A Close call

What is in todays Petrol?
Yesterday i had the unfortunate experience of one of the two fuel pipes that attach to the SU carburettor come adrift and dump the best part of three gallons of petrol from the left hand side carb spigot. Very lucky not to set fire, and after begging a length of lockwire from the nice people at Teesdale Motorcycles in Thirsk, wired the pipe back on and filled up again to get home.


What a smelly mess its made. Totally stripped the paint from one half of the starter motor, better than using Nitromors! Turned the powder coating on the gearbox cradle, swinging arm and frame a yucky grey colour as well as cracking said powder coat (to be fair the powder coating wasn't very good quality and was on the bike when i got it)
The petrol spigots on the SU do not have any barbs on them. I have replaced the pipes twice before when they lose their flexibility and on reflection should have done so again this winter. To any other owners of SU equipped bikes, wire the pipe clips together to prevent pipe and thus fuel loss
regards
Peter

You running E-10 for fuel ?

Shell V Power 99 octane unleaded. The pumps in the UK now have an 'E' number label stuck on them. Next time i fill up i'll check what it is. I've got my left hand bike boot in a bag of dresser dry to try and remove the stench. Anyone else got a method that works for removing petrol smells?
regards
Peter

dobba99 said:

Shell V Power 99 octane unleaded. The pumps in the UK now have an 'E' number label stuck on them. Next time i fill up i'll check what it is.

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https://support.shell.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115005935369-What-is-Ethanol-

"The RFTO target is typically met through the use of bio-derived ethanol in petrol and Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) in diesel, which are blended into Shell’s UK fuel products in compliance with current UK fuels specifications (up to 5% ethanol in petrol and up to 7% FAME in diesel fuel). This means that, in the UK, Shell regular unleaded and Shell V-Power unleaded are likely to contain some ethanol, but it will not be present at more than 5% (in accordance with current UK specification requirements)."

Well for a long time now (40 years?) there has been no-lead in the USA ( 101 Low Lead allowed in aviation for super old aircraft)
MBTE has also been outlawed 30-25? years ago as a carcinogen it was polluting our ground water supply.
Now E-10 is devastating our older machinery. Ethanol is nasty stuff on rubber and plastics...paint?
Eight years ago I owned 1 chain saw. Today I own , and have fixed the majority of 65+ chain saws and lots of other out door power equipment, along with numerous nortons I own.
All were damage of rubber, plastic and aluminum/magnesium corrosion due to ethanol absorbs water from the air and then become corrosive...5%...10% and the govt is trying to raise it to 15%.

did this happen while riding or when bike was parked up , guess really of no consequence as it could happen no matter , though I will assume you turn fuel off when parked ,every time ..... it a real bummer this happened , good tip on locking wire ...I used rattle can paint once years ago and even drop of fuel would make a mark , eventually had tank and side covers done by a pro , paint is no longer affected by our fuel here ...

I always use Esso super Synygy 97 that does not contain any Ethanol. How do i know, because i test a sample every time i fill up. UK law dictates that E5 has to be posted on all (petrol) pumps whether it contains Ethanol or not. Been using this fuel for over two years and never found any Ethanol in it.

ELLIS

dynodave said:

Well for a long time now (40 years?) there has been no-lead in the USA ( 101 Low Lead allowed in aviation for super old aircraft)
MBTE has also been outlawed 30-25? years ago as a carcinogen it was polluting our ground water supply.
Now E-10 is devastating our older machinery. Ethanol is nasty stuff on rubber and plastics...paint?
Eight years ago I owned 1 chain saw. Today I own , and have fixed the majority of 65+ chain saws and lots of other out door power equipment, along with numerous nortons I own.
All were damage of rubber, plastic and aluminum/magnesium corrosion due to ethanol absorbs water from the air and then become corrosive...5%...10% and the govt is trying to raise it to 15%.

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Had vacuum fuel taps on a Jap bike, the rubber kept going , sometimes lasting no more than 6 months. I considered it an unnecessary expense whereas before there were just on/off fuel taps.

Many race bikes do not have air cleaners which might prevent a fire. The last time I raced, I had just taken the lead when my fuel line came adrift under the tank and pissed methanol all over the motor. It stopped me - which was probably just as well.

dobba99 said:

Shell V Power 99 octane unleaded. The pumps in the UK now have an 'E' number label stuck on them. Next time i fill up i'll check what it is. I've got my left hand bike boot in a bag of dresser dry to try and remove the stench. Anyone else got a method that works for removing petrol smells?
regards
Peter

Click to expand...

Cover everything you can that got gas on it with baking soda. Let it sit a while and then add a small amount of water and scrub with a bristle brush and or sponge. Then hose off. Once you get rid of most of it set an open box of baking soda in on top of the starter motor each time you park the bike. Won't 100% remove it but helps a lot. I recently had a fuel line leak all over the place and down onto the concrete floor of my garage. The fumes were so bad I could be in there without the garage door open. Cleared it up for me.

Of course, after all that water, a ride is a good idea.

If you can get real charcoal, an open bag or tray of it near the parked bike will help as well.

Thanks for the tip on Esso problem is nearest station is over a half hour away. :-(
And I understand that in the states 100LL is going to be 100 no lead. I think of all
the spark plugs I cleaned out back in the olden days! On airplanes that is...

Back in the day , I had a petrol tap lockscrew vibrate its way tofreedom on my BSA Super Rocket.. First I knew was petrol pissing out over me and red hot engine. Stopped bike and retired behind wall expecting the clouds of steam /petrol vapor to ignite..Miraclously this didnt happen.

I have had no more problems since using the Esso Synergy + fuel. Bikes starts after winter layoff ,no tank rust. No dissolving tank liner,no paint damage.

Onder said:

Thanks for the tip on Esso problem is nearest station is over a half hour away .

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I've noticed your Cornish avatar, so If you're sourcing any fuel, Esso included, in the Southwest of the UK it may contain ethonol anyway unfortunately.

From Exxon:

Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland) and we have no current intention to add ethanol to Synergy Supreme+ in other areas of the UK.

You couldnt be greener than Kernow you would think they had enough of mould but no....