Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

a friend of mine has just come back from France and in places they have E15!!! not good for old bikes, he went on a gold flash with low comp pistons and it did not run well but it was all he could get in some places, it runs better now he is back and can use esso E5 which in a lot of places does not have any ethanol in it.
in the USA they have E10 and were thinking about E15 but that has been put on hold because of the trouble E10 is causing .

dennis.t wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 5:38 pm Not strictly on topic but I started my motorcycle last week after a winter layoff and BOTH petrol pipes to the two carbs are split and leaking fuel. The rubber reinforced tubing labelled "suitable for unleaded fuel"

Suitable for unleaded, but that's not the same as suitable for Ethanol. Be especially wary of stuff that doesn't have writing on the side, SAEJ30 R6 is good for up to E15 at the very least.

Tony,

Good to know thanks.
Dennis

Struggling to start my KH with old fuel, I drained the cloudy looking petrol from the carb, and couldn't ignite it on some adjacent waste ground until I used a gas torch, when it burned a bit like diesel oil, no volatility at all. added fresh petrol but still no start, I expect the pilot jet is blocked by the water that had been absorbed by at least the petrol in the carb.

David,
I, for one, would be interested to know how old the petrol was, what type it was (E10 or E5) and whether the bike was in heated storage over the winter or simply in the garage.

For the record, with old E5 petrol in the tank over the winter, my KH started first kick this spring. The Red Hunter was more difficult but started eventually and is fine now, still on last year's E5 fuel. It was used during the winter though, unlike the KH. The Square Four, Healey, lawnmower, and rotavator have all started easily enough on E5 fuel from last year kept either in cans or their petrol tanks over the winter.

Esso E5 has very little or no ethanol and if kept in a sealed container it will keep over winter but it has to have the E5 label by law,

ken-drink wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 2:23 pm Esso E5 has very little or no ethanol....

But maybe not for too long. From the Esso web site:
https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels
"We currently supply an ethanol-free Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded in some parts of the UK. From September 2023 our Synergy Supreme+ 99 will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps irrespective of which part of the country they are located. The labelling at our pumps will remain as E5 for Synergy Supreme+ 99 unleaded."

SG

I have, this week, spent a considerable amount of time draining the fuel tank and lines of an almost brand new 4 wheeled vehicle, including a replacement fuel pump as it wouldn’t start.

The reason for this was E10 which had a considerable amount of water in it.

If it does that to a new vehicle which is approved for use with it, I can only imagine how bad it is for our classics.

Due to a back injury I suffered last September, followed by the onset of winter when motorcycle riding is illegal in Quebec and then followed by reinjuring my back earlier this Spring, I hadn't been on my 1951 VH for about nine months. During that time I hadn't drained the carb (289 remote float) and had left the fuel tank about three quarters full of E10. I filled the tank yesterday and this morning I was pleased when the bike fired up first kick and ran normally during a 20 mile ride around the countryside. I do routinely add some fuel stabilizer to all the gasoline (petrol) that goes into my bikes, lawn mower, International tractor, chainsaws etc. but whether that does anything but lighten my wallet I don't know.
When I had my Square Four apart for rebuilding years ago, I put the petcock in a sealed glass jar filled with gasoline so that the corks wouldn't dry out and then several years later when it came time to put the tank on the bike I found that the gasoline in the jar had turned to a kind of gooey jelly. I had to replace the corks.
One of these days I'll have to dust off the Sq4 and see how many kicks it will take to fire it up.