What fuel are people using in their bikes?  Manufacturer wants 98 octane unleaded which is not available at the pumps in the US.  Am I going to ethanol free race fuel at $15/gal?   What are you guys doing? 

Edited August 14, 20179 yr by medeiros494

Maybe VP C-14 50/50 with pump gas? Is it even that critical?

This a big source of confusion. Octane in the US and Europe is not indicated at the pump in the same way. Europe posts RON at the pump, the US posts AKI, which is  (RON + MON) / 2. The end result of all this confusion is that 93 octane is the US is about the equivalent of 98 octane in europe (again, talking about indicated octane at the pump). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_methods

Ethanol is a different matter, but if it makes you feel any better, Ryan Young and all his riders run pump gas in their bikes, and I run it all mine.

Edited August 14, 20179 yr by heffergm

http://www.aspenfuel.co.uk/

3 hours ago, heffergm said:

This a big source of confusion. Octane in the US and Europe is not indicated at the pump in the same way. Europe posts RON at the pump, the US posts AKI, which is  (RON + MON) / 2. The end result of all this confusion is that 93 octane is the US is about the equivalent of 98 octane in europe (again, talking about indicated octane at the pump). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_methods

Ethanol is a different matter, but if it makes you feel any better, Ryan Young and all his riders run pump gas in their bikes, and I run it all mine.

Thanks.  Did the research. 93 pump gas it is.  think Sunoco has a 94.  Ethanol is the big issue.  I try to ride at least a week and the bike are stored inside my shop which is heated and air conditioned. I'll run the bowl dry after riding. Should be fine.  1/2 VP Isn't that expensive. Makes 10 gallons of reduced ethanol fuel.I think our fuel is 6% ethanol here. Lots of riding with that.  

FWIW, I've never had ethanol related (or any fuel related issue) in any of my 'things' with engines... cars, bikes, mower, etc. That includes the power washer that sits for at least a year between uses. Same with the snow blower... it still starts first pull. At the rate I blow through gas in the trials bike (which is very quickly during the summer) it's not something that I'm going to worry about. All this stuff lives outside in a shed by the way.