Can I get ethanol free petrol in 2025 in Thailand? I have an oldtimer and the carbs are pretty sensitive on this machine. I read it might leave less gunk in the carbs if I switch to ethanol free petrol.

 

I read probably Caltex should have 95 "gold" without ethanol, but I'm not near a Caltex. The PTTs and Shells that I checked don't seem to have it.

CalTex, PTT. Look for the yellow nozzles and prices at ~50+฿L

Quite hard to find now ..... I have a '73 Honda CL90 Scrambler and had to replace the tank due to rust caused by the ethanol holding water, I used to find it at Caltex, but not anymore in my area.

 

I'm going to sell my classic because it's too high maintenance now.

The stations that carry it have it posted, when the price is lit then it’s in stock.

2 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Quite hard to find now ..... I have a '73 Honda CL90 Scrambler and had to replace the tank due to rust caused by the ethanol holding water, I used to find it at Caltex, but not anymore in my area.

 

I'm going to sell my classic because it's too high maintenance now.

 

Yeah exactly the problem I have. The tank is very rusty and now the carbs seem to be clogging up already. I'm already facing to clean out the tank sometime soon. Hoping that I can find someone to do it for me since that might be an annoying bit of work.

 

I just found a PTT about 20 minutes away from here that has "bensin", so maybe I'll try that in combination with a fuel/engine cleaner like Liqui Moly 4T.

53 minutes ago, JimmyTobacco said:

Yeah exactly the problem I have. The tank is very rusty and now the carbs seem to be clogging up already.

Have you considered lining the tank with a sealant?

8 minutes ago, novacova said:

Have you considered lining the tank with a sealant?

 

That's exactly what I was thinking, we used "Petseal" when restoring old Brit. Bikes even if the tank wasn't actually leaking, yet.

 

Tank needs to be totally clean (like steam-cleaner clean) and dry.

 

 

5 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

The PTTs and Shells that I checked don't seem to have it.

Few major PTTs still have it.

Seen today in Khon Kaen. 48.x Baht. Bright yellow one.

Bet we have none in 50 km radius of our house.

5 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

The PTTs and Shells that I checked don't seem to have it.

Which area you live?

A whopping three stations around the city for the whole province (one of the biggest).

Might look better in Bangkok, Pattaya etc.

Always assuming this station finder is correct/up-to-date.

 

https://www.pttstation.com/en

 

 

Much better 😁

 

6 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

I have an oldtimer and the carbs are pretty sensitive on this machine.

 

Ethanol fuel will weaken the effective mixture if the bike is super sensitive. So you might need to check the jetting. You might also investigate adding a capful of two of two-stroke oil to the tank each time. 

 

Edit: I seem to remember 620:1 ratio or something similar.

7 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Quite hard to find now ..... I have a '73 Honda CL90 Scrambler and had to replace the tank due to rust caused by the ethanol holding water, I used to find it at Caltex, but not anymore in my area.

 

I'm going to sell my classic because it's too high maintenance now.

To clean a fuel tank with rust in, put some petrol in the tank, then a pack of  1/4 inch ball bearings, then shake the tank, until your arms fall of , then do it again,

Then empty the tank wash out with more petrol, empty that, may have to do it again, and leave it in the sun for half a day.

I did that on my Kawa 125 GTO tank, had the same problem, and it worked well.

To remove the ball bearings, I used a magnet.

4 hours ago, novacova said:

Have you considered lining the tank with a sealant?

 

Yes, this is definitely part of the plan, but I will have to remove the rust first. I'm just dreading it a little bit ... I know it will be a lot of work. I don't even have a great deal of experience with draining the petrol and removing the tank, and then there's also the backup tank which might be rusty as well or could need some maintenance.

3 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Which area you live?

 

Chiang Mai. Not too bad I suppose. I found 3 PTT's within 20 minutes now and two Caltex stations that have it as well. Guess I will be filling up there next.

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Ethanol fuel will weaken the effective mixture if the bike is super sensitive. So you might need to check the jetting. You might also investigate adding a capful of two of two-stroke oil to the tank each time. 

 

Edit: I seem to remember 620:1 ratio or something similar.

 

I might need 4T since I have a four stroke engine. 😉 Im thinking to add the Liqui Moly 4T additive since it's easy to find in Thailand.

 

I've had some trouble recently with the bike starting only with full choke on and then stalling if I leave the choke on. The carbs also started making a bit of a hard sound every now and again. ChatGPT told me it might be the pilot jets in the carbs. 

22 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Quite hard to find now ..... I have a '73 Honda CL90 Scrambler and had to replace the tank due to rust caused by the ethanol holding water, I used to find it at Caltex, but not anymore in my area.

 

I'm going to sell my classic because it's too high maintenance now.

 My 2012 Wave and my 2018 Zoomer both Honda and have steel tanks and work fine. Mind you the fuel filters are now huge. 

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

 My 2012 Wave and my 2018 Zoomer both Honda and have steel tanks and work fine. Mind you the fuel filters are now huge. 

My '73 CL90 had been left standing for a few months with half a tank of fuel.  I think that, plus it's age, resulted in the severe rust.  Fortunately new tanks are available from Indonesia.  The rest of the bike looks new 

23 hours ago, JimmyTobacco said:

 

I might need 4T since I have a four stroke engine. 😉 Im thinking to add the Liqui Moly 4T additive since it's easy to find in Thailand.

 

I've had some trouble recently with the bike starting only with full choke on and then stalling if I leave the choke on. The carbs also started making a bit of a hard sound every now and again. ChatGPT told me it might be the pilot jets in the carbs. 

Also have a look at the main jet, I have had this get blocked. The best way take the carb to a shop. get them to take it apart, they will use a air line, to clean out the carb.

Also check float height, my GTO would not run right, cleaned the carb adjusted float height ,then ran almost like new.