I've been questioning whether I need to use premium fuel in my bike just to avoid Ethanol. My bike only requires regular fuel, but for $3 per tank, I've always went with Shell Premium fuel.
Not sure we need another thread on this when your other one has plenty of discussion on the issue already.
Use the minimum octane your bike calls for. Unless there's performance upgrades that require it or it calls for high octane from the factory, anything more is flushing money in the toilet, and some bikes will run worse on higher octane fuels if they are designed for lower - My VTX is a perfect example - poor performance and terrible fuel economy on 91 vs 87.
As for ethanol, I'm not going to retype everything I posted in the other thread. Short version: Most bikes will be fine with it in the summer unless you're a once a month rider. Don't store your bike with it in the tank over the winter. Don't let it sit.
I run 91. My gasometer shows 3.9l/100 when touring on 91, can't break 4.1 on regular.
That small gain doesn't offset the extra cost. I think the additional additives in the high end gas do keep engines cleaner, particularly noticeable on the carbed and smaller displacement stuff.
Follow your user manual. Different gas ignites at different times in the combustion cycle. Your engine's been designed to run on a certain octane gas. Outside of the range isn’t necessarily a disaster but your engine might not run as smoothly. To run my bike on anything but premium for a long time I need to plug a dongle in that changes the fuel map.
My Tuono's manual calls for 96RON which is ~90AKI so I'm going to stick with premium for detonation resistance; I use Shell's 91 "V-Power" because it's advertised at the pump as having 0% ethanol.
I’ve never had a problem with gas that contains Ethanol. Carb and injected dirt bikes, snowmobiles, street bikes, lawnmower and cars. Heck the lawnmower doesn’t even get stabilizer it’s winterization consists of rolling it under the deck.
Given the choice I will get ethanol free gas but I’m talking like the stations are on the same street. I won’t go out of my way for it.
Like mentioned your bike will run better on lower octane if that’s what it calls for.
Use whatever your manual calls for. Paying for premium if you don't really need it is a waste of money.
That said, I make a point of storing my bike over the winter with a full tank of non ethanol gas (i.e. premium) + stabilizer as I have an older model carbureted bike vs. one with fuel injection. With 4 carbs to tear down and fix the potential hassle of a carb issue is huge vs. the incremental cost (<$10 a season) of using premium non ethanol gas for the last few fill ups of the season.
My FJR only requires regular. The guy I ride with (same bike) always uses premium and I have to fill up before him every single time on long rides. He probably gets 5+% more distance out of a tank. Guessing. I now use premium. Difference over a season isn't that big a deal.
Have run gas with ethanol since it started and have even stored it over the winter with the same for years. No problems. I have started to store with Shell 91 the last few years as the hibernation period seems to be getting a bit longer as the years go by.
Follow your user manual. Different gas ignites at different times in the combustion cycle. Your engine's been designed to run on a certain octane gas. Outside of the range isn’t necessarily a disaster but your engine might not run as smoothly. To run my bike on anything but premium for a long time I need to plug a dongle in that changes the fuel map.
I don't think so. All fuel regardless of octane rating ignites a few degrees prior to the piston reaching Top dead center when the spark plug fires as determined by the ignition timing. If the fuel ignites prior to the spark plug firing, you have a problem. When a gas is compressed, as it is in an engine, it gets hotter. In a high compression it could get hot enought to pre-ignite. Octane raises the tempurature of when the fuel will burn therefore preventing pre-ignition. That is its only purpose.
If your engine only requires regular gas, but it runs smoother on premium, perhaps the engine has built up carbon deposits on the pistons or the combustion chamber raising the compression. Or worse, a carbon hot spot which acts like a glow plug in a diesel causing detonation. (very bad) This is only likely in an engine with a oil burning problem or an overly rich fuel ratio. Modern engines are pretty well built these days, so that extra smoothness from premium may just be imaginary.
Some have mentioned that premium gives better mileage. Thats possible with premium fuel which doesn't contain alcohol. Alcohol create less energy than gasoline when it burns and so it produces less horsepower. How measureable this would be I don't know.
Shell V-power, unless touring, then the best at the gas station needed, since coordinating stops with only shell would be annoying. Bike gets close to 450km a tank, so price diff isn't bad esp since riding season is shorter.
In the car, I notice a 50-80km plus range diff with V-power, esp long distance hwy kms.
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