I know there have been many issues in the UK with plastic and fibreglass fuel tanks warping due to ethanol damage. Over here, I know that Benelli owners have suffered with bubbling paint because of it. Has anyone experienced tank swelling / damaged paint due to using regular unleaded?
I haven't suffered any issues yet but I'm now running mine on good old 95 unleaded - no ethanol. However if you look at many Tiger 955i adverts on Ebay you'll see a significant number have bubbling paint on the tank.
Almost all normal 95 unleaded has up to 5% ethanol in it, some has up to 10% (E10). Must suck to have a plastic tanked bike in Wales, its hard to find super over there. I'd best stick to supe. Cheers for the advice!
Which 'non-ethanol' are actually non ethanol? If it doesnt have an Ex number on the pump, it can still be up to 5% by EU regs. in fact, I'm not sure they even have to mark E10 anymore. Its pretty much a given that all regular fuel has some quantity of ethanol poison in it. Even supe can contain ethanol in some areas. http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex/ethanol-update.html
I've had my t595 for 16 years. the tank was growing even before the ethanol debate started I had to elongate the holes in the octopus cover to fit back on the tank. I tend to store it with very little fuel in the tank now.
BP Ultimate and Esso V Power are apparently Ethanol free and Clive Wood advises that you drain down the tank if not using the machine for long periods . Bikertubby .
Don't know about Triumph but certainly older Aprilias have issues with tank expansion due to the ethanol content which causes leaks at the bottom of the tank where the fuel pump sits. As I understand it all UK fuel contains ethanol but potentially the higher grade stuff has less and would therefore be less likely to cause problems, although no guarantees.
