What kind of gas do motorcycles use

The other important aspect of any fuel is whether it has ethanol in it, and if so, how much. Ethanol—also known as Ethyl alcohol—is alcohol that is found in alcoholic beverages. Adding ethanol to gasoline is not something particularly new. Around the s, give or take, people started adding ethanol to the regular fuel. Ethanol is a cheap way to increase the octane rating of fuel, but it produces less energy than gasoline upon ignition. The data shows that ethanol has about two-thirds the energy of standard gasoline.

See article: How is motorcycle fuel consumption calculated? Ethanol-free fuel is, hands down, the best fuel for motorcycles. It offers the best performance and efficiency. However, today the majority of the fuel that gas stations sell has ethanol in it.

So if you see E, for example, this will be pure ethanol, and E0 is pure gasoline. Ethanol is considered corrosive to certain types of metals and plastic—a problem well-known with older motorcycles.

However, with newer models, these problems are not so common anymore. However, ethanol also attracts water, which is one of its biggest disadvantages—especially when leaving your motorcycle sitting for a long time. Leaving your motorcycle sitting for prolonged periods of time will cause the fuel to go bad and the ethanol to absorb water, this can cause some serious corrosion and damage to the engine, fuel system, and more.

Ethanol can cause other problems, too, like increased average engine and exhaust system temperature. In certain cases, the manufacturer will even void your warranty if such fuel has been used. This has caused some concerns about the possibility of wide adoption and expansion of the E15 fuel. Nowadays, leaded fuel is not being sold, and it is considered illegal. There is, however, lead additive replacement being sold. In the s, engineers were looking for ways to increase the octane of fuel and prevent engine knocking.

What they found was that lead was capable of achieving that, so they began using it. Lead not only raises the octane rating of fuel but also lubricates the valves and valve seats.

The lubrication is achieved by the lead salts that are produced by the ignition of the lead. However, these salt deposits can also cause a wide array of problems. They can foul the spark plugs, corrode the exhaust system, degrade the lubricating oil in the crankcase, and even increase the harmful emissions. In leaded gas was banned and gradually phased out. This means that motorcycles and other types of vehicles produced after that period were designed to use unleaded gas.

They were built with hardened valve seats, which did not require lead in the fuel anymore. In the majority of cases, the only difference may be in the octane rating. Regular fuel will be about 87 octane, and premium may range between 91 to If your motorcycle manual recommends unleaded fuel with 87 octane, there is no benefit of going with premium fuel. There is little to no benefit of giving your engine higher octane fuel than it has been rated for. Considering that premium gas is, on average, more expensive than regular gasoline, and how little to no benefit there may be to using it, you will simply be paying more and getting nothing in return.

Remember to read labels carefully, and if you are not sure if a product has alcohol, you can always ask. Alcohol is known by many names when used as an additive. There are non-alcohol containing treatments available for cleaning carburetors; others stabilize the gas , giving it a longer shelf life and preventing phase separation and water contamination.

Some products may combine stabilizers and corrosion inhibitors. A well-managed additive program and regular maintenance per the manufacturer will go a long way towards keeping your bike running well. Topics: Ethanol , Motorcycles. Posted in: Ethanol , Motorcycles. Shop Now. Regular Gasoline vs. Pure Unleaded Gasoline Without Ethanol is Best for Motorcycles Most motorcycle manufacturers urge owners to use pure gasoline in their motorcycles.

Ethanol related problems for motorcyclists, include: Exposure to alcohol can rust metal fuel-system part and warp or otherwise damage parts of rubber, plastic, and other sealing materials.

Ethanol soaks up water from everything, including air. By this point, you probably know that it actually does matter what you end up putting into your gas tank. Any type of gas with probably get you to where you want to go. So what kind of gas do motorcycles use? The kind of gas motorcycles should use is ethanol-free higher octane gasoline no less than a 91 rating.

Motorcycles are considered to have high compression engines which is something that requires high octane. Ethanol is an additive in gas that is used to boost the octane but it can eventually clog up motorcycle carburetors.

There are some things added to fuel by oil companies that is intended to help us out in the long run. But sometimes those additives can actually impact our motorcycles in a negative way. Motorcycles need to use ethanol-free higher octane gasoline. Motorcycles that have a carburetor especially need to use ethanol-free gas because ethanol is a gasoline additive that boosts the octane of gasoline.

Motorcyclists need to be specific about the gas station they go to and find a gas station that states it has ethanol-free gas. Ethanol-free gas is a little more expensive because it has higher value product that goes into it. For example, you may be presented with Regular which may have an octane rating of 87, Plus which have an octane rating of 89, and Premium which may have an octane rating of Fuel injected motorcycles tend to not gum up like carbureted motorcycles do.

But still be wary of what gas you use because most new motorcycles are fuel injected and most of them still have a high compression ratio.