15-08-12, 08:44 AM
Both arguments about ethanol are correct. It is hygroscopic and absorbs any existing water in your tank. The problem comes with long storage, it keeps on absorbing moisture from the atmosphere and eventually reaches the point where the ethanol-water mixture is too wet to stay mixed with the main components of petrol... at which point it precipitates out.
So frequent use of your bike should keep the problem at bay. Also filling up from empty rather than topping up often with a fiver's worth will mean the fuel is fresh rather than a blend of fresh and stuff that's been in there for months.
If you're intending to store the bike, you've a choice of brimming the tank in the hope that the amount of water absorbed won't reach a critical concentration over the period, or storing it with as dry a tank as possible and then filling with fresh fuel to dilute the nasties before attempting to start it.
So frequent use of your bike should keep the problem at bay. Also filling up from empty rather than topping up often with a fiver's worth will mean the fuel is fresh rather than a blend of fresh and stuff that's been in there for months.
If you're intending to store the bike, you've a choice of brimming the tank in the hope that the amount of water absorbed won't reach a critical concentration over the period, or storing it with as dry a tank as possible and then filling with fresh fuel to dilute the nasties before attempting to start it.