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[Gumby]

Question: What are the recommendations regarding the type of gasoline (regular or super/premium) in a CVO? I've read the owner's manual and of course they do not recommend gas with >10% ethanol. However, I can't find any recommendation related to the grade (regular or super/premium). When I bought my Street Glide in 2017 the rep recommended using super gas but I've not heard/read anything since then about using super/premium gas. Give me your thoughts. Thanks.

[grc]

It's in the owners manual in the "specifications" section.  Fuel requirement > Premium unleaded

Jerry

[Gumby]

Jerry, yep there it is, page 27, one-liner: "Fuel requirement - Premium unleaded".
Thank you. I looked and looked but couldn't find it. Much appreciated.

[iski]

Premium unleaded is good. If you can find premium unleaded with no ethanol your gas mileage will be a bit better.  Most premium sold  has 10% ethanol.

[Gumby]

How about riding in the Colorado mountains: do you add some kind of additive to increase mileage?

[grc]

Jerry, yep there it is, page 27, one-liner: "Fuel requirement - Premium unleaded".
Thank you. I looked and looked but couldn't find it. Much appreciated.

You are very welcome.  Years ago they actually spelled it out and called for 91 octane minimum.  I was thinking the M8 engines should actually have a lower octane requirement than the Twin Cams, due to the four valve heads and shorter flame travel along with oil or water head cooling, so I was a bit surprised that they still call for Premium.

Jerry

[grc]

How about riding in the Colorado mountains: do you add some kind of additive to increase mileage?

At high elevations you would actually need less octane, so you could switch to mid grade.  I've been told that in the Denver area they have 85 octane regular instead of 87 due to the lower octane requirement at high altitude.

Jerry

[Gumby]

Sounds like just another reason for a road trip to the Colorado mountains. Thanks. Stay safe with this COVID-19 reality.

[OBB]

At high elevations you would actually need less octane, so you could switch to mid grade.  I've been told that in the Denver area they have 85 octane regular instead of 87 due to the lower octane requirement at high altitude.

Jerry

Correct. I've been out there on a few occasions and the octane grade is lower than it is here in the Midwest

Sent from my boring Droid phone.

[SteveVO]

While not required one of the benefits from living here in Europe is the higher octane ratings.  Shell Stations sell 100 and Aral sells a 102 octane.  They do measure Octane a bit different here so in its really 97 and 100 respectively.

[FLSTFI Dave]

Premium unleaded is good. If you can find premium unleaded with no ethanol your gas mileage will be a bit better.  Most premium sold  has 10% ethanol.

In my area near the lakes its usually pretty easy to find 100% Premium Gas, there is an Exxon 10 miles from the house that has 93 octane ethanol free gas.

Once you get away from the lakes most the ethanol free gas is 87 octane. 

Ethanol has less energy per gallon than gas which is why mpg is not as good.  Had an E-85 car, tried that garbage once, lost more than 10mpg, sure did not make up for cost savings.

At high elevations you would actually need less octane, so you could switch to mid grade.  I've been told that in the Denver area they have 85 octane regular instead of 87 due to the lower octane requirement at high altitude.

Jerry

Even when out west, I buy what ever the highest available is.  Most areas you can find 91, occasionally 89 is best.  I have had bikes ping in the Rockies with 87 in them so I try not to run it unless I have no option.

[iski]

In my area near the lakes its usually pretty easy to find 100% Premium Gas, there is an Exxon 10 miles from the house that has 93 octane ethanol free gas.

Once you get away from the lakes most the ethanol free gas is 87 octane. 

Ethanol has less energy per gallon than gas which is why mpg is not as good.  Had an E-85 car, tried that garbage once, lost more than 10mpg, sure did not make up for cost savings.

For us the premium no ethanol is welcome.  We could get it near lakes but was mostly only at marinas.  This station is a neighborhood store, no lake or water, and not convenient to fill boats. Have had 87 no ethanol for years but was none close by.  In the last year or so we went from none around to both available in our neighborhood shopping area.  Notice both stations stay fairly busy on their non ethanol sales.

E85 is garbage.  The decision to use corn for ethanol was one of the dumbest federal programs ever and am hopeful someday it will be allowed to die as it should have long ago.

[grc]

The only time E85 came close to being economically competitive was when the government was heavily subsidizing the price.  Now it isn't close to being competitive, and the only people still using it must be either corn farmers or greenies.  This is one program that never should have been, and it needs to go away.  People starving around the world while we turn food into motor vehicle fuel is just wrong, period.

Jerry

Btw, considering how changeable things are these days, it's still not a bad idea when buying a car or truck to get the Flex Fuel model.  You never know when the lobbyists might convince their representatives to approve E15 or E20 or whatever they are pushing to increase their profits.  It's nice knowing your vehicle can safely use anything from pure gasoline to 85% ethanol.

[J.D.]

My car will run everything including E85.  Yes the fuel economy goes way down but the break-even point math is pretty easy to figure out.  When gas prices spiked years back around $4/gallon it was definitely a good deal.

Premium is good for the Harleys as others mentioned due to the typical elevated head temps when riding mid-summer.

Higher octane = slower burn, which also enables more timing advance.

On the same octane fuel, I get slightly better fuel economy on the 100% fuel vs 10% ethanol blend.  The 10% ethanol is nice in the winter, though, as the ethanol scavenges water.  No more frozen fuel lines (anyone remember adding Heet in the winter?)

While I do run regular unleaded in the car, due to the variable timing advance, if I do run premium the fuel economy and power noticeably increases.

[fastfreddy]

easy on the ethanol game ... some people make a living brewing that  stuff   ,  but will say its made me lots of money  over the  years repairing cars and with this maintenance thing i have going now.

[2smoke]

easy on the ethanol game ... some people make a living brewing that  stuff   ,  but will say its made me lots of money  over the  years repairing cars and with this maintenance thing i have going now.

Ask any small engine shop and they will tell you... ethanol has been a boon to our business.

[iski]

My family grows corn.  Ethanol has been a bonanza.  When looking at a bigger picture it was not the best way to go as a nation to produce ethanol.  Brazil used sugarcane & my understanding is that was a better method.

Just read that Brazil is switching back to sugar from sugarcane & away from ethanol because gas is so cheap it is not as economically viable.

[dayne66]

Jerry, yep there it is, page 27, one-liner: "Fuel requirement - Premium unleaded".
Thank you. I looked and looked but couldn't find it. Much appreciated.

Page 27 of the 2012 FLHXSE3 manual: "Pump Octane (R+M)/2.             91 (95 RON)

I've been running 93 no ethanol from Chevron....might try a tank or two of 91 no ethanol ( I think Chevron up here in BC has it)

[scotman623]

We have 5-6 local stations that have 91 non ethanol.. I use it in my bikes and all small motor equipment.. Mowers, chainsaws.. ETC... when out of town riding I get the highest premium grade available for the bike..

[Pan1]

As far as performance vs octane- VP racing gas has some great information on their web site. The bottom line one shoe does not fit all. You want the fuel to give up its energy at the most advantage point in the piston stroke. Often time high octane can burn longer and actually cause an engine to run hotter as the fuel energy is not optimized. Years ago, I believe it was HOT ROD magazine performed dyno pulls on basically stock, low compression v-8 and the lower octane 87 made more hp than 93 octane or even racing gas. It is important to note that there must be a high enough octane rating to prevent pre- detonation or pre-ignition ( both can be referred to as spark nock). I agree modern electronic systems can somewhat adjust for various fuels but the best scenario is when the physics are optimized.

[Stewie_FL]

I have run both 91 and 93 in my 2017 SGS with the 107. On 91 the bike seemed to be a little peppier but seemed to run a bit hotter. WAWA down here is the only one I have found that has both 91 and 93. They also sell 89 non ethanol. I was involved in the WAWA data breech and had to change all my credit cards so I stopped going there. I don't think WAWA is top tier either.

[J.D.]

If you run really high octane "racing gas" you need to tune to it to take advantage of the added octane.  When we were kids we could buy 100 octane at a local station.  We'd advance the timing on the old mechanical distributors (just before detonation) to take advantage and make extra power.  I don't think you'd see any benefit otherwise.

[grc]

If you run really high octane "racing gas" you need to tune to it to take advantage of the added octane.  When we were kids we could buy 100 octane at a local station.  We'd advance the timing on the old mechanical distributors (just before detonation) to take advantage and make extra power.  I don't think you'd see any benefit otherwise.

When I was a kid 100 octane was the equivalent of today's 89-91 octane.  That was before they changed the ratings from RON (Research Octane Number) to the current rating method of (R + M / 2).  M stands for Motor Octane Number btw, and it was determined by running the fuel in a variable compression engine and measuring the knock compared to the knock from the same engine running pure iso-octane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane), which is 100 RON by definition.  I remember doing such tests back in ancient times at school in fuels and lubricants lab.  The small single cylinder engine had an adjustable cylinder that was cranked up or down to alter compression ratio. 

There are countries that still use RON ratings on the pumps.  I believe Britain still does, among others.

Jerry

[J.D.]

Interesting.

I'm talking about a 100 octane "race fuel" gasoline pump among the 87/89/92 octane pumps.

[iski]

If Spinal Tap sold gas, their gas would go to "11".

[scotman623]

I have run both 91 and 93 in my 2017 SGS with the 107. On 91 the bike seemed to be a little peppier but seemed to run a bit hotter. WAWA down here is the only one I have found that has both 91 and 93. They also sell 89 non ethanol. I was involved in the WAWA data breech and had to change all my credit cards so I stopped going there. I don't think WAWA is top tier either.

I was caught in the WAWA data breach in NJ... Bank had to cancel my CC and everything...