E10 fuel

[Carlosfandango]

I see we are going to get E10 fuel soon - any issues with the Firestorm? Govt website says carb bikes might not run so well in the cold.

https://www.visordown.com/news/industry ... -fuel-year

[Wicky]

Think I'll stick to E5 - hopefully the fuel stations have it available

[sirch345]

Think I'll stick to E5 - hopefully the fuel stations have it available

I hope we get the choice,

Chris.

[popkat]

A mate of mine who loves getting into all the technical stuff looked into E10, he said it can make carb'd bikes run lean, and to get them back may mean a jet change and some changes to the ignition timing.
With my Storm I run stock jetting and a pair of cans, this will make it run slightly lean but still nice and safe, I have to either decide to fill with super unleaded which should remain E5 or increase jet sizes as a safeguard.

Another thing to consider is the fuel going off, as E5 doesn't take long will E10 be worse, it could mean drain the carbs and fuel tank if leaving for as little as 2 months.
At some point I'll have a good read up on it myself (boring reading) until then just going on brief stuff I've been told.




.

[gilson]

Hi chaps,

I was speaking to a garden mower mechanic last summer and he was ranting about this type of petrol.

More ethanol means more water absorption, which with this 10% stuff can happen within a couple of weeks. He actually said that if you leave this petrol in a jar you will see the water layer forming within a couple of weeks.

It's particularly cruel on garden machinery when left over winter. Apparently Stabil or similar type fuel additive helps.

I use super unleaded in the bike but I'll only use it for the track this year.

[8541Hawk]

We have E10 here and it really doesn't seem to make much of a difference

[Pete.L]

We have E10 here and it really doesn't seem to make much of a difference

I'm surprised. We keep hearing horror stories of certain types of tanks expanding, seals braking down, fuel needing stabilisers to be added and all sorts of running problems we don't seam to get here in the UK.
I've just let my bike stand unloved in the garage for the last two months and it started on the first turn of the engine. Are you saying this isn't the case with the E10 fuels in your experience?

Pete.l

[8541Hawk]

Well we have had E10 for quite a while now and I have had no issues so far. Even let a tank of fuel sit for over 6 months and she fired right up (after I charged the battery a bit).

So I can't say if our E10 is the same formula but I can say with ours there has been no real issue with running or parts failing because of it.

[Pete.L]

Cheers Hawk
So good to hear it from the "Horses Mouth" so to speak, and someone who has actually been using it, rather than all the all the uncertainty of online rumours

[sirch345]

Coincidently speaking with my brother last evening, he says Aspen petrol is what his lawnmower suppliers recommend now for his four stroke mower. It's meant to remove the problem of gumming up carb jets when left over the winter.

It cost around £20 a gallon

Chris.

[MK_WF]

I use Aspen for my four stroke 2kW generator to ensure good starting after a winter in the garage.
It also works fine in the lawnmower
Some of the German indoor kart tracks require aspen fuel when you're there with your pitbike.

https://aspenfuel.co.uk/products/

Naturally you don't run it the whole year unless you won the lottery. It's enough to fill it in for the last use in autumn.
.

[jchesshyre]

https://www.motorcycleproject.com/text/ethanol.html

This guy claims that the problem is not ethanol but rather the much lower quantities of aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylene) in today's petrol. I believe both ethanol and the aromatics act as octane boosters so with more ethanol, added for environmental/sustainibility reasons of course, less of the aromatics are needed as a result. So if this is true, the issues are a result of the ethanol being added but not actual caused by it.

In the owner's manual for the Firestorm Honda say that up to 10% ethanol is OK, but then in the same section they say that any problems as a result of using ethanol-laced petrol weren't covered by the warranty

[fabiostar]

my bike already hates normal unleaded so its gona have to be super for me when i can find it..

on another note, my aprilia that i had if i used normal unleaded which is already E5 the tank used to swell and i couldnt get the dam tank of it without major hassle, but when i used super for a few weeks the tank used to go back to its normal size so somethings not good in it.

im actually more interested to see how it effects 2 strokes as the LC already runs better on super rather than the E5 we have atm

[sirch345]

I use Aspen for my four stroke 2kW generator to ensure good starting after a winter in the garage.
It also works fine in the lawnmower
Some of the German indoor kart tracks require aspen fuel when you're there with your pitbike.

https://aspenfuel.co.uk/products/

Naturally you don't run it the whole year unless you won the lottery. It's enough to fill it in for the last use in autumn.
.

I had never heard of Aspen Fuel until my brother mentioned it as I said earlier,

Chris.