Gasoline Choice?

[ShieldArc]

Ethanol has less BTU than gasoline, so you end up getting a little bit better mileage with pure gas.

 

[mcmd]

I was curious about this topic as well. I have found a website with stations that have ethanol free gas for the states, they also have an app for phones. Pure-Gas.org

Thanks for the information. Very helpful.

 

[jBIRDt]

From the owner's manual:

In the high elevation of Colorado 87 octane is mid-grade, that's what I run in the CT125. Regular is 85 octane and not recommended in fuel injected vehicles that target a specific air-fuel ratio. More importantly I try to fill up at higher traffic gas stations with name brands on them. Gas stations in the boonies with poorly maintained tanks in the ground are a common culprit of bad gas and high water content. I'll buy ethanol-free when it's available, but Honda OK'd the bike for up to 10% ethanol (also in the owner's manual) so I wouldn't be afraid of it unless you're going to to park the bike for a few months. If you're filling up from a pump that doesn't have an individual hose for each octane, the hose usually still has some fuel from the previous purchase in it, so you're getting some of that rather than what you're intending to buy. In a larger fuel tank that's not significant since the volume of fuel dilutes it, but if you're getting 0.3 gal of the previous purchase that is significant on a ~1.14 gallon fill up, which would be around what it takes to fill up from 1 bar flashing on the fuel gauge.

The engine doesn't make any more power on higher octane, it can actually perform worse with too high octane of fuel due to a slower burn and heat soak.

I have been using ethanol blend fuel since the 1970s in everything and adding Amsoil performance improver to smaller engines since the 1980s HD motorcycle to garden tiller with no ill effects yet.

 

[dmonkey]

The old nightmare of ethanol fuel was that prior to 1978 it wasn't in pump gas in the USA and fuel systems weren't designed to handle how corrosive ethanol is. It still wasn't very widespread until pushed by more legislature after 9/11. So if you ran gasohol in an older vehicle it could eat away hoses, gaskets, fuel filters, fiberglass fuel tanks, along with corroding brass, zinc, and aluminum in the carb. To compensate for the aforementioned BTU difference carbureted engines would also benefit from running a slightly larger main jet with E10 than with E0. Some of these old fuel system woes perpetuate as myth for modern fuel systems because people have first hand experience dealing with the acidity issues in old fuel systems, but don't understand that they've been mitigated with changes to material selection in modern fuel systems designed for E10 like the CT125 has.

For long term storage you'll run into more potential issues to mitigate with E10 than with ethanol-free depending on variables like climate. A tank with E10 may not only go bad sooner than E0, but it can phase separate resulting in a milky layer of ethanol with water absorbed into it floating above the bad gasoline base. If you've never encountered that, then keep doing what you're doing, no need to change what works. Honestly the best thing you can do for any vehicle, regardless of the fuel being used and the type of fuel system, is to regularly exercise it with actual use. But if you are going to store it, prep it for storage. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Another reason I opt for ethanol-free when it's available is for the fuel economy, specifically the flexibility offered by having more fuel range rather than a minor cost difference. There's mention of additives earlier in this thread and that's something gasohol is excellent for, the added ethanol burns cleaner, reducing deposits in the engine.

Plenty of other reasons one might want to avoid gasohol fuel that can be more opinionated though, such as the agribusiness politics around corn-based ethanol, and the big question of if it's actually any less harmful for the environment than regular gasoline, or if it just reduces tailpipe emissions at the cost of a larger carbon footprint elsewhere. The 2nd largest producer of ethanol fuel behind the USA is Brazil, and Brazil's current ethanol fuel mixes (E20 up to pure E100 biofuel) are mostly made from byproducts of sugarcane production and processing, quite a bit different from corn-based ethanol.

 

[oldskool]

Ethanol is one of the biggest boondoggles ever pushed on the world. It really has only accomplished 2 things, making a few people wealthy and fouling fuel systems on millions of small engines, motorcycles and boats. Yes it can and has been used with success on small engines but it requires much more diligence than is needed when using real fuel. I will run E-10 in my injected Harley when on the road and burning it quickly, it reduces the mpg a bit. Leave it sitting in the system for a few weeks, stabilizer or not, is just courting disaster on the gulf coast where the summertime humidity is usually 90%.
What's the average humidity where you live? That is a huge factor.

 

[m in sc]

Look, i hate the fact ethanol even exists w out getting into all the big ag/enviro/political discussion, but that is the big reason for it. regardless, I prefer to deal with whats prolifically available and not have to hunt down stations w 'non ethanol'.

that being said:

i rode both of these saturday. both are dead stock with stock jetting. neither had an issue. and yes they sit for long periods (that's at my storage unit), neither is on premix so oil doesn't touch the fuel until its past the carburetor. thats a 20mm? and twin 16mm round slide mikuni carbs with some of the tiniest pilot jets you've ever seen on a street bike. humidity leven here are high, its currently 81%, and it swings so its ripe for condensation. Im just saying. this has been my experience. and ive owned the red bike for 10 years.

 

[ShieldArc]

Why Ethanol Is Worse Than Gasoline - YouTube

 

[m in sc]

Ok. still have to deal with it, and said, haven't had an issue w it , ever.

 

[oldskool]

Ok. still have to deal with it, and said, haven't had an issue w it , ever.

As you say...but the number of people who have are many. A buddy has a small fleet ,6 rental boats that do not sit idle the fuel gets used quickly. When ethanol became all that was to be had close by his headaches started. One or two of the boats were ALWAYS out because of fuel issues. He started making the effort to get real fuel by driving a couple towns over and filling several gas cans for the week's use....his troubles vanished like a fart in the wind. We now have three stations in our little town that supply real fuel. The small engine repair shop no longer has no room for more boats bikes and lawn mowers because of a backlog of fuel related repairs. As for finding ethanol free fuel it was hard a few years ago but that has changed because of the demand. There are 16 locations listed in your town that have E-0

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

 

[m in sc]

there's one in my neighborhood actually, 3 less than a mile away. I know where it is, it's not necessary for me. and it certainly isn't a cost issue, i don't care about that.

also, most of these stories are second hand accounts w out the full story. Usually, you dig deep enough, its another issue compounding it. leaky ground tanks, poor storage, super long sitting times with the ability of water to get into the fuel tanks on the vehicles.

sorry, i have 14 vehicles on the road, most carburated, 1st hand experience, for well over a decade + and there have been many more vehicles in that time, 95% of them vintage and carbureted.

If this was truly an issue to the panic mode most react to it as, this would be packing in fuel pumps and fuel regulators, and tank filters on a very regular basis everywhere on fi vehicles. its not. think about it.

as said, i by no means advocate for ethanol, but its here to stay as long as big ag gets its kickbacks.

 

[JPMcGraw]

I've never run into the ethanol fuel gremlins. I have a push mower that goes in the garage after the last mow with whatever fuel is in the tank. No winter prep. Every spring i fill up the tank with E10 87, pull 2-3 times, big puff of smoke and its back in action. That has been the game plan for the past 7 years. If i'm not hitting a problem after 7 years i'm not putting in the effort to locate Gas Classic.

 

[Shoot870p]

I sure can not compete with the no-issue crowd. On my riding mower, each and every Spring I had to load it up and take it to the shop. Same with my push mower. One year the repair guy asked me what fuel I used. He then told me he would see me nearly as often if I would use non-ethenol gasoline. I tried it and had excellent results. But, as always, your results may vary.

 

[AZ7000']

Gasohol, woah…. Friday night, love boat and fantasy island on one of the 4 tv channels tonight???
Oh, the old days…

 

[phiberoptick]

I did my first fill up last weekend, went out of my way to use ethanol free gas. It felt like a small but noticeable increase in performance post fill with with the e-free gas. Am I just imaging things or is there any truth to ethanol free gas having better performance?

 

[mcmd]

I did my first fill up last weekend, went out of my way to use ethanol free gas. It felt like a small but noticeable increase in performance post fill with with the e-free gas. Am I just imaging things or is there any truth to ethanol free gas having better performance?

I'm curious to see what other members have to say on your thread.

 

[m in sc]

right off the bat it will work better power wise, until the ecm adjusts and its back where it was. but you should get better mileage on e-free.

 

[JPMcGraw]

I've never run into the ethanol fuel gremlins. I have a push mower that goes in the garage after the last mow with whatever fuel is in the tank. No winter prep. Every spring i fill up the tank with E10 87, pull 2-3 times, big puff of smoke and its back in action. That has been the game plan for the past 7 years. If i'm not hitting a problem after 7 years i'm not putting in the effort to locate Gas Classic.

I would like to update everyone on my filthy gas push mower. Busted it out after 5 months, was almost able to fill the tank (4/5ths) with what was left of the E10 in my gas can from last year, one pull, no smoke, started right up.

This is the start of year 8 with E-10, just oil changes and cleaned the filter. Carbs still good, Fuel lines are still good, spark plug is still good.

YMMV but i wouldn't reroute your life over this stuff