Thursday, 17 February 2011

BSA Overload

I've been busy looking for some British Bike spares and just remembered about Burton Bike Spares, who have an interesting site, parts, a gallery (the pic below copied from there) and some info on the effects of ethanol on fiberglass fuel tanks.
Bodger they also do new Victor alloy tanks!
Click on title for link to their site.




I copied this from their site just incase you cant log on to it

"Ethanol in modern fuel
The addition of ethanol to modern fuels is now widespread across the globe. This is having a disastrous effect for many Classic motorbike, car and marine enthusiasts in part due to the use of fibreglass fuel tanks and also non ethanol resistant carb parts and other rubbers/plastics. Referred to as E5 (5% ethanol) or E10 (10% ethanol) etc. It is generally said in the fuel industry that 15% is the maximum percentage for use in non-modified vehicles.

In USA many states ethanol is a minimum of 5.9% by law, but some states use 10-15%. This is usually labelled at the pumps.

For Europe, from 1st April 2009 EU directives to decrease the proportion of automotive fuel derived from non-renewable resources were introduced. Many fuel retailers in the UK are selling up to 5% ethanol currently. A new 10% ethanol fuel will be on sale in 2011 which will apparently be labelled. Retailers do not currently label their standard unleaded with it's ethanol content as it could be anything up to 5% depending on the source. It is no longer just supermarkets who add ethanol!

In Australia a legislation limits ethanol content to 10% but pumps must be labelled.

Effect on Fibreglass Tanks
The first signs to look for is the carburettors starting to gunge up with a sticky yellow substance. This is caused by the resin in the fibreglass starting to melt away into the petrol.

You may then start to see the fuel tank bubble and blister before eventually springing a leak.

Effect on Steel/Alloy Tanks
Steel tanks can corrode much faster due to the ethanol attracting moisture

Steel/Alloy tanks coated with old fashioned sealants will also be affected as the ethanol will eat away at the sealant and drag it through the carbs in the same way.

What should I do if my tank has been attacked by Ethanol?
The first thing to do is drain the fuel from the tank as soon as you can. We would then recommend thoroughly washing the tank out with hot soapy water (fairy liquid is best) and then dry with a hair dryer or similar"


For all you BSA fans theres a bit of BSA overload on Kevs site http://backstreetthunder.wordpress.com/

Plus there are more pics of Franks Chevy pickup a few posts back

1 comment:

  1. I'll have to check out that site, for the info on fibreglass tanks. I've got a couple of old flattrack tanks that I'd thought about using, and have been wondering about the coatings that would protect them. From what I've been reading lately it can be a real disaster. Also have an old tank-seat combo by Tracy Fibreglass that is styled along the lines of the the BSA triple pipe model.I have a couple of tank liner kits I purchased a few years ago, but not sure if they are ethanol proof. Seems I read somewhere recently that a lot of these kits had to be re-formulated. Hairy Larry

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