Gasoline

[mrmike]

  I know that my People S 150 will run just fine on regular 87 octane gas. How about ethanol-free gas?
 My local gas station has 90 octane ethanol-free gasoline. It is the same price as their 93-octane gas. They both cost $.81 more per gallon than the 87 octane. My scooter is fuel injected. Is there any advantage to running ethanol-free that would justify that price difference?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Some people never drain the tank over the winter - or for the 4 years it sits in their generators....and never have a problem with the gas from their local stations . And for most of America that is the E10 - ethanol mix.

In 25 yrs I've never drained a mower's tank. Many of those years with E10 in the tank. The mower ran just fine afterwards.

We don't have ethanol free pumps around here. The very large dealer in town, all brands of machines, Ducati's on down to Kymco's....jet skis, 4 wheelers, etc., etc. fill the tank in your new vehicle with Shell E10 87 or 93, from down the street, depending on the manual.

What gas?....
Whatever you think is best.
But, I'd always recommend (as does the service desk at above dealership) that one use gas listed on the pump as a Top Tier fuel. They don't cost a penny more.
They are blended to keep modern engines healthy and running cleaner.

Stig

[Tromper]

If it's happy with the cheap stuff, keep using it.
My injected Burgman does not care.
My carb'd SYM does run a bit better on non eth usually.  Not generally enough to justify the price, but at 70+ mpg I'm not too worried about that.
Maybe run a couple tanks of the cheap stuff, track your mpg, & do the same with non-eth 90 (overkill for octane but lack of eth is the point).

[Iahawk]

fuel injection cures many (ethanol) ills.. you're fine to run the ethanol fuel. I would not recommend storing ethanol fuel for long periods of time as ethanol will attract water into the fuel over time. (Chickanic (sp?) has a small engine youtube channel and did a big video on the #1 issue she encounters in small engine repair...water in fuel.)

 In a fuel injected vehicle this is not a big deal...in a carbureted engine? Not so good. I live in Iowa, dislike ethanol immensely, and run non ethanol fuel (readily available at every station) in all my engines except my cars.

[rjs987]

I would stick with Ethanol. The octane matters more than Ethanol or non-Ethanol. Higher octane in an engine that only needs the lower octane sometimes ends up with worse economy. Sometimes. The only fuel related issues I've ever had in any vehicle was with NON-Ethanol in a carbonated car engine... And switching to Ethanol fuel solved that particular problem. I did a test a LONG time ago in that same car going 30 days of a long distance commute using non-Ethanol and then 30 days of the very same driving in the very same temps and road conditions and speeds using only Ethanol. I found no difference in mpg! Some tanks of one were 2-3 mpg better and some tanks of the other were 2-3 mpg better. Mostly Interstate driving, same route and traffic both ways both times.

BTW- the fuel related issues were a frozen fuel line in below zeroF temps one time and a plugged fuel filter another time. Ethanol prevented the freezing and also cleaned out the gunk in the fuel lines and I never had a cleaner fuel filter after replacing it from the collected gunk that was cleaned out. Similar result for cleaning by switching from a paraffin based oil to a graphite based oil (paraffin left a wax deposit everywhere).

[randyo]

I've never had E10 cause any problems, run it in everything except my chainsaw, for that, I run VP 50:1 premix, 94 octane, non ethanol (not really gasoline either, naptha?) My small engines do get premium 93 octane, I keep 93 in my 5gallon jug that fuels my power sports and power equipment, sometimes my K-Pipe


What happened to Amoco Super Premium ?

[JJJoseph]

How about ethanol-free gas?

If you park your machine over the winter, you will have less trouble in the springtime.  Ethanol gas deteriorates when it sits. Fuel injection helps, but farmers, boaters, aviators, and vintage car owners all agree that e-gas deteriorates with time.

[monkeybongos]

One thing is for sure: opinions re e-10 are all over the map.   
This thread has left me thoroughly confused 😵?💫.

[Iahawk]

haha, I love it! There are 2 separate camps...those whose brother's cousin's friend once filled a tank with ethanol fuel and let it sit for a decade in the rain and the mower started right up! The other side (me included) feels ethanol is bad for anything but a modern fuel injected vehicle.

I always find it interesting that in other areas ethanol free fuel is NOT available...yet here in Iowa, home of corn (majority of corn in state is grown for ethanol, 2nd largest use is animal feed..) EVERY pump I ever see offers an ethanol free option! Do Iowans know something others don't? 

[rjs987]

haha, I love it! There are 2 separate camps...those whose brother's cousin's friend once filled a tank with ethanol fuel and let it sit for a decade in the rain and the mower started right up! The other side (me included) feels ethanol is bad for anything but a modern fuel injected vehicle.

I always find it interesting that in other areas ethanol free fuel is NOT available...yet here in Iowa, home of corn (majority of corn in state is grown for ethanol, 2nd largest use is animal feed..) EVERY pump I ever see offers an ethanol free option! Do Iowans know something others don't? 

Likely no. Around here the majority of stations do not have an Ethanol free option. And even those that do, in Iowa at least from what I've read, still have a little Ethanol mixed in with what they "call" Ethanol free gas... just not anywhere close to 10% and more like maybe 1-3%. That said, there are very few stations that actually have truly no Ethanol in at least one of their options. The only fuel related issue I've ever had, and it was in a carbonated engine, was a frozen fuel line using NON-Ethanol gas. Put in Ethanol gas and that problem was solved. That was during a particularly cold winter driving in a snow storm. I've used Ethanol since then (that was back in the mid '80s). Most people use up the gas in the tank way before any issues from having the gas sit for a long time. Still, if I were to park my bike for the cold months I'd put Sta-Bil in the tank. I don't let my bike sit still that long though. 

[Stig / Major Tom]

Do Iowans know something others don't? 

I replied and deleted so many times....my Dell shut down for lunch.

Stig

[monkeybongos]

I always find it interesting that in other areas ethanol free fuel is NOT available...yet here in Iowa, home of corn (majority of corn in state is grown for ethanol, 2nd largest use is animal feed..) EVERY pump I ever see offers an ethanol free option! Do Iowans know something others don't? 

Was going to make a similar comment. 
In the meantime, recently talked to a motorhead into race cars, he was adamant e-85 would be better for engines and the environment.  When I asked about trading food for oil, he said that’s a myth, we could easily grow enough corn to supply the country w e-85.

Adding to the confusion…

[Iahawk]

Was going to make a similar comment. 
In the meantime, recently talked to a motorhead into race cars, he was adamant e-85 would be better for engines and the environment.  When I asked about trading food for oil, he said that’s a myth, we could easily grow enough corn to supply the country w e-85.

Adding to the confusion…

probably starting something I shouldn't...but my take is Big Ag greased enough politicians to get huge ethanol subsidies for growers at taxpayer expense..is it the best alternative to oil? Probably not...but alternative growers don't have Big Ag money, power and influence behind them to lobby on their behalf, so we'll never know.

And not sure where you're looking RJS, but every station in the Iowa City area that I ever go to (Hy vee, Caseys, Kum & Go, BP/AMoco) offers an ethanol free solution.

[Neil955i]

I'll add my two penn'orth from this side of the pond on the E10 debate.

My Triumph regularly spends 6-8 months of the winter and wet Autumn / Spring under a dust sheet in my garage with a tank full of E10.  It's never failed to start as a result of fuel problems; although I do always make sure the first run of the year is a long one, so that I can refuel with fresh petrol.

[Stig / Major Tom]

My dealer - who sells just about every mode of transportation save for automobiles and airplanes - fuels each for the new owner with the proper grade of E-10 SHELL. 

He couldn't have been in business for decades if ethanol-free fuel was necessary.

There are no ethanol-free pumps around here - and the roads are not littered with broken Ducati's, Goldwings, Slingshots or Kymcos.


Stig