Ethanol fuel and winter storage.

Gimlet

Gimlet

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Brim the tank with E5 premium fuel or store with as little in as possible?

The Streetfighter has suffered swollen tank syndrome in the past but seems to have shrank back to normal and I'd like it to stay that way. Is it better to brim or empty these distortion-prone plastic Ducati tanks?

The Rocket has a steel tank. Whether it's lined or not I don't know but I'm thinking that ought to be brimmed to exclude as mush air as possible.

The KTM has a plastic tank and has never had any distortion issues, but it hasn't run for a year so I'm thinking I ought to brim it, or at least feed it some E5 and give it a run to put fresh fuel through the system.

The bikes are kept in a secure unheated storage container but it is insulated so there's no condensation or sweating.

Thoughts?
 
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Markduc said:
Drain the tank?

Ethanol attracts water so you’d think more fuel more water
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My understanding is it attracts water to the container it's stored in, rather than becoming watery itself - hence my thinking of leaving as little airspace as possible in a steel tank.
 
Gimlet said:
My understanding is it attracts water to the container it's stored in, rather than becoming watery itself - hence my thinking of leaving as little airspace as possible in a steel tank.
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🤔 makes sense

May help a bit too

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Empty the SF tank and take indoors having left the cap off for a few days - spray with Febreze if required :whistle: leave still open in a warm dry place.
Empty Steel Tanks and give a light spray inside with ACF50 and close the filler.

Store left over fuel separate in cans after treating with Motorex fuel stabilizer....
 
E5 is fucking evil shit and E10, if you kid yourself then you are wrong!! Leave your bike alone for 10 years and it will start with a looked after battery!!
 
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Been on a ride out today, spunked a tank of hi octane, brimmed the tank with E5 as I not sure when I'll be out again.
I'm going to empty the RSVR plastic tank as it'll be coming off soon anyhoo, never had to use a stabilizer, then again even the coupe has half a tank of E5 and she starts ok if you manually prime the fuel pump and flick the fuel pump relay :giggle:
 
Exige said:
after treating with Motorex fuel stabilizer
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Or Briggs & Stratton Fuel Fit - you may find that easier to get hold of.

Also, as you’re only storing for a few short months, not years, and may wish to use the bikes I would brim them and add the fuel stabiliser direct into the tank.

I reckon the steel one on the rocket will be ok, you may get bubbling paint on the SF however, if it hasn’t started already? Incidentally what year is the SF, its year of manufacture determines what plastic was used in making the tank. I had a 2009 Monster 1100S which had no problems at all. Earlier bikes from approx pre 2008 ish do get problems. Acerbis, who make the tanks, realised the problem and changed the formulation of the plastic. @Exige knows about this as he looked into it once, it all depends if your tank is stamped HDPE or (iirc) LDPE. 🤞you may be ok with the SF too.
 
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Gimlet said:
Brim the tank with E5 premium fuel or store with as little in as possible?

The Streetfighter has suffered swollen tank syndrome in the past but seems to have shrank back to normal and I'd like it to stay that way. Is it better to brim or empty these distortion-prone plastic Ducati tanks?

The Rocket has a steel tank. Whether it's lined or not I don't know but I'm thinking that ought to be brimmed to exclude as mush air as possible.

The KTM has a plastic tank and has never had any distortion issues, but it hasn't run for a year so I'm thinking I ought to brim it, or at least feed it some E5 and give it a run to put fresh fuel through the system.

The bikes are kept in a secure unheated storage container but it is insulated so there's no condensation or sweating.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The plastic tank on my monster suffered from swelling last year after using E10 once. I drained it , took it off and kept it in the unheated garage. I would say it shrank maybe 2 or 3mm over the winter . This year i have drained and removed it again but am keeping it in the cupboard our boiler lives in so very much warmer and hoping it shrinks closer to 5mm this time.
 
West Cork Paul said:
Also, as you’re only storing for a few short months, not years, and may wish to use the bikes I would brim them and add the fuel stabiliser direct into the tank.

I reckon the steel one on the rocket will be ok, you may get bubbling paint on the SF however, if it hasn’t started already? Incidentally what year is the SF, its year of manufacture determines what plastic was used in making the tank. I had a 2009 Monster 1100S which had no problems at all. Earlier bikes from approx pre 2008 ish do get problems. Acerbis, who make the tanks, realised the problem and changed the formulation of the plastic. @Exige knows about this as he looked into it once, it all depends if your tank is stamped HDPE or (iirc) LDPE. 🤞you may be ok with the SF too.
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My SF is 2010.
 
Dukesox said:
The plastic tank on my monster suffered from swelling last year after using E10 once. I drained it , took it off and kept it in the unheated garage. I would say it shrank maybe 2 or 3mm over the winter . This year i have drained and removed it again but am keeping it in the cupboard our boiler lives in so very much warmer and hoping it shrinks closer to 5mm this time.
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What year was/is it?

Gimlet said:
My SF is 2010.
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It should be ok, but did you say it had expanded?
 
West Cork Paul said:
What year was/is it?


It should be ok, but did you say it had expanded?
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It didn't buckle, blister or distort. It looks perfectly normal but it sort of stretched and lengthened so the mounting bolt didn't line up properly and the ignition switch was no longer central in the shroud.
I first noticed something was wrong when the forks began touching the tank on full lock though I hadn't altered the stops.
Rich Lewellyn said they can go back to normal after a long lay-up (mine's certainly had that).

Just wondering whether I should use fuel stabiliser all the time. Can you run it with that in it or is it only for storage?

It's long been my habit to only use premium E5 fuel in all my bikes. I'll definitely only use that in the Ducati.
 
Gimlet said:
It didn't buckle, blister or distort. It looks perfectly normal but it sort of stretched and lengthened so the mounting bolt didn't line up properly and the ignition switch was no longer central in the shroud.
I first noticed something was wrong when the forks began touching the tank on full lock though I hadn't altered the stops.
Rich Lewellyn said they can go back to normal after a long lay-up (mine's certainly had that).

Just wondering whether I should use fuel stabiliser all the time. Can you run it with that in it or is it only for storage?

It's long been my habit to only use premium E5 fuel in all my bikes. I'll definitely only use that in the Ducati.
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I use Motorex fuel stabilizer all the time in the 1098R and the Tesi (and in the KR due to the carbs) don't bother in the old R1...
 
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