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I've got Ethanol in my bike! Eek
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:42 am
by RhadamYgg
So, I was riding home yesterday and I needed some gas - well not needed, but I wasn't sure so I got some.
Guy goes to fuel up my bike - and I notice a sign - just after he started.... Gas is 10% ethanol.
I'm like crap - didn't I just read that ethanol isn't exactly the greatest for motorcycles? Should I suck out the fuel and put it in my car and go elsewhere - or is it everywhere that is 10% ethanol?
Bleh, well, the bike rode well enough today, anyway.
RhadamYgg
Re: I've got Ethanol in my bike! Eek
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:16 am
by jonnythan
RhadamYgg wrote:So, I was riding home yesterday and I needed some gas - well not needed, but I wasn't sure so I got some.
Guy goes to fuel up my bike - and I notice a sign - just after he started.... Gas is 10% ethanol.
I'm like "crumb" - didn't I just read that ethanol isn't exactly the greatest for motorcycles? Should I suck out the fuel and put it in my car and go elsewhere - or is it everywhere that is 10% ethanol?
Bleh, well, the bike rode well enough today, anyway.
RhadamYgg
Pretty much all gasoline sold in NY has been 10% ethanol for years. Even in places that aren't 10% year round, most add 10% ethanol during winter.
It's absolutely not an issue for your bike.
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:17 am
by jstark47
I didn't think you could buy fuel in Jersey that wasn't 10% ethanol? I've been using it in the bikes for several years and no obvious problems....... except..... (maybe this is my imagination).... it seems to go bad more quickly than pure gasoline. We use lots of Stabil in winter when the bikes run less often.
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:19 am
by Brackstone
The problem you will face is one I eventually faced that was caused by Ethanol and probably made even worse by the fact that I filled up my tank too early all the time.
Eventually if you get too much ethanol in your gas tank it will clog the pilot jets and cause stalling when you are just idling at an intersection. Avoid Ethanol based gas at all costs with that bike, a mechanic also told me to put some Stabil in it as well I don't know if that will help.
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:20 am
by IcyHound
There is not ethanol free gas around here. It hasn't affected my vehicles any.
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 11:04 am
by R3sp4wN
I live in Georgia, and the main gas station around here, Flash Foods, just added 10% to their tanks. I haven't noticed a difference in performance, but I did notice that I lose a few MPG.
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Re: I've got Ethanol in my bike! Eek
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:50 pm
by RhadamYgg
jonnythan wrote:RhadamYgg wrote:So, I was riding home yesterday and I needed some gas - well not needed, but I wasn't sure so I got some.
Guy goes to fuel up my bike - and I notice a sign - just after he started.... Gas is 10% ethanol.
I'm like "crumb" - didn't I just read that ethanol isn't exactly the greatest for motorcycles? Should I suck out the fuel and put it in my car and go elsewhere - or is it everywhere that is 10% ethanol?
Bleh, well, the bike rode well enough today, anyway.
RhadamYgg
Pretty much all gasoline sold in NY has been 10% ethanol for years. Even in places that aren't 10% year round, most add 10% ethanol during winter.
It's absolutely not an issue for your bike.
You see - the things I don't notice until I'm doing it on my bike. Now I'm going to have to look in my regular gas station and see if they put ethanol in their gas as well.
Hell, my tanks so small I was tempted to use higher octane to make up for the less volatile ethanol.
RhadamYgg
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:53 pm
by RhadamYgg
jstark47 wrote:I didn't think you could buy fuel in Jersey that wasn't 10% ethanol? I've been using it in the bikes for several years and no obvious problems....... except..... (maybe this is my imagination).... it seems to go bad more quickly than pure gasoline. We use lots of Stabil in winter when the bikes run less often.
That might be something that could be studied. It is possible that it separates faster than gasoline. Maybe every couple of tanks I'll through the old STP gas treatment in there.
RhadamYgg
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:55 pm
by RhadamYgg
Brackstone wrote:The problem you will face is one I eventually faced that was caused by Ethanol and probably made even worse by the fact that I filled up my tank too early all the time.
Eventually if you get too much ethanol in your gas tank it will clog the pilot jets and cause stalling when you are just idling at an intersection. Avoid Ethanol based gas at all costs with that bike, a mechanic also told me to put some Stabil in it as well I don't know if that will help.
Hmmm, I've been doing the same thing - filling up early because I'm concerned I might run out.
But hopefully I shouldn't have issues with build-up of ethanol - since right now, I've been burning gas relatively quickly and at highway speeds. Todays commute in to work was a good example, on the way home, though it was a parking lot on the turnpike.
RhadamYgg
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:58 pm
by RhadamYgg
IcyHound wrote:There is not ethanol free gas around here. It hasn't affected my vehicles any.
Weird. I would have thought that with 10% of our car/motorcycle gas coming from ethanol - that would have affected demand and reduced it (demand for gasoline).
I seem to remember that during the summers my mpg would get reduced because of the 'summer blend' of fuel. But I thought that had something to do with formaldehyde, not ethanol.
RhadamYgg