and created an account just to do so ... on a subject that has been beaten to death so many times over and over again.

 

Your scientific test is flawed. Alcohol does not cause rust. Now the moisture it attracts does.

And hardware store wood alchol can have a few % water in it unlike fresh corn ethanol.

If you run it thru a gas take on a regular basis, the moisture it picks up is passed on thru the engine. It actually keeps water from heat and condensation that forms from a half filled tank that goes to the bottom of a tank with 100% gas.

Now you CAN'T let it sit two years. It can only absorb so much water.

For almost 5 years since 2019, my Harley sat. For the last four, ever 6 months, I syphon the tank, refilled it, started it and rode it till hot and parked it.

Tank had one small evidence of rust in the fwd seam but it's been that way. Just a pencil line...

Harley applied some type of sealant and I think inward past that seam probably has rubbed were the two layers of metal start spreading out to form the bottom and curve section that makes the tank tunnel for the frame bar.

Now what I syphon out is not as clear as new fuel but it will run and start. Now if you left it a year, it might not...