Ethanol fuel is not ok. Not at all. Watch.

[mr72]

https://youtu.be/UvS_D4_lF5U

Eye-opening. Graphically demonstrates what my own personal experience has revealed. I absolutely only use ethanol-free fuel with Star-Tron treatment in all of my carb engines.

[Bluesmudge]

I finally found a station that sells non-ethanol premium near enough to me that it makes sense to go get it.

Still, I only bother when I know I'm not going to be riding the bike for awhile and that's a new precaution for me as my GS is getting older and I have a few other bikes in the garage now. I'm not convinced its worth the extra $1 per gallon if you aren't winterizing the bike. I've been running mostly 10% ethanol in the bike since 2008 and never had an issue. I did replace the rubber parts in the carb and fuel lines a few years ago as a precaution when the carbs were apart for a re-jet. That's not much ethanol induced maintenance for 14 years.

[chris900f]

I finally found a station that sells non-ethanol premium near enough to me that it makes sense to go get it.

Still, I only bother when I know I'm not going to be riding the bike for awhile and that's a new precaution for me as my GS is getting older and I have a few other bikes in the garage now. I'm not convinced its worth the extra $1 per gallon if you aren't winterizing the bike. I've been running mostly 10% ethanol in the bike since 2008 and never had an issue. I did replace the rubber parts in the carb and fuel lines a few years ago as a precaution when the carbs were apart for a re-jet. That's not much ethanol induced maintenance for 14 years.

By the time Mikuni was putting TPS units on carbs they had probably already tweaked their metallurgy and gaskets/seals for ethanol compliance for the worldwide market.

We were pretty receptive to ethanol in Canada. In the late 80's-early 90's , pre-ethanol--we had to buy little bottles of gas-line anti-freeze. They brought in 10% as "winter-gas"
then after a while it was just "regular". Now it's even difficult to find premium that is ethanol free. I use the Shell 91 V-power, but you still have to check the pump, because they
snuck in a second version with 5% ethanol.

I'm running the GS on regular 10% ethanol this year, because even that is heading north of $2.00/L (and we have 3 major refineries in town)

[mr72]

I finally found a station that sells non-ethanol premium near enough to me that it makes sense to go get it.

Fortunately for us, we have abundant choices. There's a chain around here called "RaceTrac" that has 89 octane ethanol-free at most stations, and there are two such stations just a couple of miles one way or the other from our house. And the Walmart we go to all the time has 87 octane ethanol-free. So I keep the 6-gal tank full of treated ethanol-free gas at the house for the scooters, pressure washer, lawn mower, and the GS. When I'm out on a ride on the GS, I will fill it with ethanol-free if I can find it when needed along the route, but I don't mind running it with 10% while I'm riding, then top it up with the treated stuff when I get home.

Still, I only bother when I know I'm not going to be riding the bike for awhile and that's a new precaution for me as my GS is getting older and I have a few other bikes in the garage now.

Yep. My GS is a once-a-year bike

My wife doesn't ride the scooter in the winter, so her scooter gets stored 3 months without use each year (one so far), the pressure washer gets used about two or three times a year max so it needs long term storage fuel all the time, and the lawn mower gets stored probably 5 months per year. Anyway, I just use the good stuff for all of the carb equipment.

I fought with poor running coming off winter with all of them for years until I switched to ethanol-free fuel 100% of the time along with 1 oz Star-Tron per gallon.

My Triumph, with EFI and no carb bowls, has been running our 10% ethanol fuel the whole time I've owned it, for 11K now with typical months long storage including being down for like 6 months after being wrecked and never had a single issue. But my dad has an identical Bonneville to mine and it had been rarely used when he bought it, and it had enormous fuel-related problems we had to sort out.

[Bluesmudge]

That's nice that you have access to 89 octane non-ethanol. I've only ever seen non-ethanol available in Oregon as premium, so it feels like I'm being up charged twice for a product I don't really need. If I could easily get 89 octane non-ethanol without driving 3 miles out of my way to find a station that sells it I too would choose it more often. 

[Roofaloof]

https://youtu.be/UvS_D4_lF5U

Eye-opening. Graphically demonstrates what my own personal experience has revealed. I absolutely only use ethanol-free fuel with Star-Tron treatment in all of my carb engines.

Great video! I love Project Farm. He's good about doing unbiased reviews. I hadn't watched this one yet.

Ethanol damage is dependent on frequency of use. For a frequently used machine, 10% ethanol gas is fine. For a machine that sits for months between uses, gas with ethanol can be a problem.

The real issue here is water, not ethanol. Water causes corrosion of these components. If you're using fresh 10% ethanol gas and burning through it frequently, it won't be an issue. Once the ethanol sits, it pulls water out of the air. Eventually, there gets to be enough water to cause problems.

It was interesting to see the results of the fuel stabilizer. I'd been curious about this. I'll be adding fuel stabilizer to my tank over the winter.

Personally, it doesn't work for me trying to obtain non-ethanol gas.

[mr72]

While the corrosion looked pretty bad, I think the real issue that affects most of us more is that gelatinous goop that distills out of this ethanol fuel over time. That's what clogs all the tiny passages and jets in your carb, and it can do it in less than a month IME. Sure, after a year, corrosion will cause long term problems that carb cleaning and rubber parts replacement can't fix.