E10 Fuel

I've run my 96 FL for 16 years now, and the previous owner for 10 years before that, and in my ownership have had to replace the nitrile gasket in the fuel gauge compartment twice, both times in the last 5 years or so. I've used Hylomar blue to beef up the seal, but it definitely failed along with the gasket, which literally fell apart. There's Hylomar in there again.....how long has E5 been around?

Well, I may have gotten the answer to the question I posed more than a month ago. I filled up with E10 this morning for a long jaunt around Derbyshire and my fuel gauge cable lead pipe is pissing fuel this evening.

Now, I may be unsure right now whether it's the Hylomar blue or the nitrile gasket which has given up the ghost (again) but I've put a spot of Hylomar in a bottle with E10 overnight to see what happens. I'll pull the fuel gauge tomorrow and see what the gasket is doing...too pissed off tonight. And the weather is shaping up good this week....

edit: I googled "does E10 affect nitrile gaskets?" and one result indicated the following:

"Suitability of Corkrubber Gaskets in Gasoline-Ethanol Blends

https://www.scientific.net/

Conclusions

For immersed specimens, a significant aggressiveness was observed with low and medium
percentages of ethanol blends......"

The article defined 'low' and 'medium' as up to E25 I think, and noted both E5 and E10 in these categories....and 'aggressiveness ' meant the gasket warped, hardened, or was otherwise fu@ked.....

:mad:
 
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I filled up today with the super unleaded (E5) at £1.41 a litre on my Evo - 12p a litre more than the E10. I know i know but it still rankles and hits the wallet. Im thinking about the winter lay up for the HD and the Benelli - stabilisers el al, previously ive just topped up, shook the bike and started - and thats without even thinking about the line problems, perishable hoses and generally shit MPG and performance. I will be draining the the carb for sure.
 
I put some E10 in the Panhead on the way back from Baskerville the other day (was running on fumes and the Esso garage wasn’t holding any of the old stuff - didn’t know about the E5 differences at the time), ran fine for the rest of the way home, if a little leaner than usual.
There is just under half a tank left of the stuff which I’m guessing I should either ride out or decant rather than leave it in there for too long.

Thoughts?

Nice weather coming up, run it through and put some E5 in there. I'm adding Sta - Bil every couple of tank fulls. Stay do a Sta- Bil 360 for ethanol which does makes a different apparently. I'll be trying that out too.
 
I went to two filling stations I could only see E10. I went to another that had E10 95 at £1.37 / ltr and E5 97 at £156 / ltr!

The place where I get Esso 99+ is £142 / ltr
 
Well, I removed the old gasket and Hylomar, cleaned it all up and replaced both...filled 3/4 full with E5 and went for a 4 hour ride...no leaks.

The gasket looked like this:

20210906_092214.jpg

Mucky, but not breaking down....maybe a little hard. Difficult to tell. The Hylomar went pale blue, and kind of slimy, but I was feeling the fuel over the surface of the sample as I checked it. It didn't break down overnight in E10.

So, no clear answer. Maybe the E5 had drgraded to Hylomar enough in the preceeding 6 months and the E10 just finished the job, but the bottom line was E10 in, instant leak, E5 in, no leak.

I'll be using E5 (at £1.49 a litre!!!:upset:) from now on, but an interesting fact arose for me today - super unleaded is less common than I thought. In Nottinghamshire I have seen it 'everywhere'(but I have never bought it) but in Derbyshire today, none was to be found in Hathersage nor the co-op in Bakewell- I did get it at the Jet just outside the town. Also, I have it in the village I live in....

Maybe members could contribute to a national listing of 'where to find E5 for your old girls'?
 
My local garage is an Esso they now only have E10. It is at least 10 miles to the next garage.
I will have to find somewhere with E5 as I also have a couple of 1950’s old British bikes not sure how they will do.
 
My local garage is an Esso they now only have E10. It is at least 10 miles to the next garage.
I will have to find somewhere with E5 as I also have a couple of 1950’s old British bikes not sure how they will do.

Ok! Here are my known 2 suppliers of E5

A. 1 in my Mansfield area

Texaco
Main St, Blidworth, Mansfield NG21 0PU

B. In Bakewell, Derbyshire

Jet
Haddon Rd, Bakewell DE45 1AW

They'll be loads more around here(?) and I'll add them as I find them. Hope anyone travelling through finds this useful
 
Maybe members could contribute to a national listing of 'where to find E5 for your old girls'?

I'd be willing to raise a ggodle map from this inflormation but it relies solely on members keeping it up to date with me. The last thing I need is to get it in the neck personally for someone travelling to a pump only to find no E5
 
I'd be willing to raise a ggodle map from this inflormation but it relies solely on members keeping it up to date with me. The last thing I need is to get it in the neck personally for someone travelling to a pump only to find no E5

Understood. E5 (super unleaded) could disappear, any body referring to the list would need to appreciate that; I guess the more stations are highlighted, the closer (in theory) each one could be to another offering E5, subject to geographical outliers (say the Scottish highlands or Dartmoor)....but any info is better than none, and if we included phone numbers if we had them (Google!) anyone needing E5 fuel could check ahead.

So:

1. Texaco
Main St, Blidworth, Mansfield NG21 0PU
01623 793245

2. Jet
Haddon Rd, Bakewell DE45 1AW
01629 812887
 
I'd be willing to raise a ggodle map from this inflormation but it relies solely on members keeping it up to date with me. The last thing I need is to get it in the neck personally for someone travelling to a pump only to find no E5

Great idea having a map. I will try and look at all the petrol stations in my part of the world, Peterhead, Fraserburgh and along the coast to Banff.
 
Although the Esso super duper premium 99 has E5 on the pump it is ethanol free.

unless you live in certain areas
Esso Synergy Supreme+ 99 contains zero ethanol, except (for logistics reasons) sites supplied from Scotland, North Wales, North England and Cornwall.
 
One fuel company....The spokesperson said: "Legislation requires us to place E5 labels on pumps that dispense unleaded petrol with ‘up to 5% ethanol’, including those that contain no ethanol.

"That is why we display E5 labels on all of our Synergy Supreme+ 99 pumps even though many don’t contain any ethanol at all."

Why not label the stuff to what it actually is!!
 
One fuel company....The spokesperson said: "Legislation requires us to place E5 labels on pumps that dispense unleaded petrol with ‘up to 5% ethanol’, including those that contain no ethanol.

"That is why we display E5 labels on all of our Synergy Supreme+ 99 pumps even though many don’t contain any ethanol at all."

Why not label the stuff to what it actually is!!

Christ....as if life on the forecourt wasn't confusing enough.

Another E5 stockist:

Jet

Kirklington Rd, Rainworth, Mansfield NG21 0JX
01623 794255
 
Newark Esso

A-46 Lincoln Rd, Winthorpe, Newark NG24 2NY

01636 705 130

That suupreme 99 stuff, but the price is eyewatering - £1.56/ litre
 
In Weston super Mare,
Bournville Garage,Winterstoke Road has Shell V-Power E5 super unleaded.
BP garage,New Bristol Road has BP Ultimate E5 super unleaded.
Jeff Browns,Bridgwater Road Lympsham has Esso Supreme 99 E5 super unleaded.
Esso claim that their Supreme 99 is ethanol free but I don't know about the others.
 
Well, I should have read this sooner! Some of you know my Sporty (2003) stopped? Close to the Northallerton Rally. With help from Hovver and Duncan, problem solved, the small vacuum pipe? Under the tank above the cylinder head had perished. On the way back from Lincolnshire close to home on Sunday, the bike stopped? I’d filled up a few miles beforehand. After a short wait, it started and I got home.
I’ve unfortunately not paid attention to the pumps over the years, bought the cheapest! Except recently. Looks like my wonderful Sporty is suffering this modern stuff. A job for the winter perhaps. Hope I make it to Smoke on the water next weekend.
 
Well, I should have read this sooner! Some of you know my Sporty (2003) stopped? Close to the Northallerton Rally. With help from Hovver and Duncan, problem solved, the small vacuum pipe? Under the tank above the cylinder head had perished. On the way back from Lincolnshire close to home on Sunday, the bike stopped? I’d filled up a few miles beforehand. After a short wait, it started and I got home.
I’ve unfortunately not paid attention to the pumps over the years, bought the cheapest! Except recently. Looks like my wonderful Sporty is suffering this modern stuff. A job for the winter perhaps. Hope I make it to Smoke on the water next weekend.

I'd suggest that the issue may be less to do with the fuel you put in, and more to do with the system on the bike. Have you at any point in your ownership removed and cleaned the gauze filter in the petrol tap? Or had the carburettor ultrasonically cleaned to remove any gunk that's built up? If I remember rightly your bike's pretty stock, and it's getting on for 20 years old. A strip and clean of the fuel system might not only solve the problem but prevent future ones, and it's not an expensive fix.

Not a criticism Marj. It's something a lot of folk overlook. Surprising how much condensation can build up in fuel tanks over the years, and since water ends up at the bottom it can be a hidden problem waiting to happen Filling up when you're low can occasionally displace a drop of water into the carb if there's been a substantial build-up, usually if the engine is hot it will evaporate and I suspect this is what happened to you the second time.

I've had it happen to me in a different way; I now know (from expensive experience!) that if you have oil central heating and your tank has run low, it is best to let the new delivery settle for 24 hours before running the system.
 
Went out on the Sturgis yesterday, had to fill up as already on reserve, could only get E10.
Did 180ish miles, no noticeable difference in performance to the super unleaded I normally run it on.
Had to fill up again with E5, performance just the same.
Running S&S super E, still crap myself with the acceleration compared to the SU on the Shovel.
I reckon as long as carb and fuel drained, if laying bike up for winter, there shouldn't be a problem.
Oh and as Kev says fuel filter/s cleaned out occasionally a big help.
 
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