Hitchcocks Forum

Personally over a period since 2002 I have had 10 bikes I stored over the winter period with fuel in them and had no problems.I have never used stabilizer or any additives.This has been generally from November through to March/April.Now with the E10 fuel I have been thinking about using a stabilizer.(no I am not draining the tank)Problem is ,Google fuel stabilizer and a billion products come up.Anybody have any recommendations.

Putoline E10 fuel fighter, looks expensive at over £13 but it does treat 250 litres of fuel.

Hi try looking at the FBHVc website for some good advice,Millers VSPe seems to claim it is endorsed by them,but up to you to confirm

I know you don't want to but you should drain the tank and carb.

Pure ethanol is hydroscopic, it will tend to absorb water until it is about 70% alcohol where it becomes stable. Pure alcohol mixes somewhat well with petrol. 70% ethanol less so.

So for a 15 litre tank, you have 1.5 litres of pure ethanol, that will absorb half a litre of water which if left to sit, will settle out in the bottom of the tank and float bowl.

Your choices are drain it now or drain it and strip the carb in the spring.

You could fill it with super unleaded before storage which is still only up to E5 which would be half as problematic but in reality is less likely to split and has a higher octane fuel fraction too (they blend crappier petrol in the E10 mix to achieve the same octane rating because ethanol is very high octane).

So, if you're not draining it, I'd suggest fill it to the brim with stabilised super unleaded. I'm using Frosts Ethomix in my old Jap bike because it has unobtainium pre-shaped fuel lines which are not even rated for E5.

Or consider adding an octane booster rather than a stabiliser? I have boosted fuel (royal purple max-boost in super unleaded) in my 612 and it keeps noticeably better.

The new Interceptor 650 twin is fuel injected so I won't have the carb problem.However it begs the question would the injectors get gummed up?

No, the injectors will be fine.
The main problem will be tank corrosion, if the ethanol absorbs sufficient moisture to cause phase separation, where the heavier ethanol/water mix separates from the petrol and goes to the bottom of the tank, where it will cause corrosion.

I've tried some E10 stabilizer in my Interceptor 650 which I got off Amazon after doing some research. Like the original poster I've had bikes in storage over the winter going back many years and until now have never used any additive nor have I ever encountered any problems. I think I paid about £13 but so far have only used about a tenth of what's in the bottle. As I run all my other bikes now on super unleaded I'm not proposing to do any more to them although I shall be using a couple over the winter as the weather/ salt / conditions allow.

I use the Millers product and I believe it has a shelf life,so as I only do very few miles a year I only buy it in small quantities to save having to throw it away if it goes past its date

You could fill up with Shell Supreme or Esso Synergy, which is the higher octane E5. I haven't used E10 in any of my bikes since it changed.