Regular or Premium and or ethanol or not

[ispud]

Do you use regular or premium gas?  My dealer filled it with regular.  The book says 93 to 95 octane - must be European octane - local (Idaho) premium is 91.  I think I will use premium and try to avoid ethanol flavored - I think we still have 3 stations that sell gas without ethanol - stuff is poison!

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[geezerbob]

I've put 34,000 km on mine running regular, with or without up to 10% ethanol, haven't had any problems, and can't tell any difference in performance or gas mileage.  I haven't tried E-85 and don't intend to.

[zombie]

I ALWAYS use premium! As for ethanol, your right it is poison. It will in its raw form eat aluminum. I add seafoam fuel additive to every tank so if my scoot has to sit the aluminum parts in the fuel system do not get hit. Seafoam contains propanol which converts the ethanol. Fuel companies are in a death throw right now w/ all the bad publicity, and I believe they will try to shove as much crap at the public as they can. Sure ethanol is renewable, but it destroys the components of modern engines. On the Plus side though, higher octane will produce higher mileage, and a cleaner engine so that's enough for me!

[axy]

I ALWAYS use premium! As for ethanol, your right it is poison. It will in its raw form eat aluminum. I add seafoam fuel additive to every tank so if my scoot has to sit the aluminum parts in the fuel system do not get hit. Seafoam contains propanol which converts the ethanol. Fuel companies are in a death throw right now w/ all the bad publicity, and I believe they will try to shove as much crap at the public as they can. Sure ethanol is renewable, but it destroys the components of modern engines. On the Plus side though, higher octane will produce higher mileage, and a cleaner engine so that's enough for me!

No such thing as ethanol in European gasoline, as far as I know...if I am right, in South America they use almost exclusively ethanol...

[kawzak]

At 60-70 MPG whats a few cents more for the good stuff. Better detergent package, higher octane= cooler running and slight milage increase .Your cylinder head,valves,rings and piston will thank you. And as a plus your fuel filter and carburettor will stay cleaner longer too.

[jprestonian]

Unfortunately, scooter engines don't benefit from higher (U.S.) octane fuels. They don't have a high enough compression ratio to make use of it.

If you don't believe me, use Fuelly, and track it yourself.

Using ethanol-free gas probably will improve MPG slightly, though. I'm going to try it on my next two fill-ups, as I found a station that claims to have ethanol-free gas near the house.

No scooter that I know of is designed to use E-85. Don't do it.
.

[kawzak]

I've worked on too many engines to count, but what I do know is the owners that  had engines with cleaner cylinder heads valves and piston rings usually used premium or middle grade at the least (and usually had proper oil changes also) . Also valve recession was less (also contributed to heat). If you would like to do a test do this-check your valve lash, write the clearance/dimension down in a log book. Use premium for (1) year and record the valve lash dimensions at each service. Assuming you ride approx the same miles/per year, Then use the regular grade for a year and do the same valve lash recording, pull the carb float bowl off every other service and look inside it. Use the same brand motor oil and correct service intervals. I've had several of my own engines/bikes/scooters that I have over 50k miles and had only had to make (1) or (2) adjustments ! I use synthetic oil and premium gas because I've learned from others (and many years experiance). I don't work for an oil company, but I do have to work, and if spending a little more at the pump and at oil changes to make my motors last longer, I don't have to work on them as much.

[beeboytroy]

I know for a fact that ethanol can be used in vehicles that are fuel injected. My Toyota Tacoma has been exclusively running on ethanol (E85)for 2 years now, no problems. You have to install a computer that changes the spray pattern of your fuel injectors to handle the ethanol. But....I poured a gallon into my little gokart (6 hp Tacoumseh motor) and it ran like CRAP! Used up the ethanol and ran regular gas, and now its back to normal. So my recommendation is as long as its got a carburetor stick to gas.

[Dion]

Oddly - in Europe and Asia, one of the recommendations for fuel is from a 'Premium Gas Company'. This means no discount gas dealers. I tried this on one of my Moto Guzzi's and found that the cheaper gas companies products, got lower performance, lower gas mileage and even (aaargh) pinging.

When I changed over to BP, Shell, or even Mobil - using the same octane rating fuel - everything changed in less than half a tank.

These are big bikes with 6 or 7 gallon tanks and the cost difference was normally about sixty or seventy cents on a fill up. On my P250 (Fearless Urban Warrior!) - with a sub 2 gallon tank it is about a 10 or 15 cent premium price per fill up - even using the 89 octane fuel. If you believe the hype the above gas companies supply on the pumps, there may be some truth in advertising - Shell, BP and Mobil all insist they are supplying superior additives in their fuel. (Here in Northern Illinois - all fuel is supplied with 15% ethanol - I add a capful every two fill ups of Marvel Mystery Oil to inhibit the Alchohal corrosion.)

It seems that the premium designation in the owners manual is for the gas companies - the octave recommendation is for the actual fuel.  ( I was told that both in Portugal and in Italy by Piaggio / Aprilia representatives.)