E10 petrol for FJ1200

[baldy3853]

Just curious - Is the US E10 the same octane as in Australia?
[/quote]
Yes and No the fuel rating in the US is different to ours their 89 is equal to our 95 sort of lol

their E10 is 85 ours is around 91

[MatYl]

In Finland we have two kind of gasoline, 98E5 and 95E10, 98 and 95 octane. 98 has maximum 5% ethanol and 95 max. 10% ethanol. I use 98 in FJ and older Renaults. I have had no problems with gas. Not even with 1990 Renault Super 5, alltough car has about five years old gas in tank. She just started after all years . I had ran Yamaha sometimes during winter and no problem. 98 works well, I think.

[Bozo]

Just curious - Is the US E10 the same octane as in Australia?

Yes and No the fuel rating in the US is different to ours their 89 is equal to our 95 sort of lol

their E10 is 85 ours is around 91

Baldy, Makes you wonder why is it different - again (i.e our gallons are different yet named the same)>

MatYI, could it be that the fuel in Finland is frozen and you need a blow torch to get it hot enough to run the bike

[Charlie-brm]

Taking this to a side topic - why is a company like Ducati using nylon for tanks in the first place? Of all the plastics to choose from.
I'm not even going to look it up until after I post, I'm that arrogant,   Since I was 12 years old I recall that nylon absorbs approx. 6% of its weight in water. There are many varieties of nylon. This is an average.
Of course it's going to deform. Just don't blame the ethanol. Any exposure to water moisture is going to distort those tanks.

[andyb]

The difference in octane is in part because the pumps are labeled differently. 

A US pump lists not octane, but antiknock index (aki).  That's the (RON+MON)/2 formula, which you'll also find on a typical US pump.  Other countries generally use RON for the pump, and as the RON is usually higher than the MON, the numbers on the pump are higher than a US pump.  The other half of the difference is that the fuel is often slightly higher octane indeed.  Midgrade in the US is about equal to low grade in the UK, for example.

VP racing fuels, for comparison, use MON.  Using MR12 as an example, they call it 87 octane (87 MON).  On a US pump, it'd be called 93 (AKI), and on a UK pump it'd be 97 octane (RON).


Seems to me that ethanol gets blamed for a lot of problems that it doesn't really cause.  That said, it's not a really great fuel unless the engine was designed for it... and then it becomes very good indeed, unless you're wanting for mileage.  Does great for power, even on a naturally aspirated motor, particularly if that's an air-cooled motor.  E85 is rapidly becoming a popular racing fuel because it's high octane and makes great power while being very cheap... unless you're endurance racing, where the crap mileage causes excessive refueling stops.

I did the math on the jetting changes between normal gas and a 90:10 mix, and my conclusion was that it was so minor as to be interchangable.   There is a bigger variation in your fuel:air ratio between a cool morning and a warm afternoon than there is between the two fuels.

[MatYl]

Just curious - Is the US E10 the same octane as in Australia?

Yes and No the fuel rating in the US is different to ours their 89 is equal to our 95 sort of lol

their E10 is 85 ours is around 91

Baldy, Makes you wonder why is it different - again (i.e our gallons are different yet named the same)>

MatYI, could it be that the fuel in Finland is frozen and you need a blow torch to get it hot enough to run the bike

Frozen... Never  . But if, then we just put more ethanol in gasoline. Blow torches were used during Winter War 1939-1940, not nowadays  .

[daithi]

I remember reading about this a while back John, and it sounds like Richard is having good results with it. Heres a site which recommends NO for most Japanese motorcycles   http://www.fcai.com.au/publications/all/all/all/3/can-my-vehicle-operate-on-ethanol-blend-petrol-

I'll just stick with the normal blend, 

Two years back in Ireland and using E5, no problems to date on any of my four Carbed bikes.  Not sure how the Japanese MFRS can say that E5 is not suitable, if its all that is pretty much available everywhere in Ireland, and I assume Europe generally as well. Millions of bikes using E5 here in Europe that have carbs and the older rubber gaskets , seals etc. Maybe its a ``slower kill`` than E10 ?  Time will tell. I can lay up any of my bikes for many weeks, like 6-8 without an issue. So far anyways !!!  But E10 seems to cross a line with them and you must use a fuel additive at all times to prevent harm. That said, the additives are cheap enough and certainly in the USA, easy to find the appropriate ones. I am a huge fan of seafoam, but there are others.  The newer Fuel injected bikes seem unaffected and they also use different gasket and rubber materials that are not affected by the corrosive qualities of E10.

[Bozo]

I have to admit, I'm would be hesitant to use E type fuel unless I had to, on my scooter (FJ) but obviously once in a while it won't hurt. Interestingly the new car we will be getting (after 22Yrs, both my cars have 500,000Kms +) is rated for E10 plus standard fuels - Mazda6.

Thanks for ALL your inputs, it turned out to be an eye opener for me, I expected more negative comments like (exaggerating) pistons melting, valves burning etc. I do agree that if the fuel tanks on some bikes change shape etc, there is something wrong with the manufacturer.

I remember the first time they brought out the unleaded fuel and I blamed my valves being gummed up because of the fuel, turned out the valve seals/ guides were rooted. That gave me a negative feeling about any new fuel thats why I asked for your opinions.

Another example is where I used (sorry off the topic) Castrol GTX2 / 3 then they made a GTX modern but without any notice they took out the zinc content which lubricates cams (needed in higher revs mostly, low revving cams are usually not affected). My scooter buggered the Megacycle cams in 15,000kms.

[ribbert]

......after 22Yrs, both my cars have 500,000Kms +

Bozo, what type of cars are they and have you ever had any major work done on them?

[Bozo]

......after 22Yrs, both my cars have 500,000Kms +

Bozo, what type of cars are they and have you ever had any major work done on them?

Well you did ask, so here goes -
My 1992 Mazda 4x4 B2600 has now done a genuine 500,000kms, I can assure you it does not get pampered.
at 390,000kms I changed valve seals and the exhaust valves only (the gas LPG ran too dry/hot)
at 390,000kms changed gearbox main shaft/ clutch, diff / rear end is original no work done.
at 420,000kms my front crank seal blew, on the way to Melbourne (fixed that night)
apart from that no other work has been done (apart from the usual service items)
It doesn't use any oil and at changes the oil is always clean (10,000km services) so 750,000kms is our next goal.

My second car is a 1989 Concerto Honda. I stuck a vtec (std 1600cc) in it at 120,000kms, drag raced it (15.1 quarters) and used it till 320,000kms (secondhand motor did a total of 267,000kms) till I blew the motor because a hose let go at high revs. The second vtec is still running well (gets 15sec flat on the quarter). The car has just turned over 483,000kms. Only CV's have been changed other wise a couple of clutch plates (guess why), this engine has a total of 222,000kms.

My other motorbike is the kawasaki 1978 Z1R it has just turned over 201,000kms and the bottom end has never been touched (not std engine) even the clutch is original
(if only the FJ clutch was this good)
And last the FJ 1989 has just covered 172,000kms
So now you know why we need a new car - we'll still keep the other two, the mazda for 4x4 work and the Honda for drag racing and going to work when it rains.