"Lucas Oil" fuel additive

[JohnC8551]

When I find something that works, I spread the word, and that's what I'm doing here. I usually add STP fuel injecion cleaner about every oil change or so in my cars, but I've never really seen or felt any real improvement in performance or other indication. I primarily use use it as a preventative on my BMW M-Roadster, since the Z3 series cars have temperamental fuel level sending units that get stuck if you don't use additives.

I was in AutoZone the other day, and the guy behind the counter recommended Lucas Oil fuel additive (injector cleaner and top cylinder lube). It was on sale a bit cheaper than the STP brand, so on a whim, I bought a small bottle and used it in the tanks of my Roadster and my K12GT. This is absolutely the first product of this type that I have used which I can say has evident benefits. While I've noticed no real mileage improvements, I can say without a doubt that both engines idle much smoother and are definitely quieter. I was impressed enough, that I went back and bought the large size bottle, which is about a third cheaper by volume than the smaller bottle. About 10 bucks will get you enough to treat 100 gallons of fuel, and you don't need to use the stuff every single fill up.

I'm sold on this stuff. Lucas Oil makes other products, but the fuel additive is the only one I've used so far, so that's the only one I'm endorsing at this point.

For more info: www.lucasoil.com

Anyone else out there use this stuff?

[SugarHillCTD]

I know that several K1100 owners use Techron with good results.

John, it will help others to help you if you put year and model of your bike(s) in your signature like mine below.

[JohnC8551]

Good advice. I've added info to my sig. Thanks.

[58058D]

I recently was hit by the impulse buy on a fuel additive while at NAPA for some truck parts. Don't remember the brand, but I dumped it into the K12RS tank at every fill up till it was gone, about 4?, and while I did not notice anything else, I did notice an improvement in the idle. Perodic use of Techron did seem effective on my '93 1100RS.

[Kayseventyfive]

Like John, the OP, I have always used fuel system cleaners, since some of my vehicles do not get daily or even weekly (read boat) use. I have always been happy with whatever I used.

However a person who ran a real auto parts store spoke so highly of Red Line fuel system cleaner that I bought some and put it in my motor home.

Warning: Tale of Woe follows. To skip Tale of Woe, scroll down to A.

For the first time in my several years of ownership, the generator ran smoother and stopped hunting and generally acting like a teenage girl.

That was the good news.

The other good news is that it loosened up a lot of crud in the engine fuel system. Big Time. The bad news is that it plugged the main inline fuel filter, which is located amidships. No problem, I had a spare and continued the journey. Further bad news is that the loosened crud plugged the filter in the carb inlet. A particular quirk of the Qjet is that when the filter plugs, fuel pressure pushes against a spring and allows fuel to enter the carb anyway, along with whatever crud is up there. This resulted in crud causing the float needle to not seal on its seat, with the expected flooding. No problem, I am pretty decent at clearing that up on the road. Away we went. A little later, things got worse again. This time, a carburettor teardown revealed the float bowl to be full of carbon granules from one of the pollution absorbing canisters. The flooding of the float bowl put gasoline up in the canister and some was loosened and came back down into the carb.

I do not enjoy doing a Qjet overhaul and complete cleanout on the road. :(

A. I relate this story only as an example of how effective Red Line is. BTW, the coach had several cans of Gumout and STP fuel cleaner in it for my first few years of ownership. I believe this problem is less likely to occur on a motorcycle, since the fuel supply line is considerably shorter than a motor home with a rear fuel tank.

.

[DRUDOLPH148006]

All grades of either Chevron or Texaco gasolines contain Techron fuel additives.
Been using them for years and have never had any injection problems.

[bmwriderm51]

I just used the Lucas 80/90 in my k1200lt.s trans and the whine or gear train noise that its always had with the bmw 90 lube at 55 to 65 mph is half as loud as it used to be. And overall shifting seems smoother and quieter.

[ragman]

About 6 months I was riding down the road with a couple of buddies

My '95 K11LT started to miss and stumble intermitantly.

I took one of the guys advice and put some "Sea Foam" in the tank. (from a can, not the ocean) After a few miles the bike ran perfectly.

I now put it in the fuel tank and run the tank down before each oil change.

20K and nary a burp. Works for me

Ragman

[cathdeac]

Yup.. Lucas makes good stuff.

I've found to use every other tank is often enough.

Techron was my previous choice and it hit a time where it did not seem to improve when I added it.

Changing over to different types makes a noticeable difference... it is almost that each type attacks different areas of buildup or fuel variances.

Sea Foam is great too....especially if you "store" bike or fuel..because fuel definitely has a "shelf life"... these days especially.