Has anyone any experience with the new Bio Petrol that is on the market and if the VF1000 will run on E10 with 10% ethanol?
In Germany there has been a lot of controversy surrounding it and I think it was recently pulled form the market.
Peter.
One of the main issues with this stuff is its instability with a shelf life of two to three weeks!!!The Americans have been using it for years now,other common complaints are increased water absorbtion,Phase seperation and older rubber components being eaten away.The French run a 6% blend with no real problems,we used it ourselves while we were over there.Some day all fuels will be this way BIF.
This (German) document lists makes and models of cars and bikes that can run on 10% ethanol petrol. The Honda motorcycle list is surprisingly comprehensive although the VF1000 is not included, perhaps because of age, although looking at the list I am sure there is no problem using this fuel if you want to.
http://www.dat.de/e10liste/e10vertraeglichkeit.pdf
EDIT
According to THIS document
http://kreigenbrink.com/app/download/3989372202/E10.pdf
10% ethanol should not be used in the VF’s…
We got this E10 fuel here in Finland too. The listing here says, that E10 can be used in all Honda motorcycles where the needed octane rating is 95, but not in bikes, which need 98-octane fuel. I will probably move to 98 when the snow melts away, probably in one month…
We’ve had E10 in Oz for a few years now. Many pumps have stickers saying not to use it for bikes, boats, mowers, aircraft, or small stationary engines. If Honda reckon I shouldn’t use it in my CT110 Postie, then I’m not going to use it in a more expensive road bike! We use a 95RON E10 in a couple of our cars. It’s great for keeping water out of the fuel system, but it can stuff up some components, especially rubber & some older alloys, over time. The other thing is, unless you’re getting a 6-10% saving per litre over the equivalent straight petrol, your running costs just went up. Cheers
Hi All, i used to run 95E10 in the XR600 and in the bush she used to stall and cough and do all sorts of wierd shit (pain in the arse climbing up hills), but changed to 98 octane and the power is unreal, starts easy no cough and hardly ever stalls (unless i am too hard on her diving into corners). the misses used to fuel up the car with the E10 untill we got a clear jelly in the fuel tank and blocked everything up. i blame the E10 although i have no proof. we have been using 98octane (ever since this happened) for about 4 years and have not had a problem yet (touch wood). i use 98 in everything, including my mowers/the XR600/the VF even the elcheapo 250 Quad and peewee’s. the 98 is a little bit more expensive but on a full tank whats 2 bucks between friends. the 98octane burns better, gets more km’s out of it, lasts longer and gives better power so you are saving that 2 bucks anyway. i had the XR600 up to 200km/h at oran park before it closed and that was running 98. my brother had the cheap shit in his KTM950SE and got it to 195km/h (the book reakons top speed of 179) chucked some 98 in her and got it up to 205km/h. i may be wrong on all this but i like the performance of all my machines running 98 and enjoy riding it like i stole it. one day it might kill me but i will probably be sucking the 98.
cheers.
98 is supposedly a denser fuel according to some experts. Dunno, but I agree that it seems to make many bikes happier. Short shelf life with consequent separation and damage to non compatible components are really the biggest two problems with ethanol fuels. I see water removal as a benefit, not a headache. Once it’s gone, that’s it & your tank takes longer to rust too! If you ARE going to run E10 though, MAKE SURE you’ve got an inline fuel filter then REPLACE it after the first tank or two has gone through the engine because it will almost certainly scour and remove every last skerrick of crap in your fuel system and thoughtfully place it all in the filter - or the engine if there isn’t one! [:(]
last line of my last post:-
“I like the performance of all my machines running 98 and enjoy riding it like i stole it. one day it might kill me but i will probably be sucking the 98.”
should make this quote of the day, i love some of the stuff i come up with.
cheers.
My bike came from Germania and was run, it seems, for most of its life on high ethanol fuel.
After seeing the crystalised crap that was left in the bottom of the tank afterwards, I’d say stay away from this stuff for older bikes, especially if they are used seasonally.
If you do have to use this stuff, use an additive to help keep things moving smoothly.
See the pics at the end of fuel system issue thread for evidence.