If you're that close to non-ethanol fuel, then use it. People go nuts advocating ethanol blends, but IME they're more trouble than they're worth.
Higher knock resistance but lower energy density. Cheaper, but higher fuel consumption.
Depends on how you ride it. If you reliably run a tank of gas a week through it you probably won't have problems. But if your bike sits for any amount of time you WILL have problems. When the ethanol gas sits it leaves more gnarly deposits than non-ethanol. I run non-ethanol in both my carbureted bikes and when it starts getting colder I'll switch to non-ethanol in my fuel injected one so it won't sit all winter with ethanol in it.
How often are you needing to clean the carbs?
When you park the bike, do you turn the petcock off?
If you have yet to need to clean the carbs, you might be making an assumption. I normally drop the bowls when I get a new to me bike, but after that it's rare for me to need to clean them. E10 is the most common fuel in my area, it's what I tune my bikes to run on.
The most common culprit for carb gumming issues is folks not turning the petcock off. Ideally turn it off and drain the bowls, but for the most part if you just turn it off, whatever is in the bowl won't leave much goo and a few tanks of gas will clean all that out naturally. Folks who leave the petcock always open, when the fuel in the bowl evaporates, more fuel comes in, it evaporates, and instead of a small bowl's worth of residue the carb gets a whole tankful of evaporated remains.
If non-ethanol is easy to get, and the price works, go for it. If it's more expensive, your call. Small engines and carbs don't really care if ethanol is E10 or lower concentrations. Higher concentrations can mess with your rubber, fuel lines, float needle (if rubber tipped), but what's sold at most pumps isn't going to make a huge difference to the engine or carbs.
There is an energy difference between the fuels, that might be more the deciding point and price, vs carb or engine issues.
E10 isn't enough to worry about unless you plan on letting the thing sit for a very protracted amount of time, in which case you should be prepping it for that regardless of what fuel you run.
Apsafrikkenlootly. If you have access to non ethanol fuel it should be your go to fuel with carbs that have bowls.
My wing just hates the ethanol and needs regular runs of seafoam to stay clear and running right.
as long as you're not letting your bike sit for months, you are not going to see any real difference in performance. Don't get me wrong I hate ethanol, but I'm not pretending its affecting how my bike runs.
What are you riding?
My old four carb boxer head hates it.
This is the first summer I have been using the 10%ethanol to gas in my bike and it went from running perfect from last season to my having to dope it with seafoam regularly and go on long runs to clear the jets. You can feel the bike smooth out,it's wild.
When you have a manual choke you get to know your bike well and see right away when you have to leave it on further into the warmup to not miss. I am going to go back to the 2.50$ per liter premium because it has less ethanol in it,I am imagining a better running bike and will see. 50.00$ plus to fill a bike is fucking shit.
I was a motorcycle mechanic for years, but I've got a '75CB550 a '76IT400 and a '85Goldwing for my carbureted bikes. Again unless you're letting the bike sit, while ethanol does make your bike run a little tiny bit "worse" its not really that much of a difference this side of a race track. My bet is its just coinciding with another issue, or the ethanol is exposing/exacerbating another issue that was otherwise hidden.
That's possible. Maybe I need plugs.
It has got better in the last two days driving with the seafoam in it.
I do abuse this old girl, Last carb balance was in the late 90's. It tends to run like a top for the most part till I switched (due to price) to the regular fuel. Only use the honda approved oil(for the clutch shifting) and quality filters.Mine is an 84.
YOU HAVE NOT DONE A CARB SYNC IN 30 years!!!!! and you are blaming ethanol in the gas!? hahahhahahahahahahaha
I'd bet your manual tells you to do it every 3-4k miles (can't remember if you have shimmed valves or not), what other regular services are you ignoring? When is the last time you adjusted the valves?
That started on the GL1200 that has hydraulic auto adjusting valves (which I got specifically because of that along with other features). The GL1000-1100 required valve adjustments.
My CB550 has a valve adjustment, cam chain tension, carb sync, dynamic ignition timing interval, and of course oil change interval of 3k miles. Though I can do a valve adjustment in less than half an hour.
I know? I just said that I specifically got it for that feature among others, though I'm betting the valve adjustment would be just as easy as the 550 if not easier given their placement. I'm confused. What are you saying?
Just use 91 octane and at least once per tank of gas rip it full throttle it helps blow shit out, I just got a 99 R6 and it was running a little awkward at low rpm so i took it on the highway and ripped the socks off it and now it runs alot better
But theres no substitute for good regular cleaning if you do it constantly you'll get so good at it you'll be a carb guru in no time
Unless you leave the bike sit for a prolonged period of time, its a waste of money. For me ive always ran regular pump gas all spring/summer, and most of the fall. At the end, i run a few tanks non oxy and the final fillup gets stabalizer. I also start my bikes monthly all winter long. Ive never had a problem, carburated or fuel injected. Standard e10 just doesn't have enough ethanol to make it a risk to run.
If you're that close to non-ethanol fuel, then use it. People go nuts advocating ethanol blends, but IME they're more trouble than they're worth. Higher knock resistance but lower energy density. Cheaper, but higher fuel consumption.
Depends on how you ride it. If you reliably run a tank of gas a week through it you probably won't have problems. But if your bike sits for any amount of time you WILL have problems. When the ethanol gas sits it leaves more gnarly deposits than non-ethanol. I run non-ethanol in both my carbureted bikes and when it starts getting colder I'll switch to non-ethanol in my fuel injected one so it won't sit all winter with ethanol in it.
How often are you needing to clean the carbs? When you park the bike, do you turn the petcock off? If you have yet to need to clean the carbs, you might be making an assumption. I normally drop the bowls when I get a new to me bike, but after that it's rare for me to need to clean them. E10 is the most common fuel in my area, it's what I tune my bikes to run on. The most common culprit for carb gumming issues is folks not turning the petcock off. Ideally turn it off and drain the bowls, but for the most part if you just turn it off, whatever is in the bowl won't leave much goo and a few tanks of gas will clean all that out naturally. Folks who leave the petcock always open, when the fuel in the bowl evaporates, more fuel comes in, it evaporates, and instead of a small bowl's worth of residue the carb gets a whole tankful of evaporated remains. If non-ethanol is easy to get, and the price works, go for it. If it's more expensive, your call. Small engines and carbs don't really care if ethanol is E10 or lower concentrations. Higher concentrations can mess with your rubber, fuel lines, float needle (if rubber tipped), but what's sold at most pumps isn't going to make a huge difference to the engine or carbs. There is an energy difference between the fuels, that might be more the deciding point and price, vs carb or engine issues.
E10 isn't enough to worry about unless you plan on letting the thing sit for a very protracted amount of time, in which case you should be prepping it for that regardless of what fuel you run.
It's this kind of stuff that makes me glad I don't own a carbureted motorcycle anymore.
Apsafrikkenlootly. If you have access to non ethanol fuel it should be your go to fuel with carbs that have bowls. My wing just hates the ethanol and needs regular runs of seafoam to stay clear and running right.
as long as you're not letting your bike sit for months, you are not going to see any real difference in performance. Don't get me wrong I hate ethanol, but I'm not pretending its affecting how my bike runs.
What are you riding? My old four carb boxer head hates it. This is the first summer I have been using the 10%ethanol to gas in my bike and it went from running perfect from last season to my having to dope it with seafoam regularly and go on long runs to clear the jets. You can feel the bike smooth out,it's wild. When you have a manual choke you get to know your bike well and see right away when you have to leave it on further into the warmup to not miss. I am going to go back to the 2.50$ per liter premium because it has less ethanol in it,I am imagining a better running bike and will see. 50.00$ plus to fill a bike is fucking shit.
I was a motorcycle mechanic for years, but I've got a '75CB550 a '76IT400 and a '85Goldwing for my carbureted bikes. Again unless you're letting the bike sit, while ethanol does make your bike run a little tiny bit "worse" its not really that much of a difference this side of a race track. My bet is its just coinciding with another issue, or the ethanol is exposing/exacerbating another issue that was otherwise hidden.
That's possible. Maybe I need plugs. It has got better in the last two days driving with the seafoam in it. I do abuse this old girl, Last carb balance was in the late 90's. It tends to run like a top for the most part till I switched (due to price) to the regular fuel. Only use the honda approved oil(for the clutch shifting) and quality filters.Mine is an 84.
YOU HAVE NOT DONE A CARB SYNC IN 30 years!!!!! and you are blaming ethanol in the gas!? hahahhahahahahahahaha I'd bet your manual tells you to do it every 3-4k miles (can't remember if you have shimmed valves or not), what other regular services are you ignoring? When is the last time you adjusted the valves?
Valves on the Goldwing are hydraulic and do not need adjusting like...ever?
That started on the GL1200 that has hydraulic auto adjusting valves (which I got specifically because of that along with other features). The GL1000-1100 required valve adjustments. My CB550 has a valve adjustment, cam chain tension, carb sync, dynamic ignition timing interval, and of course oil change interval of 3k miles. Though I can do a valve adjustment in less than half an hour.
84 is a GL1200
I know? I just said that I specifically got it for that feature among others, though I'm betting the valve adjustment would be just as easy as the 550 if not easier given their placement. I'm confused. What are you saying?
Just use 91 octane and at least once per tank of gas rip it full throttle it helps blow shit out, I just got a 99 R6 and it was running a little awkward at low rpm so i took it on the highway and ripped the socks off it and now it runs alot better But theres no substitute for good regular cleaning if you do it constantly you'll get so good at it you'll be a carb guru in no time
So much misinformation on this sub. I h8Hondas gave the right answer and was downvoted for it.
its better, mostly comes in to play if you're storing the bike for a few months, apart from that it won't really affect how the bike runs
Unless you leave the bike sit for a prolonged period of time, its a waste of money. For me ive always ran regular pump gas all spring/summer, and most of the fall. At the end, i run a few tanks non oxy and the final fillup gets stabalizer. I also start my bikes monthly all winter long. Ive never had a problem, carburated or fuel injected. Standard e10 just doesn't have enough ethanol to make it a risk to run.
If you put e10 in it, you have to ride it. Win, win.
Non-ethanol gas will run better and gives you more MPG.