Current fuel

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ILLF8ED

ILLF8ED

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Anyone having increased problems with the current fuels available? The local shop guy said even with steel tanks several of the liners including POR and Caswell are starting to fail and plug the carbs. After sitting a couple of weeks my 750 is running like c**p..doesn't want to idle or run well without some choke. I'm draining the gas tank now to have a look and will pull apart the Amals again.

Thanks,
 
I have not had an issue with the liner in my commando and it's been in there for about 8 years. I did have a problem with paint coming loose and peeling off around the tank neck a few years ago, but no issues the last couple. I am in the Midwest and I don't think the laws governing that sort of thing are as strict as they are out where you are.
 
Britbike220 do you know what was used to seal your tank 8 years ago? I have one that was sealed about that long ago & it's still fine, no leaks no bubbling the gas doesn't change color etc etc. I just don't knw what was used on it.
 
It was a cream kit and I've heard of a lot of those types that have gone to the wayside. Prep has a lot to do with the success of lining a tank.
 
I was talking to an old friend who runs a gas station near me. I noticed he no longer had signs up advertising pure gas. He said the minimun alcohol content for all the fuel is now 5% and will be going up to 7 or 10% in the near future. He said anyone advertising non-alcohol fuel is "confused". He seemed to think it was on a national level but he was not sure.
Anyway I am doing a cylinder head right now that has the classic dissolving tank coating in the ports and on the valves. He said it was Caswell coating in a fiberglass interstate tank and was a couple years old and had been professionally done. He said he was having sticking slides recently also. Jim
 
I used Kreem in a 450 Ducati tank (steel) over 10 years ago and it is still good. I don't use any ethanol fuel though.
I used POR 15 in a fibreglass tank, it is crap and I would never buy it again.
I used Hirsch sealer (after I got the POR 15 out) and it is good, so far 3 years.
Hirsch looks and smells like Kreem.
graeme
 
I do worry about the liner coming loose one of these days. My commando tank is the only one I've sealed and I almost wish I could get it out before something happens.
 
So far Casswell's epoxy is holding up in Wes and my fiber tanks about 6 years now.
But we get N.W Ozark gas, some has ethanol some don't, so can't say if we are exposed examples to go by.

New gas formula's tend to run lean compared to past gasoline and we all know alcohol requires more flow to feed their fires, so maybe going richer is indicated.
Can't do old school plug chops on new gas formula's as they tend to burn so clean.

Temperature probes, O2 sensors and seat of pants remains to guide.
 
comnoz said:
I was talking to an old friend who runs a gas station near me. I noticed he no longer had signs up advertising pure gas. He said the minimun alcohol content for all the fuel is now 5% and will be going up to 7 or 10% in the near future. He said anyone advertising non-alcohol fuel is "confused". He seemed to think it was on a national level but he was not sure.
Click to expand...
A couple weeks ago the EPA approved an increase from 10% to 15% ethanol for gas. Christmas is early for the corn lobby this year. I read a study a while ago where the actual blends tested at the pump were all over the place, none were under 10% and the highest was 30%. Seeing as how ethanol is cheaper than gas, it makes sense. And one does have a fiduciary responsibility to the stockholders..
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/ ... pa_ethanol

Edit: Jim, here's a list of ethanol stations in the US and Canada. There's a couple listed in Pueblo. It may be dated.
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=OR
 
The other thing is you use more fuel to go the same distance with ethanol, this is a lose-lose situation, the governement (that is you and me) subsidize the corn growers to make fuel, it is not any cheaper at the pump and you use more of it, at the same time, corn prices go up and thus your corn flakes, tacos, tortillas, coke (corn syrup) all cost more to buy.

To make this rant follow the subject, we are at the forefront of this problem because this ethanol is ruining the fiberglass our tanks were made from, it was a bad decision on all counts and it is especially painful for us, me included, I have had two paint jobs ruined by this garbage, I was able to get it redone once because I thought the painter had done a bad prep job, but the second one I have to live with until I fix it for good.

Jean

http://www.troymedia.com/?p=16031
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18173/
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/30/news/ec ... /index.htm
 
I haul fuel and gas for a living these days, and here in Kansas we still have straight Unleaded gas available, although the rules have changed as to how pumps are labeled. Stations no longer have to label weather there is ethanol in the gas or not, so filling up with Unlead may or may not have some booze in it. Some stations keep it separate. My old vehicles don't run worth a crap on E10% so I have a barrel at the farm for Premium Unlead, which is still some decent stuff. Your state or country may be different, but for now, here, we can still get 'pure' Unlead' from the refinery.

KC
 
I just stopped at a small gas station in rural Minnesota last week. One pump had 89 octane unleaded that had a 10% ethanol sticker on it. The one next to it had 91 octane premium unleaded. It had a small sticker under the handle that read something like "only legal for off road vehicles, farm vehicles, collector vehicles and vehicles that met the collector vehicle requirements" Something like that. I wish I had taken a quick picture of it. Interesting. Any MN riders want to expand on that? In Nebraska, we still have pumps labeled "no ethanol" I only use Amoco Ultimate, which is labeled that way. Never had any problems with it, POR liners in three tanks for many years, and a 8 year-old Speed Triple with the plastic tank.
 
Edit: Jim, here's a list of ethanol stations in the US and Canada. There's a couple listed in Pueblo. It may be dated.
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=OR
Bob


Bob, I saw that list on the INOA list recently which is what got me curious. There were three stations listed for Pueblo and I went to them first. All of them said they had at least 5% alcohol in their fuel although one station had signs saying no alcohol.

Most of the stations here in Pueblo have signs on the pump saying 10% alcohol.
 
I don't know about Pueblo, but here in the Denver metro area the gas stations are required by law to sell ethanol blended fuel most of the year, September through April I believe. They're not required to sell it during the summer months but most do anyway.

It's disappointing to hear that pure-gas.org can't be trusted. Sounds like avgas is the only option for ethanol-free fuel, and I've read it's not that well suited for motorcycle use.

Debby
 
Good news after last weekend's tear down. No problem with the POR tank liner on my steel tank...it's staying where it belongs. I took off the fuel bowls - Amal 932 - and found the mounting flanges were bent upward...again. Probably leaking air and causing the poor running. I don't understand why with a gasket over the entire mating surface the flanges warp so much. This time used a little red Locktite and less torque on the two screws on each bowl. After warming up the engine everything runs good.
 
Racers use some decent gas, really pricey but definitely available in big jugs or drums for discreet home storage. Nice octane levels! Check out your local track. When I lived in Vegas, some stations ( Terrible Herbst, I think) had it at some of their pumps! Been awhile, that may have changed with EPA regs. Pretty much another California there now as far as reformulated gas goes.
I'll check the price difference and quality here between race and Avgas at the refinery.
KC
 
I've read that race gas contains ethanol now too, so don't get your hopes up on that. :?

avgas may be the only ethanol-free option left (for now anyway).

Debby
 
If you look at the VP Fuels website you will see that alot of their stuff is oxygenated with ethanol , but they have other blends that are ethanol free in various octanes and with or without lead . I was visiting a friend in Columbia , SC last week and we found a Shell station that advertised non-ethanol fuel . The pumps were clearly marked NO ETHANOL in both the Premium (93 octane) and mid-grade (89) . The regular (87) pump stated that it contained ethanol . The convenience store that sold the gas shared a building with a Liquor store . I told my friend that I was going to move in with him and start hanging out at the gas station :D

Ron
 
Ignorance of chemistry and history, resulting from schools that don't teach and a media that doesn't bother to do its job either, allows the politicians and the corn lobby to foist ethanol on the public.

Henry Ford advocated ethanol while John D. Rockefeller pushed gasoline. Ford had the advantage since for generations all farmers knew how to preserve a good year's bounty of grain crops by fermentation into beer and then distillation into booze. Rockefeller faced logisiical disadvantages in addition to this cultural disadvantage. Both men were well connected. Rockefeller won, mainly because gasoline is safer, cheaper, not corrosive, and packs more energy by volume/weight.

Leaving politics and geopolitics aside and sticking to chemistry and our gas tanks, It is flat stupid to advocate alcohol over gasoline.
 
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Leaving politics and geopolitics aside and sticking to chemistry and our gas tanks, It is flat stupid to advocate alcohol over gasoline.

AMEN, Jim
 
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