Gasohol and Plastic fuel tanks !!!!!!

[monsterman]

Does you bike have a plastic fuel tank like recent Ducatis? if so start worrying because Ducati are being innundated with warrty and legal claims for swelling and bursting fuel tanks on recent models and the culprit appears to be the Ethanol in gasohol.
This problem is very big in USA but reports have come from Europe and i now have heard of 6 cases in Thailand on bikes that are up to 4 years old.

Lucky for me my Ducatis are all older models and have steel tanks.

 

[monsterman]

Gasohol has been mandatory in USA for at least 10 years ,Brazil was the first country to really go for Gasohol in a big way they have E20 for a long time .
#In UK all regular fuel except V power or BP advance is 5% gasohol and very few people know that.

 

[gobs]

" So why all the fuss about the stuff in Thailand if half of the rest of the world use it with no problems?"

:roll:

As a non-expert, I wonder too, Captain...
Let us magine tomorrow we can only get Gasohol... Do we stop to ride our bikes? Well, I suppose no, and we shall move to adapt our minds to this new gasoline...

As a non-expert, so just my feeling: this "fuss" about Gasohol makes me remember when leaded gasoline was not more available in France. The "automotive gurus" didn't stop to predict the death of all our classic cars and bikes :?
15 years later, what? Nobody worries more about un-leaded gasoline... Everybody fills the tank with what is available and go on! And at the end, nothing "special" happens...
Some very few, for their "comfort of mind" and intellectual peaceful" follow to pour special additives in their tanks or have split for some expensive "valves and seats" kit (with many many many problems of reliability). But I think it's more a "new-consumer-market" thing...

As you say, Captain, all the "major" motorcycle brands are present on the market in Brazil. And I suppose brazilian bikers don't bother about quality of their gasoline (I guessed it was 80% alcohol + 20% petrol, but now I'm not sure...). So what about Ducati tanks in Brazil? What about HD or BMW engines? Do these brands (and others) stopped to sell bikes over there?.. I'm afraid not...

:roll:

Well, just my 2 satangs...

Cheers,
Gobs

 

[brian66]

Gasohol has proven disadvantages to normal petrol. That is a fact.
There are many papers published about these problems.
To me, using gasohol could be compared to smoking cigarettes.
The people who begin smoking look fine and there is no obvious damage for years. They go about their lives with no apparent defects.
Some even last forever with no affect from the smoking, but it is widely known the vast majority of smokers suffer and break down. Just as Alcohol will silently do to metal, rubber and plastic.
I use Gasohol because I do not have much choice. Someone, somewhere who I don't know and who has never asked me, decided on my behalf that putting a little bit of alcohol in my petrol was good for my bike and me.
No one can say what this 10% of alcohol is actually doing to help me. As many people who would tell you otherwise, the same amount of people would say that is doesn’t save you money nor reduce CO2. Who is right?
I would love to be able to choose but that right has been taken away from me. What next will come from big brother and spoil my favourite past time?