My stash of ethanol free 95 octane is just about out, and there are no reliable ethanol free or race fuel pumps near me, other than perhaps a marina that's advertised 100 octane.
What's the correct VP product for an R5 with oil pump? Is it C12? That states best for air cooled 2strokes....
if its not for a race bike run pump fuel. all mine are tuned to run 10% :twocents:
Yeah high test seems fine. Just either drain you carbs at the end of the year or leave them and run them through the ultrasonic tank at the start of the year.
At the moment I have 8 bikes licensed*. I got tired of periodically cleaning carbs and now run ethanol-free fuel only. I get 100 octane 100% dino juice at the local airport for $4 per gallon. There is also a place a bit further away from my house in suburban Houston that caters to industry that also has ethanol free fuel. It was $4 per gallon when normal gas was $3.00. It's still the same price even though gas has dropped to $1.80.
* 8 bikes are not much more expensive than 2. Historic plates in TX are $5 per year. Insurance is $10 each once you get enough bikes. The only fly in the ointment is that my wife will sometimes count them up. ;D
just fire em off every couple of weeks. I havent had to clean a nasty carb from sitting for years. and i have 11 on the road IF they sit, 1 oz of premix in a full tank helps.
I haven't had to run pump ethanol gas in 6 years but when I did, my carbs had to come off every 4-6 weeks for cleaning. Welcome to NJ. Perhaps I'll give it another try...
Looking at this list of VP fuels, they sure make a variety. If that's what you want, C12 or C9 looks good. It says the C9 has a long shelf life. We have ethanol free 91 all over the place around here ($2.65/gal). And, there is a Sunoco station about 15 miles away by a little dirt track that has a 110 race fuel pump ($9/gal).
maybe NJ is different, but here no issues. :twocents:
I run VP Vintage Leaded in all my bikes. My local supplier doesn't stock it but can have it for me in a day or so. It's worth every penny as I have not had to clean any carbs since using this!
I just run 93. I can ultrasonic my carbs for free but I rarely need to. Draining the carbs isn't hard but I rarely do it because I'm lazy.
I had to replace petcocks on two of our kids' bikes a few years ago because they were leaking. Disassembly revealed the body of the petcock corroded and irreparable; I blame ethanol.
100 LL is my choice for bike storage fuel, chainsaws, weedeater,Farmall A mowing Tractor, and my Lawn Boy Duraforce 2 stroke mower. All my small engines. You have to clean or change plugs on the 4 cycle stuff a little more often but it sure beats cleaning carbs
i mean, i get the preference. However, i actually ride my bikes to places i may not anticipate. I always set them up to run on pump fuel. My 67 kawi 120 sat for 9 mos int he warehouse at work, and it started 3th kick on tank fuel, no issues, rode home. However, its on premix because i cant rebuild the pump, and i don't ride it enough to really worry about it. a bit of premix in the tank helps, even tiny amounts. whats funny is , even on the concours owners group forum, the preferred method of avoiding ethanol greenies is to ass an oz or 2 to a full tank (which is almost 7 gallons) and run it thru the carbs. Don't get me wrong, i HATE ethanol but you can live with it. I even run it in the 62, 66, and 76 fords. :twocents:
For me it is more of a lack of time. I pay $5 a gallon and the airport is 300 yards from the house. I jet mine for pump fuel too so the 100 LL makes them a little rich in the summer. But I ride the least in the summer because we are busy making hay and I don't like to ride when it is way hot out. So it works well for me.
If you wanna run VP fuel VPR (https://vpracingfuels.com/product/vpr/?c=220) is a good choice for a mild performance engine. Octane isn't too high and it's pushing 6% oxygen for a couple extra ponies providing jetting is addressed. What I like about VP fuels is the consistency and latitude. It's forgiving once tuned properly and is the same batch to batch unlike the swill dispensed at the local station.
This site is helpful, they have an app as well. www.pure-gas.org/ It shows you a map of all gas stations that sell ethanol-free gas, its not perfect but helpful and shows what they are selling.
What do you guys do when you have to stop at a pump?
Anything of mine that runs VP stuff isn't basic transport. Not a concern for me.
Is anybody is riding their vintage 2t as primary transportation? I hope not, though i'd give that person some major credit if they pull it off. Further than a single tanks worth of fuel in a single day seems reasonable.
i've done 150-200 mile days. recently actually. :toot: Primary? no. A lot? yes.
Then theres Allen Wood & his iron butt rides on his buffalo or the t500. :dawg: :devil:
I've sold quite a few RD's to scooter kids who ride them constantly.
I'm just waaay more likely to ride a bike that is convenient to ride. I don't mind wrenching but sometimes a guy has to beat the hell out of his bike! (Chuck don't read that second part).
I don't get far from home on the bike much anymore, so I could go to premix but never have for long. The RZ has been my daily transportation to work the last few weeks with a tank bag for my lunch and whatever else bungee corded behind me (a set of RZ cases yesterday). There's a Cenex station selling ethanol-free gas in town, so I fill up there with the local old car crowd. I keep some ethanol-free fuel at home for anything that has diaphragms in it's carb, and I treat the cheap fuel before putting it in carbs with floats. A big part of my work life involves cleaning gummed-up carburetors!
I run C12 in my racing RD400 (and my VW Super Beetle from time to time). I guess I'm lucky, I have a VP gas station a couple of miles from me that stocks what I want, and our local farm/coop is a VP dealer and always has C12 in stock. For a stock RD, I run premium and keep the carbs drained.
Rob
We don't have easily accessible ethanol free gas where I live so I just run the premium mixed with stabilizer. Run a tank of that thru the bike at the end of the season and fill tank with the same. I don't even drain the carbs. Bike may sit for five months and she will still fire right up at will. Now that I'm the proud owner of a KTM Superduke GT I think I'm gonna have to keep the stabil in the gas at all times in the RD as I just don't ride it enough but that was part of the point of getting another bike so I don't burn out my little two fiddy rocket. :vroom:
So what do you guys think of stabilizer?... seems to do what it's made for...
I used to have to clean out my ex father in laws vtx1100 carb every year after he let it sit for 3-4 mos with stabilizer. (stabil) i don't use it at all with modern fuels. just my .02. I know people swear by it but nope.
Star Tron additive has had a good reputation for winter storage.
http://www.starbrite.com/startron
i used that for a while in my ducati years ago. didn't hurt but didn't really help either, was supposedly the 'cure' to the spreading fuel tanks on the sport classics. it still swelled but different issue i think. IF i were to use one, that would be the one.
Yeah I really can't say if stabilizer works or not. I guess I just do it as it's recommended and I haven't had issues using it. So I fired up the RD and took her for a 10 mile ride after she had been sitting for about 6 weeks. She fired on the third kick and no hiccups at all whilst running. I guess I'll count my blessings. :vroom:
Quote from: Djg8493 on June 29, 2020, 09:40:36 AM
This site is helpful, they have an app as well. www.pure-gas.org/ It shows you a map of all gas stations that sell ethanol-free gas, its not perfect but helpful and shows what they are selling.
That is a great resource for road trips and is where I found the two stations within 10 mi. that I frequent. Their price for 87 octane ethanol free is about $0.20/gal. more than E10 mid-grade. Previously I went to a nearby distributor (now defunct) that sold 5 or 6 grades of race fuel and ethanol free premium which was still over twice the cost of pump premium and within spitting distance of their 100 octane leadfree.
Sadly, the www.pure-gas.org app is currently iphone only, and I'm back to android so I have to squint at the non-mobile site.
Ed. Apparently this place is Tom's River has VP Fuel - https://www.pure-gas.org/station?station_id=42344
BTW. I have my heads worked for 93 pump gas. What would happen if i use 100 octane?
So to close out my part of the thread, I've taken the collective experience and I'm trying Shell 93 pump gas. Both Sunoco 95 and VP are available within 45 minutes from me, at $70 + a can.
My heads were done by SCR about 10 years ago but I honestly don't recall the specs, he cut the domes and squish from RD400 DG' s to fit my R5.
If I have to revert to ethanol free I will, but lemme try out the Shell 93 first for $15.