E5 ethanol
 

You may have noticed E5 stickers appearing on petrol pumps - all pumps must display the sticker if they are providing 5% ethanol by September. At the moment oil companies are allowed to use up to 10% ethanol but no company is using any more than 5%. There is no requirement (currently) for any "Super" grade to contain ethanol but that doesn't guarantee it is ethanol free. Pumps will be labelled E10 if they supply 10% ethanol but labelling them E0 for 0% ethanol is not required (which seems wrong to me).
E10 is on its way and the EU recognised that some older vehicles won't run on it but the attitude seems to have been it would be too time consuming to investigate all the potential problems with the higher content.

If a vehicle is in regular use then E5 shouldn't cause a problem but petrol containing ethanol goes off quicker than that without. Vehicles used irregularly look certain to have issues unless the fuel system is drained. This article goes into full detail about phase separation and shows some interesting pictures from Yam XJ600 carbs that were run on E5 (Curvy owners take note). E10 is more problematic as the article explains:

https://armchairbiker.com/ethanol-in...-need-to-know/

At least you know why the farmers have been growing that oil seed rape.

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Apparently the thinking is 5% or less ethanol has no effect on anything so theres no need to label it and of course to say zero would be almost impossible anyway.
There are additives available which are supposed to protect against problems with using E10 but I havent seen any test results.....

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Couple of months ago was fettling carb on my scooter.
Replaced the red fibre washer and next day said washer was a blob of mush!
A rubber washer did the deed.

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Thanks for flagging this up Mr.Seeker.I've been watching this E10 progress.As I run fuel cleaner I'm hoping it will nullify any problems with my Curvy.I've had none so far with the 5% and never get stale fuel either when my Curvy has been laid-up.
Since my recent little Carb-re-balance and plug check and clean my,"99" is running so sweet it's magical and mega,"Smiles for Miles :D

PS
You are right about some of the later design decisions on the SVs.I don't think I would like living without the excellently substantial and well placed rear grab rail for pulling my Curvy onto my Paddock stand :/

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Oilseeds like rape and sunflower are not grown for ethanol, you need starchy crops like wheat. Oilseeds are grown for food, and for biodiesel, although the value of sunflower oil for food is much higher than mineral oil. As for drag racers using "alcohol", it's more methanol not ethanol and there is basically no point trying to draw comparisons between a drag machine and a road engine.

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Good article, thanks. It's going back 5 years or so now, but my old GT380 ran perfectly well on the E5 that was in the pumps at the time. The bike would often be not run for a couple of months over winter but never had a running issue, and I stripped the carbs just before selling it and they were as clean as a whistle inside.

Re: E5 ethanol
 

thank you for clearing that up.

The main point of the message is unchanged. Increasing levels of ethanol in petrol will cause more problems with older vehicles especially if they are not used regularly.

It seems to me that we chase one problem only to introduce another. After being encouraged to buy diesels to reduce CO2, we get more NOx. Switching back to petrol and adding ethanol we introduce more ground level ozone.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...one-pollution/

Re: E5 ethanol
 

roll on electric!

Re: E5 ethanol
 

The problem with ethanol regarding agriculture is food production as in many countries they moved across to production for ethanol that reduced food availability and increased prices.

Suzuki have stated that the SV since the year 2000 is suitable for 5% ethanol in the UK, but in reality it is likely to be OK for much higher than that as the USA has had 10% for years, as have many EU countries, and several states have increased or are in the process of increasing that level. Some South American countries already run their vehicle either on pure or high levels of ethanol and have done for many years. The big problem people will readily see with vehicles suitable for ethanol is that people replace seals, O rings, gaskets, etc with non compliant ones and they melt, disintegrate, etc. Oh and not to forget those earlier bikes with plastic fuel tanks not suitable for ethanol.

Fuel stabilisers have been used by many and do appear to work. They certainly work on ICE garden machinery that are laid up for considerable longer times than most bikes. I know fellow riders that automatically put into their tanks on laying up. However I have had my bike laid up over winter whilst doing work on it, though with a full tank, and had no issues in restarting, though that may be different if laid up for longer than six months. The main thing is not to allow air in to evaporate the fuel and moisture to get into the fuel. The fact that ethanol is hygroscopic had lead some people to assume that it is worse than it is. (On Youtube "The Workshop", a motorcycle channel, did some tests on this that more or less concurred with on-line research I had undertaken over the years.) So in my opinion you can save your unused fuel in a sealed fuel container, which in theory is better than doing what I do and left in a full bike tank, or use stabilisers. Most important though is to buy from a fuel station that has a high turnover of fuel so that it is not left in the stations tanks for long before you fill up.

Re: E5 ethanol
 

Also when I researched this a few years ago most modern gasoline engines/fuel systems changed from using Butyl or Nitrile O-rings and seals to Dupont's,"Viton" which is impervious to the effects of Ethanol.I don't know what year but I suspect late 1980s/Early 1990s.


So if any older vehicles do have O-rings and Seal problems replacing with Viton versions should hopefully help :)