Carb icing

[graeme s]

More newbie questions... When its cold, my Monster 600 stalls at idle after a fast run (its okay 'round town) unless I rev it up. Is this due to carb icing? (I used to get this on an old Beetle I had). I've printed the 2000 owners manual off the Ducati website and there's mention of a carb heater - would this be on a '95 bike? (Suplimentary question - if the downloaded manual is not much relevance to my bike, is there anywhere I can get an owners manual?).

[gary tompkins]

Graeme s,
If your 95 bike is without the carburettor heater kit (fitted as factory mod) then icing will be a big problem. Even with oil heaters installed it will still run like a pig in the winter, but Silkolene FST Pro fuel additive can help to delay the onset of freezing. Injected bikes seem to be immune to icing, but all carbed monsters (especially eary models) suffer from it.

Earlier threads on the subject...

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3716&highlight=icing

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4046&highlight=cold+weather

Or leave the bike until the weather warms up? ... er that would be about March then :rolleyes:

[johnypebs]

Harley shops sell stuff called 'idle boost' which worked very well in the winter on my M2 Cyclone, I wished I'd known about it when I had an M900.

[A Yerbury]

warmer plugs seemed 2 help mine as well as the fst. 8's as opposed to 9's. technically the plugs arent helping the icing but...well Im sure a more technical person could explain. Anyway she runs better.
Alex

[graeme s]

Beetles got around it by a little electric blanket around the inlet manifold - might work on a Duke? I guess the front cylinder is the problematic one...?

[gary tompkins]

graeme s,
I'm guessing both carbs will be equally effected, if you look at where they are positioned up behind the headstock you will see they are very exposed to the incoming cold air. If one of the carbs was mounted behind the rear pot (as on Pantah motors) then I dare say the rear cylinder would run ice free. :burnout:

[DavidT]

I tried making up an "electric blanket" to fit round the manifold and carbs from a set of heated grips - no difference!

[johnypebs]

My old m900 had the oil supply diverted to heat the float bowls which helped a wee bit, only after about ten miles though. As soon as I went out the drive I had a half dozen roundabouts to deal with on a bike that ran like a dog, which to keep from stalling you had to throttle blip like a boy racer. I read an article in one of the comics that explained the problem in detail, from what I understood it's because of the volatility of the petrol we get now. The easiest way to beat this one is to modify the fuel. Adding 'idle boost' to my M2 was like night & day the difference it made. Put on some denim and pay your local Harley shop a visit.

[graeme s]

Haven't got any "Idle Boost" yet (my chaps are in the wash, so I can't go to the Harley shop...). But I have got some octane booster in the garage - is it pretty much the same stuff?

[Dave in USA]

What you need is Silkolene FST Pro.

Availiable (usually) from all H*nda dealers or good bike stores :)

[nik_the_brief]

I have tried octane booster - STP make one but it's not a perfect solution.

I've recently found that using the higher octane petrol from the petrol station - Shell Optimate or something similar - seems to dramatically reduce the problem.

[graeme s]

I'm already using Optimax :(

[nik_the_brief]

You could always move to somewhere warmer :)

[slowerthanmymum]

If its any help, my M600 suffered badly from icing, refusing to run at anything below 10 deg C.
I now run it on Optimax and Silkolene but the biggest change was after I bought some gauges off E-bay and balanced my carbs.
I ran it today in rain/snow at 3 Deg C and no problems at all.

[hog]

I can vouch for the Silkolene Pro FST as well. She ran like a stuck pig before in the cold - adding 200ml to each tank of petrol sorted the problem out.

[brixtonjacks]

Silkolene FST defo helps!! Mine ran like a pig and I could not understand what was wrong with it as it seemed to run worse the warmer it got. Finally someone said use FST, thank you lord!!
But also, make sure your plugs are in good condition and set properly as that caused probs with mine as well.....

[graeme s]

I've got some Silkoline Pro Boost - it says it reduces carb icing - is it the right stuff (been rebranded?)

[graeme s]

Finally got 'round to putting some Pro Boost in, and the bike is MUCH better (though not perfect). I put in what I think is 1% (150ml in 15 litre tank) - how much should I be adding?