Mine sat from mid October until three days ago with a full tank of premium in it with no additives at all and fired right up. I put a good dose of Stabil and some octane booster in it, after I got it started and warmed up, then ran it around a little to get it fully into the fuel system just to make sure. It runs as good as it ever did and I can even smell that "funky old gas" smell. Hardy bikes these little CBRs!!

 

From what I understand, Seafoam lowers the octane of your fuel slightly. Anyone know if this is true?

 

The main concern with too low of an octane rating, is detonation (pre-detonation), which can cause engine damage, so the easiest way to tell if you're experiencing detonation, is by listening to the motor run - there is a very obvious "pinging" or slight "knocking" sound associated with (pre)detonation... its hard to explain, uless your simply familiar with the sound I'm speaking of.

With a tank of 4 to 5 gallons in size, any time you add a significant amount of any sort of additive, in theory, it might bring the octane rating down a touch, so you could run 89 when running Seafoam, in an attempt to balance it out, but I can say for sure, that I have run Seafoam in several tanks in the past (a little more than the recommended ratio), with 87 gas, and have not experienced any detonation.

For what it's worth, I personally don't run Seafoam on a regular basis, only when I'm trying to get a head start on "de-gumming" some carbs that have sat for a long time with fuel in them.

 

Thanks JNS. Well, I siphoned much of the"Old" gas out of the tank. Put fresh 87 Octane in, near full. Put some fresh seafoam in. A bit more than recommended. I was having hell of a time starting, in fact wouldn't start the last couple weeks. Cranked the heck out of it today, since it was 40ish degrees. Tried my darndest to get it fired, to no avail. Two weeks ago, no problem. Not sure why. I think partly because the bike's been sitting so long. But with stories of other peoples bikes sitting for months and starting with no problems, makes me wonder. I think I need to try on a nice warm day and that should do it. After riding the bike and giving it a good workout, it should straighten all the kinks out. Sat for 3 months, had carb clean. Just needs to be run I spose. May try to change the plugs if still have trouble. Although they may have been changed when the mech. had everything torn apart. He mentioned about changing the plugs and I just told him I was trying to keep the price low, since I thought the plugs were probably o.k.

 

Change your plugs. They are bad. And get that 87 octane crap out of there and put some premium in there. That's what these bikes need to run well. I went nuts trying to start my bike last year when I was putting it back together. I rebuilt the carbs and everything and it wouldn't start. Finally I gave up and bought plugs and the rest is history. Runs like a champ.

 

Oh man, please dont say bad plugs. I just had someone tear it down for the carbs. The oil may be SLIGHTLY overfilled. I just wanna ride damnit. Somethings definitely going on though. The bastard's being to difficult. It's still cold here. I may end up getting a heater to blow on the engine for a few hours.

 

+1... change those plugs, and you'll probably be in good shape.

Negative Ghostrider, the F2 is designed to run on 87 - check the manual.

Now I'm not interested in a stupid internet argument, but the truth is, it wouldn't be an argument with me, anyway, it would be an argument with the makers of the machine, and the laws of chemistry.
If your F2 is stock, with stock internals, and stock compression, it is highly unlikely that you will attain any benefit from higher octane fuel... you won't do any damage using higher octane, but you won't get any more power, and you might have an increase in carbon deposits in your combustion chambers.

Honestly Wranghondo, I'm not sure if your motor is stock, perhaps you're not either, and I don't know if atmospheric conditions in your area would make conditions right for an exception to what I'm saying. Maybe there are variables in your situation that aren't clear here, but if you're bike is stock, run what Honda recommends.
The F2 doesn't have the higher compression ratio of most modern machinery, but there are a lot of newer cars and bikes with significantly higher compression, that are also designed to run on lower octane fuels, you've just gotta trust the manufacturer.

So in light of that, DO NOT take my word for it, the information is out there in droves, and I'm not talking about other forum posts, where someone is simply touting the "running the good stuff" line, I mean real information, from petroleum executives, scientists, automotive engineers, etc... check it out for yourself.

This is just a quick sample of quotes I found, and these aren't even considering what the engine was designed for:
The bottom line is this: it's your bike, run what you want, but do it based on an informed decision.

That's all I've got to say on it - this subject has been flogged in the past, and there's really not much more to say - do your own research, you could read on it for days.

 

Well, for sure on the oil, make sure your level is correct, but though we may be wrong, I'm with wranghondo on the plugs being a good next step, especially if you don't know their condition.

Anyway, something is amiss - I live one state below you, and with both of my bikes, they fire up instantly, even at or around 15ºF, sometimes without any choke, if the bike had run at least the day before.

 

I am NOT stock! Lol!

 

Ahhhhhh, well then, do tell, what's been happnin' inside that there motor of yours? Higher compression pistons? Decked head? Tell, tell, tell!