Mpg.

[donebysunday]

listed on the pump

I know this is a stupid question but how do you tell if the gas has ethanol? I just use what they have at any station but would like to stay away from the ethanol if possible. Does it say it on the pumps?

Yes it is shown right on the pump, in my case this station says right above the button this gas does not have Ethanol.

[dondons1984]

The pumps will say it. At least in Washington and Oregon they do. I just get premium anyways since its better for the bike.

[jjz28]

Does premium not have ethanol? I have been using premium (93 octane).

[dondons1984]

I honestly don't know. I know it is better for motorcycles in the long run. If you are looking for ethanol free then a Conoco has it. They don't use ethanol at all. That's usually were I get my gas and they advertise that they have no ethanol. So it works good. Course I got to be able to ride to tell you if it works good on ours. I know on my Goldwing it made a huge difference mpg wise as in a difference of I wanna say off my head memory was 2 mpg which is huge for long trips and it also made my bike run better. But hey I'm off to bed. Got a long day of bills being paid and such. Its 2:27 am here

[jetmechmarty]

Does premium not have ethanol? I have been using premium (93 octane).

Jeff,

You're going to have to investigate how it's done in WV. Every state has its own laws regarding this. Here in Georgia, if ethanol exceeds 1%, the pump must be labeled as such. Because fuel without ethanol is tough to find, the market kicks in. In these parts, anyone serving up pure gasoline proudly proclaims it.

[Courtney]

I have not found any gas in B.C. so far that does NOT have ethanol in it. Along with a bunch of other crap. :-) But at least it's from Canadian oil. So getting 37mpg is sounding pretty good right now, after listening to this discussion.

[fredintoon]

I have not found any gas in B.C. so far that does NOT have ethanol in it. Along with a bunch of other crap. :-) But at least it's from Canadian oil. So getting 37mpg is sounding pretty good right now, after listening to this discussion.
Bone stock 1980 Special except for the exhaust and crashbars. Oh yeah, and the scabbard for the Winchester Defender.

Hi Courtney,
the Pumpkin averages ~28 miles per (Imperial) gallon.
One bad thing about the sidecar, it does NOT help the gas mileage.
I mostly gas up with 87 Octane (ethanol and all) bought at the Co-op because I get a membership discount.
And you can carry a working firearm in that scabbard?
Here in Saskatchewan a spotty teenage mountie was giving a friend a hard time for carrying a deactivated Sten Gun on his WW2 kitted out 16H Norton until his sargeant told him to stop making an ass of himself.

[dondons1984]

We have gas stations here that show with banners that they don't have ethanol in there gas. I took a pic cause its huge! Lol

[Bonz]

The reason ethanol blended gas gets lower mpg is ethanol has lower energy content (BTU'S) than the same amount of gasoline. You mix in 10% of something that has a lot lower energy content than the same amount of gas, and you lose mileage because you use more quantity of the blended fuel to do the same work.

Vehicles that run on E85 get horrible mileage relative to running straight gasoline or even 10% ethanol mix.

[jjz28]

I did my mileage day before yesterday after riding to work and got 36mpg and that wasn't really riding easy. As much as I try, I just cant take it easy on a tank of gas.

[natemoen]

I can run E85 in my pickup and one time when I was making a 800ish mile one way trip I decided to do the 800 there on regular (whatever I could find) gas and the 800 back on only E85. All the E85 I got was between 40-75 cents less per gallon. When I got back I calculated the cost per mile. Don't remember the exact numbers but it was a very small amount cheaper to run the E85. Although most of the time you don't see E85 that much cheaper than regular.

[donebysunday]

E 85

I can run E85 in my pickup and one time when I was making a 800ish mile one way trip I decided to do the 800 there on regular (whatever I could find) gas and the 800 back on only E85. All the E85 I got was between 40-75 cents less per gallon. When I got back I calculated the cost per mile. Don't remember the exact numbers but it was a very small amount cheaper to run the E85. Although most of the time you don't see E85 that much cheaper than regular.

I'm beginning to see E85 listed on a few price signs
I don't have anything I would dare try it in.

[Bonz]

I've done the obligatory few gallons in all my vehicles, to see how they perform and across the board, with just 3 or 4 gallons of E85 to top of the tank of any vehicle, mpg drops noticeably. Would never run it regularly, due to the fuel system issues it might cause on non-E85 fuel systems and it would cost MORE to drive the same distance given the lower mpg.

I put 1 gallon of E85 in my ZRX 1200 when I hit reserve about a month ago, for a 50-50 mix of E-85/unleaded. The bike ran poorly at low rpm, wouldn't idle well, it did run well at cruise speed, however roll-on was slower although it was smooth. Went right back to the station after about 10 miles and filled up with proper gas, ran that tank through within a few days and can now save you all the trouble of doing that for yourself. Don't.

[natemoen]

I've done the obligatory few gallons in all my vehicles, to see how they perform and across the board, with just 3 or 4 gallons of E85 to top of the tank of any vehicle, mpg drops noticeably. Would never run it regularly, due to the fuel system issues it might cause on non-E85 fuel systems and it would cost MORE to drive the same distance given the lower mpg.

I put 1 gallon of E85 in my ZRX 1200 when I hit reserve about a month ago, for a 50-50 mix of E-85/unleaded. The bike ran poorly at low rpm, wouldn't idle well, it did run well at cruise speed, however roll-on was slower although it was smooth. Went right back to the station after about 10 miles and filled up with proper gas, ran that tank through within a few days and can now save you all the trouble of doing that for yourself. Don't.

If your vehicle is designed to use E85 it won't harm anything. But if it isn't desinged to use it then it can harm things. The comeputer needs to be able to adjust the fuel mix to compensate for the different fuel otherwise you will be running super lean and burn things up if you can get it to run well at all. Or if on a carb engine you need to jet accordingly and have seals that can withstand it and only run E85.

[Bonz]

Good summary of the previous post...

It's the cumulative effect of the E-85 on the non-E-85 fuel system when it is exposed for a prolong period of time, one tank with a few gallons added in is not an issue based on experience.

Anyone heard of an engine running so lean on E-85 (when the engine/fuel system wasn't designed for it specifically) that it burned up? I know that is the potential, but what is the reality of that having happened?