FR730V Maintenance

chiefcook

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Apr 1, 2015
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I can understand adjusting the valves at the specified hours. However, how important is it to decarbonize the pistons? I use stabil 360 marine in each tank of fuel and Techron every 2-3 months. If it's not necessary, I'd rather not remove the head.
 

cruzenmike

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Feb 10, 2017
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You will be hard pressed to find anyone other than a small engine mechanic who actually does this on their own machine(s), actually do this. Carbon deposits will occur naturally but considering that there are so many other issues that can/will arise from things like cold starts, dirty oil, poor quality fuel and so on, this job should only be done if absolutely necessary because of some failure or symptomatic problem directly related to carbonization.

If you you are concerned about carbon deposits, you could always use some seafoam in the intake to clean some of that stuff out, but again, this is probably not necessary. There are owners with hundreds, even 1000+ hours on their Kawasaki's that have never had their engine taken apart. Doing this job won't guarantee that you won't have a failure down the road, in fact, doing the job might eventually lead to other issues if you don't know what you are doing in there.
 

bertsmobile1

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Nov 29, 2014
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Decoking engines ended with oil control rings, valve guide oil seals & ashless engine oils .
So the short answer is no
leave it alone .
 

bertsmobile1

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I ride some bikes with no oil pump & constant loss lubrication
In fact I just got back from a 4 day ride
And believe you me, a modern lawn mower engine is not very far from these engines .
Now these do require a decoke every few hundred miles or the coke on the top of the piston starts to hit the plug, even when using modern oil
I think the best I ever got was just under 1000 km when trying to work out exactly when it HAS to be done
If I use the water pistol I can get around 4000 km but that was over 3 different events .
Every body should ride vintage bikes or even cars
It does teach you to sit back & enjoy the trip because trying to get there quickly is the best way to ensure you never arrive
 
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