Although standard E-10 ethanol sold in most gas stations is used widely in cars and trucks, some mechanics say ethanol poses problems for smaller engines, such as those in motorcycles, ATVs, lawn mowers and chain saws.

Those mechanics say the alcohol, even in the 10 percent ethanol sold at most gas stations, can soften rubber and plastic parts such as tubes and O-rings, can damage aluminum parts and can cause problems when such engines are stored for months at a time.

The ethanol industry disputes those complaints, and they are not shared universally even among the small-engine folks, particularly those in the motorcycle industry.

Here is a sampling of the views of local people in the small-engine world and the counterarguments by the ethanol industry:

Lawn mowers

Bill Koser, owner of Brown's Small Engine Repair, is dead set against using ethanol for lawn mowers and other small engines. "It burns a little hotter and softens up and deteriorates O-rings," Koser said. He said lawn mowers also don't seem to run quite as well with ethanol.

He said even though owners' manuals may indicate you can run ethanol in modern mowers, "I can tell you that the manufacturers don't recommend it," Koser said.

And he said ethanol, even more than gasoline, needs a fuel stabilizer added when it is going to sit unused for more than 30 days. To be fair, Koser also said it is a good idea to put stabilizer in gasoline when you store your lawn mower for a long period of time.

Todd Siegle, owner of Powerhouse Honda in Rapid City, agrees with Koser that ethanol can affect O-rings and can swell the rubber in fuel lines. He said he thinks the carburetors in lawn mowers and chain saws are more delicate and have less tolerance for ethanol.

But Ron Lamberty, marketing director for the American Coalition for Ethanol based in Sioux Falls, disagrees about the damage to O-rings and rubber parts. "If they're a really old mower, I suppose there's a possibility of that," Lamberty said. But he said all small engines manufactured in the United States since the mid-1980s have been designed with parts and components that are compatible with E-10 ethanol. "You don't have real live rubber being used in most engines. They've got neoprene or some other synthetic rubber that's been used in these things," Lamberty said. "If you buy a lawn mower today, you can run E-10 in it for as long as you own it."

Lamberty doesn't disagree with the advice to put fuel stabilizer in engines with ethanol or gas. Ethanol can separate from gas in a blend, he said.

He conceded that small engines have less tolerance. "If you've got gas that's a little off spec, you'll notice it quicker than in a car," Lamberty said.

He said the ethanol industry would prefer to eliminate small engines from the national discussion about ethanol because they use a small percentage of the fuel consumed in the U.S. and have high emissions. "We're allowing fuel policy to be written based on what you can use in your weed wacker," he said.

Motorcycles

There is a range of opinion about ethanol in the local motorcycle industry.

Jeff Sadergaski, head of the service department at Black Hills Powersports, advises against running ethanol in motorcycle engines, especially over long periods of time.

Yamaha and Kawasaki, the major brands the dealership sells, don't warn against using ethanol, he said. "But they all recommend premium of at least 91 octane."

Sadergaski also warns against storing a bike over the winter with a tank of ethanol. "If they're going to use it at all, they should use it up before storing it for the winter," he said.

"When you compare motorcycles and ATVs that have been improperly stored, the carburetors that have ethanol in them have a substantial amount of erosion to internal parts compared to non-ethanol," Sadergaski said. "This damage goes further than gaskets and O-rings. It also includes the aluminum body and brass jettings."

He said the damage is magnified the longer an engine is stored.

Sadergaski said ethanol also can cause fuel-pump, fuel-valve and tank problems.

Bill Hearne, managing partner of Outdoor Motor Sports in Spearfish, which sells Honda and Yamaha motorcycles and ATVs, is less critical.

"To my knowledge, if we're talking about a 10 percent blend, I don't think Yamaha has any restrictions on any of their products," Hearne said. "Honda is OK with 10 percent ethanol on any of their products."

However, one problem his service department sees is that when a bike is stored over the winter with a tank half full of ethanol, there is a dramatic increase in rust forming in the area of the tank above the fuel line, Hearne said.

Hearne said he thinks some complaints about ethanol in motorcycles are based on problems with older model motorcycles. Newer bikes, like newer cars, have components built to run with ethanol, he said.

"But if I had a 20-year-old bike, I don't know if I'd run ethanol in it," he said. "I run straight gas in my bikes, but you could run ethanol in them," Hearne said.

At Rice Honda Suzuki Victory in Rapid City, longtime mechanic Al Hermansen said Honda representatives have told him 10 percent ethanol won't hurt anything. "I use it in everything I own," Hermansen said.

Hermansen said he used to see motorcycles that came into his shop that had a lot more alcohol and weren't running well. "That was a long time ago," he said.

He said it is also possible that with older motorcycles that hadn't run ethanol, a tankful of E-10 could loosen up gunk in the tank and plug the fuel filter.

But he hasn't seen such problems in recent years.

Al Rieman, managing partner of Black Hills Harley-Davidson, said ethanol may have caused problems for older models, but late-model Harleys are equipped for it. Rieman said he has used ethanol in his own bikes. "It's never been a problem."

Most Harleys call for high-octane fuel, he said.

Lamberty, with the American Coalition for Ethanol, says there are concerns with storing engines with either gas or ethanol. "The result of not storing it properly could be different than gas," Lamberty said. "Gas gunks up. Ethanol does just the opposite."

And Lamberty said people with vintage motorcycles should watch the kind of fuel they put in and check their fuel filters.

He disputes the complaint about E-10 ethanol damaging aluminum. "Aluminum is compatible with E-10," he said. "Every gas pump in America has got an aluminum meter in it." If aluminum was susceptible, E-10 would ruin the pumps.

Lamberty said the warranties for small engines specify E-10. "We wouldn't recommend anybody go higher than that."

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com