It's not a Ducati but an old Triumph that I occasionally have use of. I do have a Ford 1934 3 window coupe which has a 355 cu.in. Chevy engine in it and I have used Valvemaster in that ever since unleaded was phased out and again it's been perfectly alright.
For my car no as the mileage that I do each year is too low to warrant it and the cost of stripping a V8 engine is considerable, gasket sets are expensive. I originally built the engine myself,and using Valvemaster and lead memory of the heads would be enough to more than warrant not doing the work. In fact I never will have it done as it would be probably cheaper to buy new performance heads as Chevy aftermarket parts are very strong. As far as a bike goes I think I would go the valvemaster route until it suited me to do it on a rebuild and that Is assuming I could build and strip the engine myself and just pass the heads off for the work involved.
If the bike is Japanese from the 80's they are perfectly safe to run on unleaded without additives. I am fairly sure that is so for Jap bikes from the 70's as well. Most alloy head vehicles have hardened valve seats snd are ok. I have a stag from the early 70's and thst can run on unleaded but my TR 6 I had converted. There will be plentg of threads about it on specific forums
most jap bikes from 70's and 80's should be ok with unleaded i was lead to believe looked into it a few years ago for my 1100 katana 34 3 window coupe PICS..................
Here is a photo of the car as it appeared in Street Machine magazine quite some time ago. There is a long story to this car, which I still own. It took 3,500 hours to build and was built entirely in my back garden with no cover and then dismantled and rebuilt on my driveway. It has a Chevy 355 cu.in. engine (275 bhp and 15 mpg!!) a TH300 GM automatic three speed gearbox and a Jaguar XJ12 rear axle. It is built in the Hi Tech style of the era.
The real problem with modern petrol in older bike is nothing to do with the valves. The problem lies in the Ethanol. It attacke sealant in petrol tanks, destroys fibre glass tanks (I have had personal expoerience with this) and most importantly, as it is acidic creates an electolitic action where there are dissimilar metals (like the action of a battery) carburretas that are made of an alloy with brass jets etc are suseptable to this. I have done quite a bit of research into this for a British Bike club and the following is from an article that I published last May............................ Ethanol in petrol . Later this year the addition of ethanol in petrol will double from 5% to 10%. This will be catastrophic for older bikes (made before 2000) The TR Register has published an excellent article on the history, effects, and a list of fuels that do not, currently, contain ethanol. It is far too big (5 A4 pages) to publish here but if you would like a copy send me an e-mail requesting it. I will however list the use of ethanol by various petroleum companies….. As Ethanol is only added in the final stage of fuel distribution this is easily possible. I have contacted the major fuel suppliers and asked them directly about the addition of Ethanol in the petrol they sell. The results vary, but generally speaking…Super Unleaded fuel is far less likely to have Ethanol blended into it than standard Unleaded. But this will change as the regulations force the fuel companies to increase the amount of bio fuel they sell. (This information was correct at the time of asking…Feb 2011) BP Ethanol is added at 5% to unleaded petrol at all sites across the UK. BP Ultimate (super unleaded petrol) does not have Ethanol added, except in the South West of England. Esso Ethanol is added at 5% to unleaded petrol at most sites in the UK. Esso Super Unleaded petrol does not contain Ethanol, except in the South West of England (Devon & Cornwall) Shell Shell has repeatedly refused to answer the question. It is therefore an assumption only, that all Shell petrol should be considered to contain 5% Ethanol. Texaco Ethanol is added at 5% to unleaded petrol. Texaco Super Unleaded petrol does not contain Ethanol. The message seems to say ‘Use only Super Unleaded’. This was published 2 years ago. It is the most definitive list that I can find. I will add updates as they come to hand… Geoff
Not this chestnut again. Using unleaded petrol in an old engine designed for leaded petrol really can be "catastrophic". Valves, valve seats and piston crowns can be adversely affected, and this could result in a wrecked engine. By contrast, using petrol containing ethanol in an old engine not designed for it can indeed cause problems, but they are a long way short of "catastrophic". Engine parts are not affected, and there are no wrecked engines. The only parts which can be affected adversely are fuel tanks, fuel taps or pumps, pipes, and carburettors or injectors. It is a nuisance, but a comparatively minor one, to have to use sealant in the tank, fit ethanol-resistant pipes, and replace some minor carb parts. No need for shock-horror-panic over-reaction I think.
ER... Your fuel tank falsl apart, your carburetta is ruined You need new petrol; taps, maybe a fuel pump, filters !! If that isn't catastrophic, what is. There has been a lot of problems in the USA (10% ethanol) of later Monster fuel tanks giving way and dousing the engine etc. in fuel. 'A comparatively minor nuisance' ???
Yes it has two affects on metal (1) It causes an elecrtolitic action similare to that in a batterty where one type of metal (eg zinc alloy) couses errosion in a disimilar metal (brass) in carburettas. (2) It is hyroscopic, ie holds water and can cause rusting in petrol tanks.
Looks like it f***s up dictionaries as well.........:wink: Oh well............We are all doomed, then..........
Yep.......Being a smartarse, I have done well.........but I hope your condition means you can read about the effects of ethanol OK, because it seems to me you didn't understand my original post which wasn't about ethanol.
I stand corrected re: you original post... There shouldn't be a problem with engines with alloy heads. This type of engine has seperate valve seats that are hardened and should resist 'valve seat resession'. I ride bikes from the 1940's. 50's, 60's to date and have only had this problem on one. It is a Velocette MAC with an iron head hense no hardened seats. During the panic period of unleaded fuel my answer was 'don't waste money on additives, put the cash in a tin and sort the engineering problem out when (if) it occures. The bike illustrated has been used on the road constantly with standard unleaded and raced with Super unleaded... No problems.
