Non ethanol grade question...

[Barrycuda]

Hello all once again. I found a non ethanol place not too far from the house. It's 87 octane. Great. However my kawasaki Vulcan takes 93 octane. My question is, will the non ethanol 87 be as good as the 93 ethanol or worse? The kawasaki never had anything but 93 in it, and do not want to ruin the fung shui of the bike itself. Can any of you terrific members give me some information to make an educated decision? Thanks in advance....

[djh3]

Per the owners manual pg 4-11. "Your Yamaha engine has been designed to use regular unleaded gasoline with a pump octane nuber of (r+m)/2 86 or higher or a research octane number of 91 or higher" I'm pretty sure anymore all pumps have the first method of octane rating anymore. So 86 is your key number

[Barrycuda]

Per the owners manual pg 4-11. "Your Yamaha engine has been designed to use regular unleaded gasoline with a pump octane nuber of (r+m)/2 86 or higher or a research octane number of 91 or higher" I'm pretty sure anymore all pumps have the first method of octane rating anymore. So 86 is your key number

 

Thanks for the reply. If I wasn't so lazy, or overlooked it ( readers choice) I might have looked in the manual to find that out. Thanks djh3

[RSTDdog]

Thanks for the reply. If I wasn't so lazy, or overlooked it ( readers choice) I might have looked in the manual to find that out. Thanks djh3

 

 

He was quoting the Yamaha Manual. You were asking about your Kawasaki Vulcan right??

 

2nd Edit: I see in your profile you have a new Yamaha RSV too. 87 Ethanol or not, just fine in the Yamaha. Thats what I run in my bike.

 

See what your Kawasaki Manual Recommends. Given that, the higher the octane, the more resistant the fuel is to igniting. Higher Octane fuels prevent pinging or knocking (typically Valve clatter on acceleration). If your bike will run on 87 with out pinging, I would say run it. Although not all pre igniiton is audible.

 

The biggest problem with ethanol will be with a bike that sits. If your riding frequently (no more than 1 month to burn a tank a fuel) and bike your Kawasaki requires premium, I would run premium ethanol over the 87 non ethanol all things equal, particularly if the price is the same.

 

 

I would question however the 87 octane non ethanol fuel myself. Currently (In my part of florida anyway on edit: I see you are in Fl too.) the only Non Ethanol Fuel available is Recreational Marine Grade fuel and its 90 octane. Few street stations here haveit, mostly marinas. Its also the same price or often more than premium unleaded (4.29 gallon here for the non ethanol last I checked)

Edited March 14, 2013 by RSTDdog

[djh3]

Theres allways the take a 5 gal can to airport and run avgas. But last time I bought some for race car it was alomst $4 a gal and hitest pump gas was only $3.00 or so. Just checked 45.30 a gal for 100LL

[usedcyclesales]

I'm in Florida and there are several gas stations that carry non ethanol in the area and I've yet to see it below 90 octane Here's a link to all US Non ethanol gas stations http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html and YES a lot of them are marinas but they'll take your money just like a gas station.But they're hours aren't like gas stations after about 5PM good luck Oh and price 2 days ago at Sunoco was $4.29 gal and it was 90 octane

 

http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

[ragtop69gs]

Ha...go figure there's a marina 4 miles from me with non-ethanol 89, I know where my next fill will be.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

The larger displacement air-cooled (and apparently, water cooled) V-twins do better with higher-octane fuel, especially in the summer months, when engine heat is an issue...but in the cooler months, you can usually drop an octane grade or two, unless you will be pulling trailers up long mountain grades.

 

With the water cooled V4, the rpms are higher, leaving less time in the combustion cylinder for the fuel/air mixture to pre-ignite, and they normally get along fine with the lower grades of octane.

 

 

Any time you hear pinging, either dial back on the throttle, or even better, downshift. Your engine will thank you!

 

[Barrycuda]

Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to reply. The initial post was about my Kawasaki Vulcan and not the RSV. That said I appreciate all the fabulous input.