Is Harley doing this yet or should they be doing it to help stop the corrosion or rust from the 10% ethanol in the fuel we use ?

 

Ethanol will keep your tank clean....
keep water out.

 

It also absorbs water and rusts your tank like crazy!!!! I have 2 bikes in the garage suffering this fate and I keep the tanks full when not riding!

 

If you have rust in your tank, you have other issues.
Ethanol in the fuel didn't cause it.

Ethanol has been in widespread use for over 30 years now.
I have had several motorcycles, cars, trucks, and other gasoline powered engines over the last 40 years.

I have never seen any rust in any of the fuel tanks.

 

Just a suggestion:I looked inside my tank[with a flash light] to find out if it was coated or not.[06 Ultra]
I'd also like to say that in all these years of using ethanol,I've never had a problem that could be attributed to it.That includes lawn mowers,weedeaters,chain saws,cars and trucks,and motorcycles.. Living in the center of Illinois,I'd guess maybe I've been using ethanol a longer time than you folks in other parts of the country.

 

Illinois here also. No probs yet but I feel that ethanol = bad
No choice for us in Illinois.

 

Ethanol has been in gasoline for decades now. Since that time, manufacturers of fuel tanks, lines and other fuel system components (diaphragms, floats, etc) that ethanol will come in contact with are made to work with the ethanol without degrading over time. Older fuel systems, manufactured prior to the use of ethanol in gas, do not have this protection and are susceptible to the corrosive properties of ethanol.


Ethanol in the gas will absorb the water and keep it in solution so it proceeds through the fuel system without consequence. Because the water is in solution with the gasoline it will not cause rust or corrosion in the fuel tank.

Keeping your tank full when not riding is a very good idea. Adding a fuel stabilizer, like STA-BIL, will also be helpful. In winter, keeping the fuel warm will mitigate phase separation of the gasoline. The amount of water that can be held in solution with gasoline is directly proportional to the temperature. Once phase separation occurs, nothing will reverse that process and the fuel must be discarded. If that happens, then yes, the water at the bottom will potentially cause rust or corrosion of the fuel tank. But, it wasn't due to the ethanol.

 

I have some not so old lawn mowers and weed eaters, ethanol gas made them very hard to start after a winter of no use. Switched to non ethanol and they start fine, no stabilizer needed. Also the fuel line on the mower deteriorated to the point of leaking before I changed to non E fuel.

I also have confirmed better fuel mileage in my automobiles and motorcycles with non ethanol gas.

So I refuse to use it in my lawn equipment and use it in my automobiles/mc when I can get it. I have several stations locally the have it but can't always find it when traveling.

 

Wow you're lucky...every small engine I have ever put it in has never liked it...usually have to run them with the choke partially on...all brand new...virtually every brand...I had an onan generator that never ran right again after the first tank.

 

We've had this stuff for decades here in MN. I've not experienced any problems with the stuff, that includes many weed wackers, mowers, snow blowers, pressure washer, motorcycles, etc. I run non-oxy in the boat since that's all I can get from the marina. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, but corn here is huge, and its not going away any time soon