I just bought a 1981 Kawasaki 750 LTD and I love it!
I understand the carbs tend to get "varnish" in them and someone told me you can add some sort of carb cleaning fluid to the gas
Anyone know about this or have any particular product recommendations?

 

Excellent ride I must say! Have one myself.

I remember you having problems with your idle adjustmet **** before. Question, have you ever synced your carbs??? You may have one or two cylinders trying to outrun the others, making it difficult to find a happy idle. Although rare, worn out throttle plate rod bushings may also contribute to eratic idling. Another thing to do is warm up your bike fully, shut it off, and re-tighten all the carburettor boot clamps. You don't want any air being able to bypass the carbs.

By far, the most common reason for a bad idle is clogged or varnished carb internals. I was having the same problems with my 750 when I first bought my bike, and it wasn't until I did a full rebuild of the carbs that I solved all my problems. I too, tried using fuel system cleaner to "break up" all the gunk in the carbs, but unless the carbs are slightly dirty, fuel cleaner won't do a thing.

I do run cleaner through the carbs every couple of months just to keep everything working well. I would recommend seafoam as a good fuel system cleaner. Also, to keep junk from sticking to the carb internals, I use a very small amount of ashless two cycle oil in my gas after every fill up. (only about one ounce)

 

I'm curious on this too. I'm sorry but I'm obviouslynot an expert on this stuff -- can you explain ? Is 'seafoam' a brand-name orwhat are you talking about ? And what about the 'ashless' 2-cycle oil -- never heard of'ashless' oilbefore. Seriously.

 

Ooops, I goofed.[&:] The stuff I use is a low ash 2-stroke semi synthetic oil. But there is also ashless, which is supposed to keep gunk build up to a minimum. This is what I use:


The Seafoam cleaner has been around forever, and I highly recommend it. You should be able to find it at most auto parts stores. Even Walmart started carrying it.

 

SEAFOAM IS A GREAT THING TO USE,JUST NOT TOO MUCH.MAKE CARBS ARE SYNCHED

 

Just ride as much as you can and keep fresh gas in the bike. Start the bike and idle to warm-up at least once a week.
However, if you're gonna use an additive, I preferChevron Techron, myself. One bottle treats 12-15 gallons. Wal Mart has it.