I was talking to my dad the other day, who's into old British bikes and he said that ethanol which can be upto 5% of petrol content, absorbs water(hygroscopic?). I mentioned that I'd upgraded my fuel hose to R9 to combat the effects of ethanol on rubber and he said that a lot of the old duffers in the classic bike world are using tank liners to stop water absorbed by the ethanol sitting against the metal at the bottom of the tank. Do you think it's worth lining a bays tank for the same reason? Even if the tank is sound and rust free at the moment. Anyone got any experience of doing this? He also said the USA are moving to 10% ethanol fuel, and it's a real worry for classic bike and car owners because of what it does to tanks, carbs rubber etc.
uk is moving towards E10 too I gather. Ethanol does pull moisture from the air, I guess modern fuel tanks must be coated. I got my fuel tank sealed with POR15 but only because we suspected it was leaking round the seam before we got it out, turned out to be the filler neck and the tank was OK, but we coated it anyway. I think most of the super unleaded on sale did not have any ethanol in it last time I checked. So if your sorning the van for the winter it might be worth putting that in the last couple of fillups before laying up.
Most modern tanks are made from plastic so the big manufacturers don't care. Currently Super UL doesn't have ethanol but no doubt it will soon. The Jerry cans we use for racing are lined with something (a bit like epoxy resin) but we've found this is now breaking down and gumming up the fuel systems.
Interesting, I was re-jetting last week and noticed a few drops of water in one carb. I wondered how it had got in there. I guess when the blob of water get big enough it gets sucked through the main jet and I get a little hiccup in running.
It's already causing problems where I work in a bike garage, not with modern fuel injection but with carbs. Internal o rings are breaking up causing external fuel leaks and in a couple of cases causing fuel to siphon into the crankcases.
Metal tanks in bays have been rusting for years (I had a rusty tank when I first got my bay) but this is just going to accelerate that. Is there any reason why someone couldn't manufacture a plastic version?
Probably,http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex/ethanol-update.html has some useful info, theTransport Ministry realises that about 20% of vehicles will be incompatable with E10 fuel.
Bugger .... First they deny us quality 4* and now this !! I presume there`ll be a flood of E10 compatible lines/pumps/seals etc.... Still won`t stop the water issues though.
Its evil nasty stuff. All of the US vans I've bright over have had this stinking nasty fuel in them. It rots out all the fuel lines and has quite a unique smell. Which is foul. I currently have 30 litres of it to dispose of...
This was the problem my dad had, he said every now and then water would be draw through causing the bike to miss and die for a few seconds before it cleared.
I thought that, but wondered if a modern plastic tank would be compatible with the tank strap system?
Off topic but can you change your avatar please? Sean Young gives me the horn and it doesn't seem right when I know you're not her
