Ever do the math on Ethanol? If you get 10% ethanol and your mileage drops 3 mpg (typical) and you were getting about 20mpg (cage) you are actually consuming more dyno fuel than before the ethanol was added - but paying more. 2mpg drop at 20mpg would be break even. Ethanol is a really good deal from Washington, again.

 

Now this is interesting. There are two tanks in the ground if the station doesn't have diesel. There are 3 grades of fuel at the pump. Funny how the pump knows you want the middle grade and gives it to you isn't it. Yeah, it pumps fuel from both underground tanks to make that middle grade. Smart pump isn't it?

In the modern digital pumps the fuel shut off valve dispenses exactly what it shows however, if the person using that pump shuts off the nozzle before all the gas is dispensed between the shut off valve and the nozzle, you will get residual fuel in a very small amount. The old analog pumps were different an nowhere near as accurate.

If you are doing a fuel run on a bike that has say a 4.5 gallon tank and you are off the fill point by 1/10th of a gallon (12.8 ounces) in 200 miles you will change the outcome of the test by 1.2mpg. If that bike has a 3.3 gallon tank and you are off by that same 1/10th of a gallon you will change the outcome by 1.7mpg. Doing fuel runs on a bike requires careful measurements or the test data is at best suspect. You will also note the specific gravity of fuel (gasoline) changes with ambient air temperature and the engines efficiency in consuming that fuel will change with both temperature and humidity.

Many years ago Car and Driver or maybe Motor Trend did a test on the cars that did require premium fuel but they did it at a drag strip. The cars, which were a Corvette as well as a Mustang GT that I remember for sure were first run through a few times with premium. That fuel was drained out and regular 87 octane was put in for the next series of runs. The cars could not duplicate those same time by as much as 3/10ths of a second as I recall. Now, cages with OBD1 and OBDII do have much more sophisticated control systems and while the cars did run, their performance was hindered.

 

Most gas around here has up to 10% Ethanol and I have noticed no difference in the fuel mileage in the cages or on the bikes. If there is a difference it isn't the gas, rather, my foot or wrist.

 

Or you haven't been doing your math correctly. 10% ethanol = less mileage no matter what. That's just the way it works. Ethanol dilutes the gasoline and therefore you must burn more "fuel" to achieve the same result (miles traveled). Here in Minnesota we have been battling this since the early 90's. I have proven it to many people many times by running premium vs. ethanol blend and you actually save money and fuel, not to mention less emissions, by using premium with no ethanol. If you actually take the time to do a fair test you will see the difference no doubt. I hate ethanol and avoid it like the plauge, it's been a scam from day one.

 

I have read that Shell uses a system with their pumps that completely seperates the grades of gas & you get what you pay for. I almost always use Shell for that reason.

 

This thread got me thinking that we have been getting ripped off. I pay premium price for ALL the gas I pump, not just some of it. And my new little WR250R only has a 2 gallon tank so a lot of what I pump isn't premium.

 

Gas Stations should have individual pumps for us hi-test bikers. With the prices we pay, it's the least they could do!

 

My Evo operators manual calls for a minimum 87 octane so it is not an issue for me. If I think the bike will be parked for a while I fill up with the higher octane. If on a road trip where the tank will be used, I fill up with reg.

The ethanol does concern me so when I park my bike I close my tank valve and run all the fuel out of the carb and lines. No problems so far.

 

Nope, the calculator does the math and it does not lie. I have found very little difference in fuel efficiency with the Ethanol mix fuels; so much so it could be considered a non-issue. As far as tests go, you may be surprised at the trouble I go through to be very sure the fuel runs I do are as accurate as they can be without the use of a HOBBS and fuel flow meter, which would be even more accurate as engines burn fuel at a rate of pounds per hour of operation and not really miles per gallon.

The methodology used to measure miles per gallon is critical even with cages. When I worked for Chevrolet this became an issue because folks could never achieve the ratings given by the EPA and a TSB was actually issued on the subject that illustrated an appropriate methodology, which included using the same pump at the same gas station at the beginning and end of the fuel run. I still use that suggested methodology today because it works quite well. When I do a valid fuel run that bike or cage does not stop. If it does, the test is invalid and I have to start all over. The test I do is also done 2 ways on the same stretch of road for 100.4 miles as determined by road mileage markers and not the odometer of the test vehicle be it the bikes or the cages I own.

In March of 2008, an article from American Fuels went through the subject of using E10 blended fuels and determined the fuel mileage loss based on a study from the Coordinating Research Council on a fleet of 12 California certified model year 2001-2003 cars and light trucks suggests that the fuel economy penalty for 10% by volume ethanol blend is on the order 1.4%. Using there figures as a model, this would mean a car, light truck or motorcycle that went 200 miles on pure gasoline would go 197.2 miles on the same amount of blended E10 fuel. This is hardly enough difference to keep me from even thinking that 10% ethanol by volume had any real difference in fuel economy. My own vehicles would agree.

 

There is a filter on each pump that holds about a quart of gas. One third of a gallon is fairly accurate after you flush out the 87 octane that the previous customer pumped.