Hi all

This forum has given me a wealth of info leading up to the purchase of my first MW20 so I just wanted to say hello and perhaps ask a couple of questions...

Firstly I am interested in peoples opinion of unleaded fuel additives. My bike is a 1940 one with a recently rebuilt KM engine. I am going to run it with upper cylinder lubrication. I see Redex used to do this but no longer by the looks of it. There is a US company Lucas who do it so I may try that.
What do you guys do ?

Secondly are there any forum members in the Chorley Lancashire area who meet up at some of the local bike haunts ? It would be good to listen to others experiences with these bikes.

Cheers

Ant

I use five star fuel to try and avoid methanol, but I have not bothered with unleaded additives for the bikes on the basis that they do low miles and valve seat recession will not happen im my lifetime! If it was your daily ride, you might think it worthwhile?

Hi Anthony...I run my M20 on lead free pump petrol as it comes from the forecourt...

High octane ratings are of no advantage in a low compression engine...An engine has to be designed to take advantage of high octane fuel, not the other way round...ie a sidevalve derives no benefit from a fuel with a higher than required octane rating...

Upper cylinder lubricant isn't necessary either...The M20 has no lubrication problems and is a high mileage engine...Regarding the exhaust valve seat I would just run it...In my experience you will only encounter valve/seat problems if you do a lot of motorway/dual carriageway work...

If you plan to do that I would recommend a hardened valve seat be fitted at some point...

Use a good quality sae 40 oil for the engine and you won't go wrong...

If your engine has been rebuilt just follow normal running in procedures for the specified period and it'll run reliably if it's had a good quality rebuild...

One key thing is to be sure the ignition timing is correctly set...Too much 'retard' won't do the engine any good at all...

Welcome to the forum by the way, now that you have started posting...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Using five star is nothing to do with octanes........just that it has been least likely, apparently, to contain ethanol which is a bugger for attracting water, not to mention various issues reported with brass, etc..

Don't run it on a lean mixture either, they can get pretty hot.

I always put a bit of lead replacement in the tank, though I am not convinced it does any good (or harm).

email (option): sacombsashtrees@hotmail.com

I always use Super Unleaded from an independent Esso station as they've assured me that it's the one with the least Ethanol in it. I always also put in a squirt of Fry's Anti Ethanol. I just do the best I can based on the theory that even if I'm not doing much good, I'm not doing any harm. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I like to keep life simple...Pump petrol is available everywhere and you just fill it up...As long as that works there seems little point in using additives IMO...

Likewise in France..I just fill it up from the pumps and can't say I've experienced any problems...

With ethanol at the current levels in the bulk of UK fuel (avoid E85!)I don't think corrosion is an issue other than the possible effects on some rubber pipes and washers if used...

Much of the 'doom and gloom' reporting of ethanol related problems in club magazines etc. reminds me of the same thing that happened with the introduction of lead free fuel..It's just a convenient hook to hang all the problems of poorly prepared and maintained bikes...

Petrol degrading beyond useable in a month?. Don't make me laugh......

Draining and flushing the tank out once or twice a year should be sufficient to negate the effects of accumulated water in the tank..

If I actually thought there was a problem I'd soon address it as I use old bikes for my main form of transport but currently I don't believe that's the case and I've yet to see any hard evidence for it with my own bikes....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Old petrol doesn't affect the starting on any of my BSAs but it does affect the starting on my Velocette Viper.

I agree with Ian. Especially the WM bikes. One of their design criteria was they should run well on crap gas. I have an eclectic collection of motorcycles and here in the US, all gas has at least 10% ethanol. I always add a small amount of Seafoam to each tank-full and don't seem to have any issues at all. Ethanol gas does seem to swell and weaken seals and 0-rings though.

email (option): cas.vanderwoude@gmail.com