Running high octane shell E5 in my old superlight, but wondering if this is the way forward for older bikes? Watch "How to remove Ethanol from unleaded fuel" on YouTube
That will work to remove alcohol from fuel for sure. If I was him I would either get a better decanting set-up or better fully comp all risks covered house insurance though. VP C14 is on special offer if you really love your bike.
VP-C14 Racing Fuel contains "Tetraethyl lead" so may not be suitable for use in motorcycles with catalytic converters. Alternatives are available in UK, but some of those also contain a form of lead, so care should be exercised when choosing. This is an extract from the Esso website giving more detail about where their fuel is not Ethanol free, and a link to their site below that. "Although our pumps have E5 labels on them, our Synergy Supreme+ 99 is actually ethanol free (except, due to technical supply reasons, in Devon, Cornwall, North Wales, North England and Scotland). Legislation requires us to place these E5 labels on pumps that dispense unleaded petrol with ‘up to 5% ethanol’, including those that contain no ethanol, which is why we display them on our Synergy Supreme+ 99 pumps." Unfortunately, my region is in the list of exceptions! https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol . A search on here should reveal much more information on this subject. Hope it helps. Tom.
Kevin is talking about older bikes, and specifically his Superlight. Depends on your definition of older I guess.
When super unleaded became E5 I took this up with their customer service and they were friendly but could not / would not define the boundary of “North England” or any specific stations on the borderlines where I could get alcohol free fuel.
Yes, I too have sought clarification of where the boundaries are without success. I think the supplying refinery owned by ExxonMobil, at Fawley is probably the one you might have confidence in, but again the supply boundaries are not published. Most of the fuel in my area is sourced from Essar Energy at Stanlow, and that is subject to the 5% maximum for E5. When using E5, and particularly for bike storage, an additive should help, other threads have suggested Motorex, but I have used different brands that seem to work OK. The issue is potentially more significant for bikes with tanks made of susceptible plastics and other internals, again covered on here previously. Good luck. Tom.
Cheers all. Think there is Esso fairly local, will start using there high octane & hopefully the powers that be won't insist on ethanol in all petrol. I'm a bit sceptical that fuel companies will only send ethanol free to certain areas, surely they'd either do all E5 or no E5?
It is coming to all general forecourt super unleaded soon enough, but some of the fuel processing installation set-ups don’t suit them adding the alcohol with the right process controls without a fair bit of reengineering, and significant change projects like that can take a long time in fuel.
In addition to the above, I think the location of the refinery supplying the base fuel and their process has a bearing on what the fuel contains before any any additives etc, including the presence of Ethanol. I agree that Esso Synergy Supreme+ 99 is probably the best lower cost option currently, possibly with ethanol treatment if you wish, as the most convenient alternative to sourcing an expensive specialist non-ethanol fuel like: "Aspen alkylate petrol", from: https://aspenfuel.co.uk/ . Tom.
