Petrol with added Bio Ethanol

Comet Rider

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Just a word of warning to those of us that fill up our bikes with "Supermarket" petrol.
It would appear that some supermarkets are now selling the new Euro petrol with added Bio Ethanol:mad:
Although the added Ethanol content should give a higher octane value for a given fuel load:D the problem is that you need to add extra air to the extent that carefull re-jetting or tuning maybe required:eek:

Buyer Beware

Neil
 

ET43

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Bio fuel

Neil's warning about the addition of ethanol to supermarket fuel will be of concern to those of us that use glass fibre tanks. If you can find a sealant to protect the inside of the tank, you will be doing yourself a favour. Ethanol tends to delaminate grp. Methonal eats fibreglass. If you are to have a tank made, get it laid up with Atlac resin which is impervious to these new fuels.
Cheers,
ET43
 

greg burt

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Bio fuel

I disected a injector rail from a 3 year old 6 cyl Ford last week,( this vehicle has used Ethanol fuel ONLY from the same service station ) The rail was completely rotted out and clogged solid with RUST. (Our Ethanol fuel here in NSW is derived from Wheat starch ) I would'nt leave it in my Fuel tank.
Pay the Extra and get the so called real Fuel
 

stumpy lord

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Neil's warning about the addition of ethanol to supermarket fuel will be of concern to those of us that use glass fibre tanks. If you can find a sealant to protect the inside of the tank, you will be doing yourself a favour. Ethanol tends to delaminate grp. Methonal eats fibreglass. If you are to have a tank made, get it laid up with Atlac resin which is impervious to these new fuels.
Cheers,
ET43

Phil,
Where can one get ATLAC resin.
norm.
 

ET43

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
atlac resin

Being out of the trade now, I'm not sure where one can obtain this resin. I remember that it was normally supplied in 225kg drums!! One must find a manufacturer of grp storage tanks, et al, like garage forecourt fuel storage tanks,and take a can along to purchase some. I believe that it will not adhere to existing laid up items, so must be used if a new construction is undertaken. I have made over 1,000 fuel tanks and all of mine were flow coated inside with a 50/50 mix of gel coat and resin and the lowest amount of curing agent you could use, as the heat build up with the residue laying in the bottom of the tank is fearsome and will cause ripples or distortion of the tank. My own tank on the red thruster has survived for some 15 years to date. Old Bike Mart advertise some rubber tank sealant which I will be using when I get to put the thing on the road again.
My only other suggestion is to use a search engine for the information you want. There are now vinyl ester resins on the market which I think are more durable than the polyester stuff I made mine from.
Cheers,
ET43
 

Tom Gaynor

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Eco-fuel

One of the US riders in jtan reports that on a long run he obtained 45 mpg using nasty non-eco fuel, and 35-40 mpg using ecoscam fuel. Wonder if that reflects the fact that a race bike that does 35 mpg on petrol does only 7 mpg on dope? Or that a motor that runs a 240 main jet on petrol needs a 1500 main jet for dope?
Or bio-ethanol, if you prefer.
Only Whitehall could be fooled into thinking that running vehicles on 100% ABV vodka made any kind of sense - except to the farmers collecting subsidies for growing the feed crops.
There's a great rule for establishing whether something is food, or "a food product".
1) If it makes health claims, it isn't food.
2) If it has more than five ingredients, it isn't food.
Strikes me that the same rule could be applied to fuels making ecological claims..........
 

andygbsmith

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
As I mentioned in another thread.
From April 08 ALL petrol sold in the UK must contain at least 5% bio fuel.
It's the Goverment sticking there nose in and not fully understanding the full impact
My fuel consumption has not changed as a result of this but I know my AFR is spot on.
 

Tom Gaynor

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Bio-fuel

It's not the government, we get to elect them. It's the civil service, all those "first class minds" from Oxbridge, with history degrees, who couldn't wire a three pin plug. Or run a railway. Or a health service. Or anything else. The least useful go to DEFRA, unsurprisingly.
If that other Scots git, Cameron, gets in, it'll be no different, because governments merely choose policy options they get from the same people as screwed up last time.......
As I mentioned in another thread.
From April 08 ALL petrol sold in the UK must contain at least 5% bio fuel.
It's the Goverment sticking there nose in and not fully understanding the full impact
My fuel consumption has not changed as a result of this but I know my AFR is spot on.
 
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