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Ethanol

2K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  SprintST 
#1 ·
Is anybody aware of any restrictions on using fuel containing ethanol?

Suspect it has been put in petrol here for years, along with all sorts of other krap, but it has recently become fashionable to claim NO ETHANOL on the petrol pump. One independant (Victory) is now flogging 94 octane and 98 octane with 10% ethanol. Their blurb claims it is not recommended for some high-performance cars but is silent on motorcycles. The bloke behind the counter goggled at me in amazement that somebody with a bike might need some information too :hammer:

Any restrictions elsewhere? I'd hate for my bike to dissolve or something...
 
#2 ·
Don't use it!!! That's all you need to know.
 
#3 ·
I've used ethanol in my Tiger for the last 65,000 miles. Seems to work fine. The Triumph manual say specifically that fuel with up to 10% ethanol are fine. DO NOT use Methanol, that is what a few stations use to get very high octanes, specifically pumps with one hose that you select the octane you want
 
#4 ·
10% Ethanol mix shouldn't hurt your engine. If you use a higher mix or straight Ehtanol, which is very hard to find btw, you will probably hurt something. Fuel mfrs mix up to 10% in a lot of areas, but that mix shouldn't hurt anything. They do that for EPA emissions reasons, environmental protection agencies for our friends down under and east.
 
#6 ·
On 2006-01-08 07:51, Spodman wrote:
Is anybody aware of any restrictions on using fuel containing ethanol?

Suspect it has been put in petrol here for years, along with all sorts of other krap, but it has recently become fashionable to claim NO ETHANOL on the petrol pump. One independant (Victory) is now flogging 94 octane and 98 octane with 10% ethanol. Their blurb claims it is not recommended for some high-performance cars but is silent on motorcycles. The bloke behind the counter goggled at me in amazement that somebody with a bike might need some information too :hammer:

Any restrictions elsewhere? I'd hate for my bike to dissolve or something...
I think this is something we should ask Triumph about. If you look at the following site http://www.fcai.com.au/ethanol.php/2005/11/00000005.html
(the Aust Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries) EVERY motorbike manufacturer listed says NO to ethanol.

I don't know if this is because it is bad for fuel line components, the combustion chamber or just laziness by manufacturer test and certify it :) .

Triumph aren't listed here, so I have no info on their views on this. So except for a very occaisional fill up where no pulp (95 RON) is available, I'll avoid it until I can find something from a bike manufacturer to support it.

Russ
 
#7 ·
It looks like Ethanol blend (E10) will be forced upon us here in Aus soon, the government has mandated that E10 be everywhere within 5 years. Don't you love it when governments do that? Lot's of people saying it's bad for the motor, fuel consumption will suffer, it's no cheaper than petrol etc etc. Sounds like a non-mechanical person made the decision to implement the stuff. I would REALLY like a definititive answer on whether my Sprint will disolve like an Alka Seltzer when I start using it :???:
 
#8 ·
As environmental conscious as I try to be I am still not convinced that using Ethanol in my Triumph will not effect the longevity/performance/condition of my motor.

The jury is still out and until I get a definitive answer I'll be sticking to 98 straight.

BTW I use E10 in my car, but I care less about that!!
 
#9 ·
On 2006-09-11 16:27, steventhechef wrote:
As environmental conscious as I try to be I am still not convinced that using Ethanol in my Triumph will not effect the longevity/performance/condition of my motor.

The jury is still out and until I get a definitive answer I'll be sticking to 98 straight.

BTW I use E10 in my car, but I care less about that!!
As I understand it you won't have a choice to use something else, it will be in all fuels including premium i.e. there will be no pump alongside the E10 pump for those that choose not to comply. I'd start worrying about now if I owned a fastback Norton (I wish!).
 
#11 ·
As others have said, the Triumph Sprint ST 1050 Service Manual states up to 10% ETHANOL is fine. METHANOL is not.

I've been using ethanol on average every 3rd fill for the past 2 months and is fine as far as I can tell. In fact, fuel economy is a little better on the ethanol fuel (in city driving at least, not necessarily on hard charging).

Russ
 
#12 ·
It's nearly impossible to find non-eth fuel here in the central USA.

When they first started really pushing it the main concern was for older vehicles, especially ones with CV carbs. The alcohol attacked rubber/plastic components. In CV carbs this ment the diaphram that controlled the slide. I was riding in a sidecar when one was so degraded it tore. Quite the experience to loose almost all the engines breathing capacity on one of it's 2 cyl. Fortunatly most rubber components in engines today are built eth-resistent. Or should be atleast.
 
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