Shell gas no longer Ethanol Free | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Shell gas no longer Ethanol Free

This IS disappointing….

Anyone remember the plastic tank issue suffered by some Ducatis a few years ago (which was the result of ethanol in fuel)?
 
Anyone remember the plastic tank issue suffered by some Ducatis a few years ago (which was the result of ethanol in fuel)?

I remember that. It was the Monster.

Had something to do with the plastic of the tank absorbing the water that was in the ethanol and swelling and deforming as a result. Weird explanation.
 
Anyone remember the plastic tank issue suffered by some Ducatis a few years ago (which was the result of ethanol in fuel)?
Not just the Monster... any European model with a plastic tank can and will have the swelling issue... From what I have been told, the swelling isn't caused by having an empty tank, but it's the ethanol vapours from a partially full tank...
 
Well….if you live in Ontario, enjoy your motorcycle(s) while you can:

Ontario: the Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation requires that fuel suppliers blend 10% of renewable content in gasoline from 2020 to 2024. The renewable content requirement increases to 11% in 2025, 13% in 2028, and 15% in 2030 and onwards.

 
Well….if you live in Ontario, enjoy your motorcycle(s) while you can:

Ontario: the Cleaner Transportation Fuels regulation requires that fuel suppliers blend 10% of renewable content in gasoline from 2020 to 2024. The renewable content requirement increases to 11% in 2025, 13% in 2028, and 15% in 2030 and onwards.

Oh that is super disappointing.
 
I was looking at the manual for my 7 or 8 yr old two stroke, cheapest I could find, weed wacker... says it runs on E15
 
I was looking at the manual for my 7 or 8 yr old two stroke, cheapest I could find, weed wacker... says it runs on E15
Honda specifically recommends non-ethanol fuel in their power equipment. It runs fine on ethanol fuel but they know what they are doing so obviously Honda thinks there is an issue.

"Recommended Fuel - Regular unleaded gasoline (87 Octane) preferably without ethanol"
 
All of my previous lawn mowers and snow blowers all said they recommend fuels with less than 10% ethanol.

All of the VFR's I have owned state in the owners manuals that if the owner chooses to use a blended fuel it can't be more than 10%. That includes my current FI bike.
 
One thing I haven't seen mentioned - was that older fuel lines (particularly on small engines) were affected by ethanol... the rubber would soften and swell; often splitting at fittings or clamps.
 
One thing I haven't seen mentioned - was that older fuel lines (particularly on small engines) were affected by ethanol... the rubber would soften and swell; often splitting at fittings or clamps.
Older string trimmers used to be the worst. The weighted hose in the fuel tank would often last a year before falling off and needing replacement.
 
We had a lot of problems with the small engines on backup/reserve trucks at the fire hall - older chainsaws, small generators, pumps, that sort of thing... Between the carbs getting crapped up, and fuel lines; ethanol fuel led to a lot of maintenance and replacements.
 
I've seen lots of problems with Commando plastic tanks. Sunoco94 used to wreck havoc on them.
And i used to race with a guy that has a Gus Kuhn commando, and we we sponsored by Pro Race Fuels... we ran all sorts of different fairy piss through that thing... never had a problem.
You don't always hear about problems. 10 or 15 years ago some of the high end BMWs were eating rings. It turns out it was the recommended in the owners manual Shell gas, that was eating the cylinder liner. I don't know who ended up paying but they quietly warrantied a bunch of VERY expensive motors.
 
Anybody that has had anything with a fiberglass fuel tank , Norton for one , and about 50,000 boats , all hate ethanol. Over time it reacts with the resins and creates a second solution that over time will ruin an engine . There are hundreds of large displacement engines that have failure traced back to ethanol fuel in fiberglass tanks . It’s been a large enough issue boat manufacturing no longer installs GRP tanks .


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IIRC, there is a way to pull the ethanol out of fuel but it will be expensive, annoying and not all that safe to be doing in your garage. It wouldnt be so bad for a vintage bike that only gets a few gallons a year through it but it's obviously a non-starter for powerboat fuel. Maybe the race gas people will offer an ethanol free fuel for a small fortune?
 
IIRC, there is a way to pull the ethanol out of fuel but it will be expensive, annoying and not all that safe to be doing in your garage. It wouldnt be so bad for a vintage bike that only gets a few gallons a year through it but it's obviously a non-starter for powerboat fuel. Maybe the race gas people will offer an ethanol free fuel for a small fortune?

While it's not feasible to remove ethanol from gas without lowering its octane rating, there are additives and treatments that you can use to blunt the effects of the ethanol in your gas. Products like:

Amsoil Quickshot: https://www.amsoil.ca/p/quickshot-aqs/
Star Tron: Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment Gas Additive Shooter
Sta-Bil 360 Protection: STA-BIL 360 Protection - Fuel Treatment for Engines | Gold Eagle Co
Ethanol Defense: Ethanol Defense - 16 oz. Bottle

Easiest to get is the Sta-Bil 360 and Star Tron. Crappy Tire has it:


 

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