E-10 personal experiences

[jgm038]

I only run E10 87 in my bike. The closest place with pure gas is though 45-60 minutes of traffic light to traffic light.

No problems during use so far, but the problems come from storage. The gas will break down and you will be left with a varnish in carb bowls, jets, etc if not taken care of. Stabil does a good job...A few ounces of Berrymans B-12 seems to help as well also.

Got my bike in 2011, cleaned out the gummed up bowls and have been doing this since through 6-7 month winters, no problems

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: quarterliter
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Actually ethanol/alcohol should create more power in higher amounts than pure gas. I know if you look at F150 specs, and I did when I sold Fords, they had two sets of numbers...one on pure gas and one with E85, and on E85 the 5.4 put out more horsepower. However, if the vehicle does not adapt well to changing fuel blends, then it might run worse. But that is more the vehicle than the fuel causing it.


E85 is higher octane than regular gas so more timing advance can be run without detonation. Ethanol has less energy per volume than gasoline, so unless your taking advantage of the extra octane, performance will suffer.


I know, E85 fuel economy is about 25-30% lower than gasoline, that was also on the spec sheet. And yes it not only allows for more timing advance, but in some cars it can give a slight boost in power by cooling the air/fuel mixture. I know at least on carbed race engines the intake would be cold and sweating on a hot day with methanol blended or straight methanol gas.

 

[smokey422]

I don't recall what it said. I get a little flack on the Vulcan 1500 boards for running 87 but my mileage is actually 2-3mpg better than 91 and it never pings, overheats, or gives any other sign of being low on octane. I think one of the big problems with big twins (H-D, Kawasaki, or any other) is that people lug the [censored] out of them and carbon them up, thus needing higher octane. Kawasaki actually sells a product to get carbon out of their motors. My bike seldom sees high gear until I'm running an indicated 65mph (actually 60 with Kaw's speedo errors) and it runs beautifully and saves me money when I fill up. The best advice I can give is to try half a tank of 87 in your big Vulcan. If it starts to ping, fill it up with a higher grade and then stick with that. I've chatted with several 1500 owners who have good luck with 87 octane (R+M/2)/

 

[Black_Thunder]

Originally Posted By: outoforder
Since moving back to Ohio I have lost easy access to ethanol free gas. I can get it for winter storage, but the pump is far away to make it pain to fill up during the summer. I've heard all the stories about E-10 killing motorcycles and causing all kinds of havoc, but none of my friends have ever mentioned it causing a problem in their bikes specifically. Has anyone had a personal experience where E-10 was the definitive cause of a problem with their bike?



My dad's Honda developed a consistent backfire from exclusively using ethanol blended fuel.

after using ethanol free gas with some doses of MMO in the fuel its cleared up.



he now steers clear of ethanol fuel in both his bikes and I only use Premium ethanol free fuel in mine.

 

[Black_Thunder]

also our Kodiak 450 has had some ethanol fuel in it multiple times and began to have carb issues.

now try to stay away from the 10 percent 87 and run regular 87 or premium in it like i do in my Grizzly 550

 

[bulwnkl]

My NC700X runs well on E-10. My '00 CBR600 ran well on E-10. EVERY motorcycle in the county where Phoenix is located runs E-10 year-round, and it's even RFG + E-10, year-round. Doesn't have to be by reg, but it is in reality. Blaming alcohol for other problems (to include [censored] blending, storage, or additization) is a crock.

 

[Sw296inchblue]

E-10 is a mileage killer. Here is just one example. 2008 Yamaha road star warrior on E-10 I get about 38-40 mpg hwy. on Real gas I get 52-55mpg hwy. What a Scam

 

[Bluestream]

I am running E10 now in my 1100 V star, but only to clean the carbs out. The bike sat for a while before I bought it. E10 should clean all the varnish off them, then I plan to switch to real gas. Only problem is I will have to buy premium, and I don't really need it for the 1100.

E10 is pure swill, and I have lot of 2 stroke horror stories