pro fst alternatives

[A Yerbury]

no silkolene round these ere parts, has any one used an alternative, stp etc?

[Dave in USA]

no silkolene round these ere parts

Alex,

you not got a H*nda dealer nearby? They stock it...... :D

Otherwise, ask someone nicely if they will mail you some, a couple of bottles should get you through the winter.

Dave

[A Yerbury]

the ONLY dealer round here is a honda dealer! mais il ne l'a pas.....there's a place a few miles away has it though, I'll try him. I suppose I was curious about other makes or have fuchs cornered the market? is an octane additive buy default also a cure for icing?

[DesmoDog]

alex,

on the fst subject - what do you do with the stuff? I couldn't get the baby started this moring and found myself wishing I had some pro fst to solve my woes. Well that and a spark plug spanner, some idea of what I'm doing and a load of wonga - the latter applies to every wish I have about solving woes.

[A Yerbury]

one just pours it in the tank! I think the ratio is 5%, there is a window on the side of the bottle so you can see how many mls you are using per however many litres. Its reeeallly good but I was just wondering about alternatives, I should just go to Ledbury and get some. I'm just suffering from snake oil lust: "ooh look at this stp stuff! how retro! this must be really good!" etc

[berto]

:cool: I've got it in stock up here if you call me on 0141 3330996 I will send you some for a small consideration of course...ps I'm off till wed :rolleyes:

[A Yerbury]

cheers bertie I may well do that.

[Duncan]

no silkolene round these ere parts, has any one used an alternative, stp etc?

Rough cider and meths. Much better than petrol, higher octane and about the same price per gallon.

[gary tompkins]

no silkolene round these ere parts, has any one used an alternative, stp etc?

FST is the dogs - used it in my 600 and it ran 100% better in cold conditions, but if you can't get it then....

1. Use Shell Optimax - seems to resist freezing better than the usual ****e grade unleaded.

2. Buy a fuel injected bike - my 900ie can be used in sub zero conditions without a hint of icing :D (not that I use it much in winter TBO)

3. Emigrate to somewhere with a warmer climate - Arizona maybe?

[A Yerbury]

thanks G T, not reeaaally answering the question tho?! NEXT!

[gary tompkins]

El Yerbo,

One other thing I tried before fitting the carb heater kit and using FST, was to duct warm air up to the air box. This was a mod the factory introduced on the Paso's fitted with webber carbs, in a bodged attempt to cure carb icing.

I removed & blanked off the inlet trumpets with gaffer tape, and cut two 35mm holes in the back of the lid. Then I ran a short length of flexible ducting hose from the lid down to behind the rear cylinder, as close to the exhaust manifold as I could manage. Theory being the warmer air would raise the inlet temperature just enough to cure the problem.

Looked pretty impressive when I'd finished - did it work?

Err.. no :o It still iced like a bastard until I tried the Silkolene FST Pro - Ho hum :rolleyes:

I think there is another brand of anti icing additive sold by VW garages, which may be cheaper and available in larger quantities than FST?

[A Yerbury]

more silkolene it is then, wheres this so called consumer choice?!

[spacemonkey]

I too have looked into this as when running my mean machine in winter I go through a bottle a month, and htus gets a little pricey. Heard somewhere that they used to use surgical spirit in the past?? Discuss... Try asking on a classic bike forum and post the reply. Or buy a farm in Spain... Just got back-bloody heaven! Chucking my MX5 around superglue sticky, twisty tarmac with views to die for, sporting just a T shirt and shorts, with the roof down.... at night! And I found my farm at last! Legalities now to be sorted... 20 acres for.......£22k...! But I have to negotiate less than that of course. Got a huge ruined masia on it so I can rip it down and 'rebuild' without too much trouble. Oh the life of warm sun and cheap vino and NO neighbours for miles. Alex, I found some litre cartons of very nice vino blanco for 46cents, and no harsh alcy taste! Just hope the Baldrich Cava taste better than it's TV counterpart...

[A Yerbury]

well done, rope me in for sledgehammer pranks.

[DavidT]

I was out earlier in the week with the 'bike running like a burst *rse. I had some time to kill so visited Halfords and spotted the STP stuff - hard to miss since the bottle is such a vile colour. Like all these snake-oil treatements it makes great claims, the main one being that it helps icing by reducing the water trapped in the fuel. (How it does this and where it puts it is not disclosed!)
It claims that it only needs to be added at 6 monthly intervals. I followed the instructions and tipped the whole bottle into the tank. On the way home the icing seemed to be much reduced if not cured.
Now this is in no way scientific but I am on my third tankful without redosing and the icing still seems to be much better.
If you can find it, give it a try.

[spacemonkey]

...and the price for Dr Hellfraud's Miracle Elixir is???

I find the 6 monthly intervals claim a bit iffy though. Motorex Power Plus does the same water thing. What it does is it chemically makes the water and petrol miscible so that it forms a suspension and can be burned with the fuel. As it no longer forms in drops in the petrol it no longer causes hydrotension blockages of the small passageways in the carbs. Not sure about it's carb icing qualities, but it IS ideal if you accidently get water in the tank. And only about £2.50 a pop. But FST is cheaper for icing.

[DavidT]

I am not sure about the price, but doubt it would have been over a fiver or I would have remembered! Was over Glen Shee today and I am almost convinced.

Some interesting stuff about carb icing in aero engines at this link http://www.flyontrack.co.uk/carbice2004.htm

[DesmoDog]

Charly Browns seems to have a lot of alternatives. I was trying to remember the name of the Pro-fst in there, but couldn't. Must stop drinking.

One the drinking tip, happy birthday Yerbs!

[A Yerbury]

cheers hon. raises glass of tuonol-ether octane goodness.

[berto]

;) I'm bored with this now so why don't you buy a fuel injected bike???

[berto]

:eek: Uh and happy birthday ....ya old jerkoff!!!!!!

[A Yerbury]

I'm bored with you now jerko boxter. Several reasons so pay attention as we may well run into double figures!
1.price, I'm tighter than yer average "scotch" man
2.price, yup thats how tight I am
3.Injectors look ugly
4.carbs look sexy
5.I have enough computer chips already thanks
6."carburettor" say it..lovely word
7.the suffix "ie" is ****, almost as naff as declaring how many valves one has
8.to annoy you
9.10.11.12.see above
13."why don't you buy a fuel injected bike???" the same reason I dont by a volvo.
14.be nice berti as its my birtday!!!
Alex.
ps. what was yr special price on fst btw (see points one and two!)

[spacemonkey]

Very well put, Birthday Boy! How many nails in the coffin now then?

[A Yerbury]

one score and a bakers dozen? (34)
cheers.
ay.

[DesmoDog]

OK Birthdays over! How long did it take to recover? Longer every year eh? Anyway, couldn't find Pro FST so bought some Wynns from Halibuts Corsa soupery shop. Full bottle to full tank lasts for 6 months. Got the battery charging and I'm taking her out tomorrow to run it through. Will report results here.

[nik_the_brief]

Just bought a bottle of Pro FST yesterday, never bought it before.

It's brilliant, no more coughing, spluttering and farting on cold damp days so far (and she starts easier too). :D

[A Yerbury]

surprised you've waited so long ntb?! its magical stuff indeed, pretty cheap too.

[nik_the_brief]

Yep, me too, took me a while to find anywhere that stocks the bloody stuff! It's far superior to the STP crap I was using last year!

[spacemonkey]

Anyway, couldn't find Pro FST so bought some Wynns from Halibuts Corsa soupery shop. Full bottle to full tank lasts for 6 months. Got the battery charging and I'm taking her out tomorrow to run it through. Will report results here.


And our survey said........????

[DavidT]

After almost a month without any severe signs of icing they returned this weekend. I have dosed the fuel again with Pro-Boost because I still had some under the sink, but I think I will try another bottle of the Wynns fuel drier stuff.

[Boppin Bobby]

Just put Carb icing into Google & found this little Gem.
http://www.shelloptimax.co.uk/jive3/thread.jspa?forumID=1&threadID=401&messageID=1399
Looks like it's not in it's design brief to be an inhibitor so I'm going to switch back to usual to save 5p a litre. The Stp stuff worked for me for the first tank the gradually tailed off till about four tanks in then .... As for the Fst. I get a reasonable result down to about freezing then it goes all fluffy again. I Haven't had heard a good report for the heating kit so didn't bother (unless you let the bike sit idling to get real hot, like that happens on choke till it warm up!!). I use about 160ml of Fst per tank but struggle to get it in East Cambs.
I've heard that Avgas has Ethanol in it as piston aircraft suffer from carb icing so working for an Airport I might try that out. :bunny:

[Scotty]

can you actually goto an airport and fill up on aviation fuel ?

[A Yerbury]

I'm just going to stick with the fst. and as for below freezing?! thats just not my bag, I leave that for the hardcore trying-to-compensate-for-something-perhaps brigade, I prefer a snowboard in those conditions.
cheers.

[Boppin Bobby]

I don't think you can just go in & buy it unless you can find some small airstrip. We're talking Puddle jumpers here. The bigger ones use AVTUR which is a souped up version of Diesel. Any where near Freezing will give a wind chill below -1'C so We've had loads of days. It will take snow on the ground before I start sitting in traffic trying to get to work. Bike 20 mins Car 45 mins +. As I said I work in the trade so to speak so will try to source some they do a lot of fuel testing & this all gets recycled not used in a/c due to dust n ****e etc.
All I need now is heated grips & I'm warm as toast. I recommend that Anti Freeze Clothing by Franky T. The neck Gaiter has virtually eliminated all windchill on my neck/chin. :D

[Boppin Bobby]

Got in touch with my local VW dealer & they said they'd not had any anti ice additive :confused: listed for about 4 years so I guess FST is the one & only. St Neots m/c's seem to be my local(ish).

[DesmoDog]

No I got some by Wynns in ha-ha-halfords, nice retro purple bottle. I also saw one in a chav car parts shop the other day next to the extra HP fuel additives - I'll take a look at that and note its name for you.

[gary tompkins]

You can buy FST pro in larger sizes than the usual 1L bottles stocked in bike shops, and it would be cheaper to buy it this way if you do lots of winter miles. You may have to contact Silkolene direct to find a local supplier though?

The tip about the VW alternative was passed to me a long while ago, so looks like they stopped stocking it :confused:

Glad I got an injected bike and don't have all this hassle anymore ;)

[spacemonkey]

I'm following up an idea I had t'other day, and the Optimax site posting confirmed that I'm barking up the right tree.

I notice that FST smells of Isopropanl alcohol (propan-2-ol, I assume) and indeed the label says it contains it, so I'm guessing it is the active ingredient. Now, if I can only find the ratio of alcoflop to petrol, then it's just a trip to your local industrial chemist and buy a few gallons for releative peanuts, and away we go!

I'll keep you all posted as an when I make my breakthrough...

[scrumpster]

I got mine at Infinity, you could try their website and don't busters stock it too?? Try their site too, and if anyone has suggested this already i'm sorry, but I'm a woman and that's my excuse ;) And if this is taking custom away then apologies..............better go before I get in trouble!

[Nigel C]

can you actually goto an airport and fill up on aviation fuel ?

Yes at any small airport i used to go to Shoreham airport in sussex you have to use a petrol can and when you pay in the office LEAVE THE CAN OUTSIDE :eek: as it is a fire risk and you will be given a "good telling off" :D
Don't use it neat mix 50/50 with unleaded or your engine will die very quickly with a big bang :D :rolleyes: .
this is a very expensive option !! i used it in my race bike to stop it seizing (it was a two stroke) it's probably a bit ott for carb icing ;)

[A Yerbury]

hmmm smells to me like rubbing alcohol, Isopropyl? which you should be able to get no problems nick?