Whats in todays petrol ?

[sidecar]

Doing some work on a Moto Guzzi today, I have not ridden this bike for about a year. The inside of the carb body and the slide were covered in a sticky oil like substance. Worse the brass needle was coated with a green verdigree, thick enough I would think to effect the needles performance. Even when cleaned off ( with scotch pad ) the needle was very stained.
All this in around 12 months standing in a garage. I believe this to be caused by ethanol in the petrol, as this will be increased in the near future more trouble seems to be down the line.
In around 50 years working on cars and motorcycles I have seen nothing like it.

[roblockett]

Hi there is definatly a higher content of ethnol in the fuel today and it's only going to get worse. I work for a Motorcycle dealer in Brum. We recently got a email from the manufactures of the franchise we have warning us of compatibilty of some models with the new fuel (E10 Bioethanol) that's going to be introduced in 2012ish suprisingly some models that are not even 8 years old are not compatible with it

Here's a petition about it

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/15535

Bioethanol is a form of renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feedstocks. It can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane, potato, manioc and corn. There has been considerable debate about how useful bioethanol will be in replacing gasoline. Concerns about its production and use relate to increased food prices due to the large amount of arable land required for crops,[10] as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production, especially from corn.[11][12] Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization may allay some of these concerns.[13]

What year Moto Guzzi you Got?