Probably an old topic by now, but I am having problems with e5 petrol in my motorcycles. My 1951 Rapide is misfiring, also my 2014 Royal Enfield and my 1908 Triumph. I clean the plugs which used to be a brown colour but are now a sooty black. They are good for some miles but then they soot up again. Tuned carbs on Rapide but soot deposit returns. Running with Castrol additive to neutralise ethanol but problem persists. Looking at Aspen now but it is expensive. Has anyone experienced this and got any advice. Thanks Graham Hudson
E5 Fuel
- Thread starter Graham Hudson
- Start date
A long time ago I had to weaken the slides on 3 Vincent Bikes,
But they were not standard carb's,
Mk1 , Mk2 Amal, T.T. Amal and Dellorto ,
I think I did it by grinding a bit out,
Unless you can get a half size weaker.
Good Luck, Bill.
P.S It also depends what Spark Plugs you use, I like Champion N5c or N9y.
But they were not standard carb's,
Mk1 , Mk2 Amal, T.T. Amal and Dellorto ,
I think I did it by grinding a bit out,
Unless you can get a half size weaker.
Good Luck, Bill.
P.S It also depends what Spark Plugs you use, I like Champion N5c or N9y.
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I am no expert but told to only use Esso or BP Ultimate, E5, must also be fresh, does not like being in storage more than 3 months. These two are supposed to be ethanol free ?
The best by far is aviation LL if you have a small local airfield nearby , try that and you will be amazed at the difference and it keeps for a year or two with no deterioration.
The best by far is aviation LL if you have a small local airfield nearby , try that and you will be amazed at the difference and it keeps for a year or two with no deterioration.
Having three bikes misbehaving in the same way does point to a common denominator like fuel but is that necessarily the case, maybe there is another thing in common (like where the fuel came from). I would have thought that the 2014 bike is modern enough to be designed for E5/E10 so maybe best to sort that first.
Here in the northeast US, E10 gasoline was mandated as road fuel around 2005, (or maybe '06?) to replace the MTBE used in gasoline to that point after the cancer concerns of MTBE became more broadly understood.
It quickly became apparent that ethanol was hard on carbureted engines. The folks making their living with carbed engines (lawn mowers, chain saws, and the like) were the front line of the learning curve. They started out doing multiple carb rebuilds on their machines annually, then moved on to buying fuel additives, then to using just hi-test E10, (which appeared to remain stable somewhat longer) and finally they settled on transferring any gas in their storage containers older than about 3 weeks to their fuel injected vehicles, which seem up to the task of digesting stale E10 with relative ease.
Because ethanol is both hygroscopic and prone to evaporation of volatiles, what was learned was to purchase fuel only from high volume service stations. The ethanol and gasoline base are mixed together at the supply terminal while being loaded into the tanker that delivers to the service station, and so at that point begins the evaporation of volatiles and absorption of water, an issue here in New England, an environment often described as temperate jungle. Also learned was any E10 home storage must be in air tight containers, and so the vented tanks on our bikes are just wrong for E10 longevity.
So if using fuel containing ethanol, and it's been left in vented bike tanks for any extended length of time, there's a good chance it may have gone off and/or may have absorbed H2O, becoming both less combustible and prone to shellacking small carb orifices.
Best-
George
It quickly became apparent that ethanol was hard on carbureted engines. The folks making their living with carbed engines (lawn mowers, chain saws, and the like) were the front line of the learning curve. They started out doing multiple carb rebuilds on their machines annually, then moved on to buying fuel additives, then to using just hi-test E10, (which appeared to remain stable somewhat longer) and finally they settled on transferring any gas in their storage containers older than about 3 weeks to their fuel injected vehicles, which seem up to the task of digesting stale E10 with relative ease.
Because ethanol is both hygroscopic and prone to evaporation of volatiles, what was learned was to purchase fuel only from high volume service stations. The ethanol and gasoline base are mixed together at the supply terminal while being loaded into the tanker that delivers to the service station, and so at that point begins the evaporation of volatiles and absorption of water, an issue here in New England, an environment often described as temperate jungle. Also learned was any E10 home storage must be in air tight containers, and so the vented tanks on our bikes are just wrong for E10 longevity.
So if using fuel containing ethanol, and it's been left in vented bike tanks for any extended length of time, there's a good chance it may have gone off and/or may have absorbed H2O, becoming both less combustible and prone to shellacking small carb orifices.
Best-
George
What would be a better mousetrap is a small unit that by agitating a petrol supply with water would separate off the ethanol leaving petrol that could be invigorated back to a higher octaine by additives if required.
I have done it manually as an exercise to look at life after Esso using a container and a bottom tap but its a home job, messy and I am running out of red food colouring mixture
I have done it manually as an exercise to look at life after Esso using a container and a bottom tap but its a home job, messy and I am running out of red food colouring mixture
How much is Avgas? Strangely, my Velo runs fine on Tesco SUL E5, as do my 2018 Royal Enfield and 2005 MV Agusta, but they are both fuel injection so no surprise. I use a product called Ethanol Shield in the tanks if I know the bikes won't be used for a few weeks, and over winter of course, I don't ride over winter.
Wish we could bring back 5* leaded!!!
It might be that the needle jets on your carbs are worn ovsl and require replacement. I run plugs one heat range hotter than was orriginally recommended by the manufacturer in most of my old bikes for decades now. The gas available for the last 30 years is not the same as in the 60s.