Got a question about gas...no ethanol?

A new gas station just went up a mile or two away from my house. I stopped by today to fill up and noticed they had a pump for guaranteed no-ethanol fuel, 87 octane. I always fill up with premium, but was wondering if the non ethanol would be better suited for my KZs?

I'd get the no-ethanol stuff. For one thing it's less corrosive on the fuel system parts, and secondly, the bike was designed for regular gasoline. Using premium is a waste of money unless you get detonation when running regular.

dom2570 wrote: A new gas station just went up a mile or two away from my house. I stopped by today to fill up and noticed they had a pump for guaranteed no-ethanol fuel, 87 octane. I always fill up with premium, but was wondering if the non ethanol would be better suited for my KZs?

Well, first off if you have stock compression on that motor then you're just wasting money buying anything other than 87 octane anyway.

Yeah it'll probably run better on the non-E gas, assuming you're running on the lean side right now. You'll get somewhat more power and maybe better MPG. Whether that's worth the cost and being tethered to that one gas station is up to you. You'd definitely be better off using that non-E gas when wintering the bike though.

Interesting, I was under the impression 91 was better for it, probably something I read here, misinterpreted from the manual.

Posted the wrong picture.

dom2570 wrote: Interesting, I was under the impression 91 was better probably something I read here,.

Nope just more of the misinfo. thats killing this site.

There are various methods on how to rate octane. The "research method" is not used in the USA. We use the (RON + MON)/2 method, this is what you see printed on the pump.

Like any site there is both good information and bad here. Old skool urban legend must be routed out, and replaced with properly considered technical information.

Lol well I will keep on running the non ethanol for now. It is cheaper than the premium and with winter around the corner, a few of the bikes won't get out of the garage regularly.

If I had a choice no way in hell I'd run ethanol fuel even if I had to run 87 octane
and pull timing and kill off some of the power.

At 11 to1 compression I run 101 octane VP race fuel and nothing else
will mine run on 87 sure if I just putt it aroung and pull timiming out with the
Dyna 2000 and don't hammer on it.

zukdave wrote: If I had a choice no way in hell I'd run ethanol fuel even if I had to run 87 octane
and pull timing and kill off some of the power.

At 11 to1 compression I run 101 octane VP race fuel and nothing else
will mine run on 87 sure if I just putt it aroung and pull timiming out with the
Dyna 2000 and don't hammer on it.

My main bike right now is a little 440 with a single carb conversion, all it does it putt around

I have a gas station near me that has 88 grade none ethanol and that goes in all my bikes, generator, mower, boats etc. anything that is not run daily like my cars. My BMW R1100r is supposed to run premium 91 fuel but runs great on this non ethanol fuel and gets a couple of mpg's better mileage. I always keeps some 5 gallon cans of it around and often use those to fill bikes before hitting the road, if I'm not going so far I think I'll be filling up on my way home. I put Stabil in the cans before I fill them, that way I always have fuel with stabilizer, in the tanks rather than ending up with a last minute panic at the seasons end with some of the bikes I ride less often. I've yet to have any problems with stale gas etc. while using this none ethanol gas. I've heard some horror stories from some of the uninitiated who've used gas with ethanol not realizing the problems it can cause in tanks and carbs when left to sit.

I think if I had a bike that couldn't handle 88 grade, I'd do as someone else said here alter my timing a little so I could.

On a side note one difference I did read about Premium gas recently, in a motorcycle magazine article, was that it contains 3 times the detergent level of the other grades, so using a tank of Premium Chevron, as an example, once in a while is a way to clean your fuel system, injectors etc. and for a few cents more per gallon is likely cheaper than using some additive.

I started running premium when I got the bike running two years ago. I tried regular and didn't notice any difference, at least not enough to justify the extra money.
Steve