, including my 2 MGB Roadster Convertibles I love more.
At least I know I am doing one thing right. I run the bike until the carbs run dry, remove the tank, Drain, lightly spray it and the cylinders with outboard motor fogging oil.
Drain the oil, rinse it with a Mixture of clean Motor oil, Diesel and (Resoline, Marvel top end oil, or Seafoam) depending what I have on hand. Idle it for a couple minutes,(just to operating temp) Drain, clean or rpl oil filters, and refill. you wouldn't believe the crud this mixture. How often do you guys change filters?
I also saw a mod to place some kind of plate ofer the filter to keep it from wearing through. I cant find that info??
 
Orion, our bikes do not have filters, they have screens. That is why the oil change interval is spec'ed at 1,000 miles.
There are many remote filter add-ons, two of which are very simple to install, yet effective:
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/15-6504.html
http://www.650central.com/engine.htm (scroll down to the spin-on filter)
I have installed both, and I like both.
As for the sump screen, the easy solution is to buy the MikesXS one which is reinforced. Or do a search for sump filter reinforcement or reinforced or reinforcing, that should get the mod to come up.
I hardly ever clean my sump screen, it's too much of a pita, maybe once a year. I change oil every 1,000 miles, and I change my REAL side-case mod filter every 2,000 miles.
If you are just using the stock screens, you are supposed to clean them every oil change, which is 1,000 miles.
 
From the design point of view, I was told that the 1973 cylinder head assembly was designed for unleaded fuel. That was one of the few subtle differences between 72 and 73 engines.
However confirm this with others.
 
That is good to know! I hope it is a fact. I want to thank you all for the prompt and kind replies. It is good to know all the correct facts. That MikesXS looks to be the way to go.
As I stated earlier, I am in this bike for the long haul!
Larry
 
Thread update: On Dogbunny's recommendations in his carb adjustment thread:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33791

I set out to find "Ethanol Shield", but out here this is "StarTron" country. So, got a bottle of StarTron and treated the bike. (Might as well, another cold front coming, so no riding for a while.) Will be treating the trucks as well.

There's several "Ethanol Shield" vs "StarTron" comparisons out there, but dated.

Anybody have any preferences here?
 
I've never got past Stabil or MMO in fuels, but I understand the concern. StarTron gets good words in my discussion with folks that have used it. Most of my stuff does not sit that long, but last year I went up to 9 weeks without running the bikes and Stabil kept my fuel in good shape.
 
just a thought. i use the 10 percent blend ethanol as its all i can get.i religously use stabil for ethanol stabilizer. i also add a dash, maybe 1 oz per 5 gal of marvel mystrey oil. it keeps the tanks from rusting and keeps me from doing carb werk all the time.my bikes sit for weeks in the winter and they always start rite up[.so far. my xs does fine on it and have been using it in my 97 hd glide since new.

a really old guy i used to work with turned me on to mmo. really old guys are cool, they know a lot of stuff!
 
May sound like shit, but I've dropped these in the tanks of all my old bikes. I run 93 or occasionally 95 premium when i can get it or 91 unleaded when i can't. Bikes run ok but the bonus for me is when they're in storage, sometimes for up to 6 months, I drain the carbs and leave the tanks filled to the brim and the fuel doesn't seem to go off or stink like bad fuel does. I can pick up a bike, turn the gas on and fire it up and it will run normally without fuel related issues. I haven't had to throw away fuel since using them which is over 4 years now.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADDITIVE-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f2752a338
 
pcoumbe does that product have a peculiar odor to it? Like moth balls? Just wondering.
 
Haha weekendrider, you making fun of me ? I was expecting to cop a barrage of flack over this post.
They just look like lead pellets shoved into a plastic netting tube and unscented.
I had 4 bikes I was rotating and with my previous work schedule, I got tired of pulling carbs every time I wanted to change bikes. The fuel here seems to go off pretty quickly and stinks when it does but it doesn't with these in my tanks. Maybe the fuel does still lose quality but I can't tell by bike performance when bringing one back to life after being parked up for several months.
Not trying to promote these, just saying how they work for me.
 
Haha weekendrider, you making fun of me ? I was expecting to cop a barrage of flack over this post.

No, not at all. Sorry if it came across that way. My wondering was wandering
Mothballs used to contain Napthalene. Note the "used to".

This is stolen from the wiki page about mothballs.
"Older-formula mothballs have also been used by drag racers to enhance the octane rating of fuel by dissolving the mothballs in some of the fuel and filtering out the remains with a filter paper. In the Mythbusters episode "Scuba Diver, Car Capers", it was shown to be "plausible" that adding mothballs to a car's fuel tank would increase its horsepower."
 
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