Petrol additive
Hi folks,
Petrol additive - the magic bottle that turns unleaded into leaded fuel - is getting harder to find round here, but I wondered if its actually necessary?
My bike is an '84 34L, so was "designed" to run on 4-star, but I wonder what this actually means. As I understand it, lead was originally added to fuel to be kind to valves in iron block engines, where the valve seats are not hardened. This doesn't seem to be an issue in the aluminium XT engine, since the valve seats are already hardened (alu valve seats wouldn't last very long).
Which leaves its other two roles: upper cylinder lubricant and octane booster. The XT seemed happy to run on any-old-octane fuel in Africa, so I've mentally ruled that one out.
So, should I bother continuing to find the additive, or is it all smoke-and-mirrors?
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