Petrol & oil additives to help performance

mifletz

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Is there any petrol or oil additive that would make any worthwhile difference to the performance of eg a Robin?

Or are they all a rip?!

octane_booster_stp1.jpg


Id've thought that if they work at all, it would be in the performance of a marginal small bicycle engine that the effects would be most noticeable to a rider.
 
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much written around here regarding these products

when my robin had a slight miss Sea Foam got it back up smooth

what was the problem -- I am not sure

if the THINGS running good you are wasting your money buying those
and if not they will probably not help anyway

and with a Robin an octane boost may not be a good THING

MM
 
You don't need any of them. Use an excellent quality oil, after a short break in period. Change the oil often since there is no oil filter in the system. Octane boosters are a waste of money and may actually hurt performance as high octane fuel atomizes poorly, especially at lower temps. The compression ratio is 8.5 to 1, so 87 octane unleaded fuel is perfect. A few drops of a fuel additive such as seafoam every few tanks full will keep the carb clean, more (per label) if the bike will be stored for a short while. If the bike will be stored for a long period drain the gas tank, run the engine till the carb is dry, change the oil to remove any combustion acids that have accumulated in the oil, and squirt a few drops of oil through the spark plug hole rotating the crank to lightly coat the cylinder and replace the plug to keep moisture out.

I use Castrol Syntec 10W40 oil and buy my fuel from a busy gas station. Gas stations where the gas sits in the underground tanks for long periods without being refilled absorb water moisture and may become dirty.

The Robin is a very well built engine and will give you years of good service with proper maintenance. Read and follow the manual and you will be fine.
 
Or are they all a rip?! (( no )) they do boost octane

Or are they all a rip?!

Or are they all a rip?! (( no )) they do boost octane
but
that is not what one wants regarding a Robin
at one time past I was talking with a Robin rep
mentioned to him that maybe I would move up to a higher octane
from like 87 to 89
he asked me why I would want to do that when it will run best with 87 ???

made me feel pretty silly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my Robin THING has been riding fine for a long dong time
 
The only fuel addative that I would consider would be something that would keep the fuel from going bad or from damaging carb parts and fuel lines.

The Walbro WYL carbs that many of these little engines use (and other Walbros, of course) have rubber diapharagms that get brittle and curl from what I think is the alcohol in auto fuel. Perhaps something like Stabil might help?
 
Helping your engine

Hello guys, I have ridden a couple of Robins but do not own one. I ride the more powerful Honda GX50HA and the HS 142F 49cc 4-strokes, and Whizzers.

I have said that in advance so that you-all will know where I come from, now on to real experiences.

California gas is what I'm dealing with in this post, tho other states may be selling the same garbage. CA gas is no loaded with what some say is a double-shot of ethanol, and a dose of sulfur to raide the burning temp that was lowered by the overdose of alcohol.

Here are symptoms that I have suffered:

Gas jelling in the tank

gas either jelled or a month or two old drying leaving a yellow powder behind

Carbs coated inside in a nasty yellow color

my van idling rough

2 neighbors report the same thing on small-engine cars

small engines beginning to run rough especially at idle

small engines that will only run on choke

finally small engine will not run, starts and dies!

I short-term fixed my Honda with some carb and fuel-injection cleaner, and did not continue it's use and it starved out again!

In CA. the "cleaners in a can" will help, probably resolve, and maybe avoid these problems.

I am happy to have a solution, but hopping mad at the state for forcing the purchase and burning of more chemicals in my engines.

We truly are being ripped off again, this time in a new way.

Mike
 
CT has the same emission regs as CA and use the same "gas".
The only way to survive is to replace rubber parts once a year or as needed.

The jelling may be a reaction with the "gasoline" additives and the compostion of plastic tanks.Polyethylene tanks seems subsceptible to the geling issue. I haven't seen it gel in a metal tank... yet.
A pour in urethane liner may thwart the problem.
Someone would have to test this.

Being in Sacramento you may have received a batch of winter grade gasoline, when did you notice this?

(you guys think things are bad now, read up on the Copenhagen Treaty, siging it must be stopped at all costs)
 
Trouble jelling

Hi Bob, no it was summer when the YIT hit the fan in my tank. Also, my tank is steel. This carp they pass off as gas, is not as pure as what you get when a dairy cow first stands up in the morning!

I ran into this in 90 degree plus weather, getting ready for the fall Whiz-In


Mike
 
Hi guys,
I'm in Florida and have also had problems with the small engines (2 of 3 of my yard machines) starting to only want to run choked or semi-choked. My son also had gelling in his fuel tank when the car sat for a month while he built a new motor for it -- metal tank; garbage fuel.
I regularly run Marvel Mystery Oil through my vehicles and will probably start on the small engines too. Stabil goes in every can of gas for the yard equipment/bike fuel too.
NUTZ
 
Stabil and Sea Foam are both additives for gas that keep it good for extended periods of inactivity. I think the formulas are likely similar. Neither will hurt in reasonable amounts and may help.

So far (fingers crossed) the gas here in Northwest Pennsylvania has been okay. I would avoid 85% ethanol fuel (E-85) like the plauge
 
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