Effects of high octane fuel
- I_Tig_in_piece
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ed
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1980 KZ440a. I went green.
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- Street Fighter LTD
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- TURBO, Its Better to be Blown than Injected
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- tachrev
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I_Tig_in_piece wrote: Man I wish I had 93 out in Cali. Hell if I can get away with burning some higher octane through the carbs, might have to pour a liter or two of some 110 I usually have a drum of C-16 and 110 on hand for dyno tuning. Anyone know how E85 would react? I know on some of the cars my shop does, we have to swap out a few rubber fuel lines for the ones that have the green writing on it. Wonder how the diaphragms would react?
ed
Definitely do not put e85 in it without rejetting.
Rubber compatibility is an issue too, and it doesn't keep well. Alcohol likes to absorb water, hence all the issues these days with letting bikes sit with e10 and ending up with carbs full of jelly.
E85 is ~85% alcohol. The octane is higher, but alcohol is a completely different fuel and you will need much larger jets. And get worse fuel mileage, if you are worried about that type of thing.
I think e85 is approximately 110 octane. But I could be off there. It is pretty detonation resistant.
1977 Kawasaki KZ1000 : Street/Strip
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- 650ed
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My 2006 GMC Z71 truck has a "flex-fuel" engine than can use E85 without damage, but since E85 is nowhere to be found in MD I have never tried it. Other than just as an experiment, I wouldn't use it in my truck anyway because it has 30% less energy content per gallon than the fuel sold here but nation-wide is only 15% less expensive than gasoline. Consequently, each mile driven would cost more and the truck wouldn't have as much pep as it does with gasoline. Ed
1977 KZ650-C1 Original Owner - Stock (with additional invisible FIAMM horn)
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- KZB2 650
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1978 KZ650 b-2
700cc Wiseco kit 10 to 1.
1980 KZ750 cam, ape springs, stock clutch/ Barnett springs.
Vance and Hines Header w/ comp baffle and Ape pods, Dyna S and green coils, copper wires.
29MM smooth bores W/ 17.5 pilots, 0-6s and 117.5 main
16/42 gearing X ring chain and alum rear JT sprocket.
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- ed spangler
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650ed wrote:
pete greek1 wrote: I'm just saying that in the 70s regular leaded gas was 90 octane, & premium gas was 98-100 octane, so I'm saying our older bikes were built to run on higher octane than 87
Pete
Even though many folks run 87 octane just fine, I tend to agree with you on this. I don't even think 87 octane was even available when my bike was made. Probably the lowest octane in my area back then was 91. I know for sure you could still get 95 and 100 octane in my area. When I bought my KZ650 (April, 1977) the dealer told me to use premium gas. 93 octane is considered premium now; back then it would have been mid-grade at best.
I've read that some folks mention that their manuals call for 87 octane. I would really be interested to know exactly which manuals for which year and model bikes state that. My Owner's Manual does not name a specific octane level. It simply says you should use unleaded gasoline. Ed
I agree with everyone on this topic, I just want to say this ......from a "Seat of the pants feeling"....when I put Racing gas 110 octane mixed half and half with 92 oct. Ethanol free gas ( believe it or not my local Farmers Co-Op sells both!) in my 75 Z1B 900...It DEFINITELY RUNS BETTER!! Theres no doubt! The actual reason?? I could care less. But it does run better.
Regards to all
Ed
Have 1975 Kawasaki Z1-B & 2003 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic
Had Hondas, Harleys and many ,many Z Series Kaws both Std. & LTD's
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- loudhvx
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But it's a lot of work to make a 35 year old bike go faster. It would be way easier to just get a 30 year old bike instead.
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- Z1Driver
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So true.....my 09 Concours 14 runs better than any street legal ZED ever thought of. It will do triple digits in 2nd and I still have 4 gears to go. :whistle:It would be way easier to just get a 30 year old bike instead
Tim
Blue 1975 Z1B
Red 2009 Concours 14
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- bountyhunter
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Z1Driver wrote: Ed, My owner’s manual for my 75 Z1B stated to use regular fuel.Tim
Wasn't regular gas about 92 - 94 octane back in 1974? I remember around 1970 that premium was in the 98 - 102 octne range.
1979 KZ-750 Twin
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- KZB2 650
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1978 KZ650 b-2
700cc Wiseco kit 10 to 1.
1980 KZ750 cam, ape springs, stock clutch/ Barnett springs.
Vance and Hines Header w/ comp baffle and Ape pods, Dyna S and green coils, copper wires.
29MM smooth bores W/ 17.5 pilots, 0-6s and 117.5 main
16/42 gearing X ring chain and alum rear JT sprocket.
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- PLUMMEN
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Still recovering,some days are better than others.
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- Z1Driver
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bountyhunter wrote:
Z1Driver wrote: Ed, My owner’s manual for my 75 Z1B stated to use regular fuel.Tim
Wasn't regular gas about 92 - 94 octane back in 1974? I remember around 1970 that premium was in the 98 - 102 octne range.
I think if I remember right which is getting harder to do BTW, I believe the formula for figuring the octane rating changed some place around there. I remember my Grand Father liked this off brand stuff which boasted having regular at 93 octane. It was great for use in his 53 Chev pickup but as I member wasn’t good enough for anything with a little compression. Other gas stations were not advertising that much octane for regular gas.
It is also my observation that vehicles made to run on Regular leaded gas 50 years ago do just fine on today’s regular fuels if the valve seats are replaced with hardened valve seats.
Blue 1975 Z1B
Red 2009 Concours 14
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