Premium Fuel, Really ?

Problem with marine/boating is:

1. Fuel tends to sit in tank for extended periods, when ethanol's problems can rear its ugly head.
2. Being in a marine environment, moisture is a constant presence.
3. Fuel tanks can be substantially larger than most cars/trucks, so proportionally there will be more ethanol in it to wreak potential havoc.

If you run your cars/trucks/bikes often enough to refresh the fuel tank content, then ethanol problems are unlikely. The vast majority of motorists pump E10 and go about their every day business oblivious of the 10% ethanol they are burning in their vehicles and rarely have a problem.

I have have a total of 9 bikes since I got back to riding less than 3yrs ago. First was an '08 Suzuki S83 with carbs, the rest were FI. Since then, at any one time, I have at least 2 or 3 bikes in the garage. Sometimes, one would go unridden for weeks on end. Heck, my track bunny Gixxer600 gets started maybe once every 2-3 months since I bought it 2yrs ago, and it fires right up every single time. The same gasoline has probably been in it since last thanksgiving.

So far, the only problem I have had are with small utility engines. My pressure washer's Honda engine has been acting up that last time I used it, and it probably needs a carb rebuild/regasket job because of the ethanol.

My advice is to get gasoline at a busy intersection gas station, so you are more likely to be pumping fresh fuel, regardless of your preference.

BTW, I thought OP was asking about premium fuel vs. regular??

 

Ummmm.......phew !
This is some forum you boys got here.
Outstanding answers all.
I know where to come for any issues with my Veeffalo.
Thanks to all who replied.

 

Motorcycle Consumer News had a great article a few months back about taking the ethanol out of your gas. It would be a large PITA but you can do it. Take a large glass bottle (read 5 gal. Water cooler bottle) Fill it with 4 gals. Of 10 % ethanol gas. Add slightly more than 10% water. That's right water! You will have to cap it with a gas compatable hose and valve. Invert the bottle. The additional water will absorb all the ethanol. The pure water will sink to the bottom it will be clear. The next layer will be milky grey. This will be a combination of ethanol and water. The top layer will be slightly less than 4 gallons of pure gasoline. Bleed off the layer of water and the milky combo of ethanol and water and you now have bottle of pure gas.

The reason this works is because you have added more water then the ethanol can absorb so the water pulls all the ethanol out of the gasoline and the gasoline floats on top of the water combo and pure water.

Like I said a pain in the a.... But you can do it.

Oh..... And don't burn down the garage with all the spilled gas!

 

Memorize this number:

911

 

"Honey, did you iron my shirt....and separate my gas ???????? "

 

I sell VW's for a living, many of which require premium. I like to tell people that the engineers that designed the engine were probably aware that putting a sticker on the fuel flap that advises the use of premium is NOT a selling feature.

The engine's management system will compensate for lower octane fuels and the engine will run fine in most cases. It will also develop less power and your MPG will drop. If it cost around $120 a year more to put premium in a car that gets 25 MPG and is driven 12,000 mile per year figured before the drop in MPG, then whats the point? $80 in savings? Really? Hey have at it.

A guy comes into the dealership one day driving a nice BMW 540. He disputes my opinion on required octane and brags that he never uses anything but regular. $60,000 for a car and he needs to save a few pennies. So I laugh and wish him luck. A couple of weeks later he stops by and says he tried a tank of premium and lo, the car runs much better. What a surprise!

Not a fine technical answer like many here, but for me, premium. I can feel the difference and I can measure it by distance. And that's as technical as I need to be.

BTW my 2008 Kawasaki C14 had a sticker on the tank that said "USE OF GASOLINE WITH OCTANE LOWER THAN 91 RON WILL CAUSE SEVERE ENGINE DAMAGE." I wonder what they meant by that?

 

I had an 09 C14 and IIRC the sticker says "Use 90 Octane or higher". North American octane number is AKI, which is (RON +MON)/2. I will tell you that I usually pumped premium in the summer months, but I do occasionally cut it with some regular in the colder months of the year. Unlike the VFR1200, C14 does NOT have either knock sensor or lambda sensor, so both ignition timing and fuel mapping run on mostly open-loop. That means that ECM predetermines the ignition advance and fueling based on stored maps such that the engine will not knock under the most severe conditions with the minimum of 90 AKI. Personally, I have never run my C14 hard enough to come remotely close to the most severe conditions, so riding solo and cruising around at light load will be just fine with mid-grade 89 or even 87. But if you are not comfortable doing that... pump premium and be happy.

Cars and bikes equipped with knock sensors will generally operate just fine with regular. Some of it depends on how aggressive the factory set the ECU, but much of it depends on how you run your vehicles. If you don't run it hard, pumping premium is just a waste of money. It is like drinking Gatorade and Muscle Milk, then sit in front of the TV all day.

Even if you do run it hard, you don't lose all that much power with regular vs. premium. What's not so good, however, is the possibility of increased heat load on the engine when the engine retards the timing to protect itself. Retarded timing means the engine is running a bit less efficiently at converting the heat produced by burning fuel into kinetic energy. That inefficiency means more waste heat for the cooling system to get rid of. So if you do run your engine hard, especially when it's hot & humid, use the higher octane. Otherwise, the choice is yours what you feel comfortable with.

 

Here we can choose between Super E10, Super 95, Super+ 98 and Premium 100+.
Super+ 98 is advised for the VFR, so why should I take anything lesser? If I have to choose between Super 95 and Premium 100+ I take the better one.

I ride it hard, often full throttle, but I doubt I would feel the difference. But why should I even try to find out.