UK E10 Fuel

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I don't remember when E10 became standard here, but I don't recall any impact on performance. Unfortunately, my state has few ethanol-free gas stations and none within a reasonable drive for me. That, plus the only way to buy it is by a 5 gallon can for $60. It's illegal to pump it into a road vehicle, it's intended for race vehicles and outdoor power equipment. So it looks like I'll likely never get to experience the difference with my Norton.

The place where I've seen the biggest impact of E10 is in 2 cycle OPE like chain saws and leaf blowers. The small plastic/rubber fuel lines to the carburetors get eaten away by it.
 
Fast Eddie said:
It is often said that much less than 5bhp is difficult or impossible for ‘normal’ riders to feel.

If that’s true, that means you could be down by that margin with E10 in your bike.

I fully agree that for many this isn’t an issue. But trust me, for many others, it bloody well is !
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I definitely don't claim to be anything other than a 'normal' rider. But it wasn't so much about absolute performance, it was the feeling it was missing on tickover and hunting on a steady throttle, most notably around 2,500 to 3,000 rpm. And stalled at traffic lights. It was a long wait and I was starting to stroke the throttle, to give it a moment at 2,000rpm and get the oil circulating. It coughed and died. All went away with fresh E5.

Incidentally, I was at the same pump today. E5 has an octane rating of 97, E10 is 95. E5 was £1.52/ imp gal, E10 £1.33!
 
Mart UK said:
I definitely don't claim to be anything other than a 'normal' rider. But it wasn't so much about absolute performance, it was the feeling it was missing on tickover and hunting on a steady throttle, most notably around 2,500 to 3,000 rpm. And stalled at traffic lights. It was a long wait and I was starting to stroke the throttle, to give it a moment at 2,000rpm and get the oil circulating. It coughed and died. All went away with fresh E5.

Incidentally, I was at the same pump today. E5 has an octane rating of 97, E10 is 95. E5 was £1.52/ imp gal, E10 £1.33!
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Imp gal…?

Don’t you mean litre…?
 
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1.52 Pounds Sterling/liter, currently converts to a tad over 8 USD/gallon. "Like Wow Batman"!!

I have mixed feelings about that, but, in the US, it sure would the cell phone toting, SUV drivers and the dumbass "Mall Terrain" Pick-Up truck cowboys on pit lane. Nice to have the roads back...Probably would break the US economy, which has plenty of cracks in it now.

Best.
 
I don’t thinks it’s quite $8, approx 3.8 litres to a US gallon, so approx $5.8.

So it’s ‘only’ twice the price as in the US !
 
"Ahhh, the good old days of lock down eh?!"

Funny, the other day here in Bath, with things essentially back to normal, someone commented, "You know, I liked the town a lot better during the height of the Pandemic!" Of course, the merchants wouldn't agree with that! But it was certainly not crowded with tourists!!
 
Flying my plane during the pandemic, since I wasn't flying for work, I could have had the interstate highways to myself as runways. I don't miss the lockdown except for the absence of tourists and the weekend traffic as Massachusetts moves through to their lake houses in New Hampshire and Maine.
 
In reality, looking back on lock down is like looking back on a holiday, sure it might seem nice, but you can’t live like that!

I said at the time that the damage the lock down was doing to supply chains would bite us hard in the near future. You simply cannot turn global supply chains off and on like that and expect them to keep up. Don’t like to say ‘I told you so’ but look around you now !

Truth is I hated the lock down. It hurt me deep inside and at times I was really starting to struggle with it. Having my own small Ltd company I got next to no financial support either, which of course created other worries. I can easily imagine it has caused serious mental harm to many.

I firmly believe that they were necessary, but they’re a tool that should only be used sparingly, and at the right time, and for the shortest possible time. The way we dragged them out for months on end with no actual plan, somehow hoping covid would go away, was a travesty IMHO.
 
Fast Eddie said:
In reality, looking back on lock down is like looking back on a holiday, sure it might seem nice, but you can’t live like that!

I said at the time that the damage the lock down was doing to supply chains would bite us hard in the near future. You simply cannot turn global supply chains off and on like that and expect them to keep up. Don’t like to say ‘I told you so’ but look around you now !

Truth is I hated the lock down. It hurt me deep inside and at times I was really starting to struggle with it. Having my own small Ltd company I got next to no financial support either, which of course created other worries. I can easily imagine it has caused serious mental harm to many.

I firmly believe that they were necessary, but they’re a tool that should only be used sparingly, and at the right time, and for the shortest possible time. The way we dragged them out for months on end with no actual plan, somehow hoping covid would go away, was a travesty IMHO.
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Don't forget that it was Boris that said back in April that the lockdowns not the vaccines saved lives
But at what cost?
Probably changed his mind to the vaccines now?
 
My 850 uses the polluted gas okay but even if I stick the 93 oct. to it something is missing something in how the motor performs as compared to what the leaded fuel delivered years ago... It could just be that dementia is moving in and I just can't remember things as they really were. I do know for certain that I wasn't digging into those Amals near as often as now.
Alcohol goes in your belly not your fuel tank.... Same with the old GL 1000 to make a comparison.... Both burn it alright, but neither has quite the oomph which once was there.... Anyway we've ethanol free gas all over the place living on the coast just so all of Billy Bob's boats can run without trashing the motors, which I have bought and hauled home now and then.... I'm rambling again....
 
Our octane rating systems are different:

UK std unleaded "95"octane = is what you call 90/91 octane in the US;
UK "super unleaded" or "premium" "97/99"octane = is what you'd call 92 /93 octane in the US.
 
JimNH said:
How I've never had a problem. I usually fill at the same station - super premium E-10 although it doesn't need it. A two gallon purchase doesn't break the bank.

A little clarification: I see pre ignition used where it should be detonation. Pre ignition is when fuel/air charge is lit by something other than the spark plug before the timed spark, a hot spot such as a glowing piece of carbon. Detonation is when the charge is lit by the spark but the flame front progresses too fast becoming sort of an explosion - detonation, thus the pinging.

I've heard all sorts of complaints about E-10 in all sorts of applications but never experienced any except small engines where the rubber in fuel pumps succumbed to the alcohol. My FIL's '56 Ford fuel pump replacement was made with tolerant diaphragm. No such rubber parts in a Norton.
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Except the carb float needle…
jaydee
 
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