Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: Billy B. on December 19, 2007, 02:43:18 am
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I am considering the purchase of a Bullet Classic. I am concerned about the effects of the ethanol ( 10%) enriched fuels now becoming more common in the service stations in my area. How does this have ( if any ) affect on the Indian made Carb and seals? On the overall operation in general?
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I run the 10% ethanol blend all the time in my Indian made Stella (old Vespa) scooter. Over the last four years with this there has been no ill effect I can tell at all.
I can't say for sure about how it does in a Bullet since I don't have mine quite yet. But I really can't imagine it hurting anything at all.
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We have had the alcohol mix in our fuel here for about 10 yrs now. The only problem that I had was the rubber gasket on my gas cap grew to about twice it's normal size and the rubber carb spigot on my 95 turned to goo using it.
The gas cap gasket I changed to cork and the newer Bullets use a aluminum spigot now so I don't think you will have any problems with anything made lately.
Welcome to the group by the way :)
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Ethanol does affect some rubber items, but it's biggest problem is it's affinity to water. I often find gas tanks and carbs corroded from this. Also, since water is denser than gas, it may not pass through small jets. This can cause an intermittent lean condition with flat spots and poor throttle response. When you use any type of oxygenated fuel you should periodically use some type of drying agent. Just about anything that "cleans your fuel system" or "removes water" will work. I suggest Heet, STP, Prestone, etc. Remember to use it proportionately for the size of your motorcycle tank as compared to a car tank. Don't use the whole bottle at once. Repeat every 2 or 3 tanks.