89 octane ethanol free gas

Is it ok to use 89 ethanol free gas instead of the recommended 91 octane? Could it be better than using higher octane but without the ethanol free?

Why, This would be like drinking water from a mud puddle. My bike, wheeler, boat, snowmobile, lawnmower, etc.- every small engine I have has never seen any gas but 91 octane ETHANOL FREE PREMIUM.

Because where I live the only gas station near me with ethanol free gas is 89... and the only thing over 91 is called super with a 92 or 93 rating but is non ethanol free. So for me the ethanol free part is more important. I read some other posts about this and does not seem to hurt the bike in any way and some even resort to regular 85 with no ill effects.

I use STA-BIL 360 Performance fuel treatment in my bike and all of my small engines.  It prevents ethanol damage, prevents corrosion, cleans the fuel system, and stabilizes stored or unused fuel up to 12 months.  I just took my 8 year old lawn mower out of storage for the first use since last October and it started on the 2nd pull and ran like a champ.

1 oz. of STA-BIL 360 treats 5 gallons of gas.  I just add it to a 5 gallon can of gasoline and fill my bike and other small engines from that.  I also carry a couple of small 10 ml (0.33 oz) essential oils bottles filled with STA-BIL in my backpack for those occasions where I need to fuel my bike at a gas station.

You might find this link informative also.

DreadlockJames wrote:

Is it ok to use 89 ethanol free gas instead of the recommended 91 octane? Could it be better than using higher octane but without the ethanol free?

I've run 87, 89, and 91 octane in my X and never noticed a difference.

Some say the lower the octane the more horsepower.

Bottom line is, just try a tank full and see how your bike runs. Does it knock? Ping? Does it sputter and run rough? Backfire?

if you're really concerned carry a small bottle of octane booster and if you notice something not quite right, add some.

Plenty of people have run on lower octane than 91 for various reasons and I've never heard anyone say it was a problem.

And yeah - no ethanol is probably a good thing.

DreadlockJames wrote:

Because where I live the only gas station near me with ethanol free gas is 89... and the only thing over 91 is called super with a 92 or 93 rating but is non ethanol free. So for me the ethanol free part is more important. I read some other posts about this and does not seem to hurt the bike in any way and some even resort to regular 85 with no ill effects.

What's your main problem with ethanol?

Do you fill your tank and then let it sit for months?

Many people can't get ethanol-free gas and I don't hear them posting about problems. I got almost 13,000 miles on my 2008 X with original fuel pump and everything and it's never had anything but ethanol gas.

I've got daughters with used cars with well over 120,000 miles on them and they don't have issues running ethanol gas.

Our local gas with ethanol in it goes stale quick, if my bike sits for a month it runs kinda bad off idle.
I've had to get 87 octane gas mid ride before, the bike runs like it has old 91 ethanol gas in it, kinda bad off idle.

If I get 91 octane ethanol free gas my bike runs its best at low rpm, I cant tell a difference at high rpm, the WRR likes good gas, it lugs pretty good on good gas and stalls easy on crappy gas.

This is the only bike I've owned that doesn't run good on regular, the rest of em just spark rattled lugging up hills on regular but otherwise ran the same.
I've had a few cars that ran better on 91 octane and were better on gas burning it so it was cheaper to run it, I think it maybe the crappy gas they sell in nova scotia, chainsaws and other small 2 strokes wont even run on the local regular gas.

I'd try the 89 octane ethanol free gas and see how it runs, its not the octane making my bike run bad, its the other junk in the gas.

I did fill it with the 89 ethanol free gas that I trust and run in my my two stroke ped... And it runs fine. I have run 92 with ethanol in my 72cc two stroke and never liked it cause it runs hotter and seems to run leaner. The only problem that I am having now is, the previous owner let the bike sit for too long and now there's a leak in the base gasket. I was letting it idle and get rid of any hiccups cause this was the first time started in years after I replaced the fuel pump, and noticed the oil leak

If the gas your getting is ethanol free I don't think it would matter unless you let your bike sit for months which you should be using a gas additive like stabile. IMOA if it is ethanol free, use it. If it were 91 vs. 89, you would probable get more MPG that's all! See how your bike likes it. Every gas in my area has ethanol unless it is 91 octane so I'm opinionated.

Don't forget that ethanol is an excellent anti knock additive. Highly tuned vehicles demand it.

Funny how many people brain wash by gas company's. Ethanol don't do shit but gum shit up...is my opinion and is jUst away for America to do something with all the bullshit corn we grow in Midwest

So we have to by more products to deal with the bs ? He'll no, cut the bs from the equation, buy ethanol free

Update:
Recently purchased octane booster from maxima company I believe. Did make the bike run smoother and less jumpy. Seemed to improve the throttle response. The only thing though I poured the blue stuff in a cheap plastic disposable cup to weigh it out first and it totally melted the bottom of the cup off like instantly and I wasted a bunch... It got me thinking though about the plastic parts of the pump I hope it doesn't eat the pump up like it did that cup. I know the pump plastic is made from a harder compound but it's still plastic.

Plain old gas will eat through a disposable plastic cup don't worry about the octane booster doing the same.
Theres a 1000 different types of plastic, cheap cups aren't made to stand up to gas.

motokid wrote:

DreadlockJames wrote:

Because where I live the only gas station near me with ethanol free gas is 89... and the only thing over 91 is called super with a 92 or 93 rating but is non ethanol free. So for me the ethanol free part is more important. I read some other posts about this and does not seem to hurt the bike in any way and some even resort to regular 85 with no ill effects.

What's your main problem with ethanol?

Do you fill your tank and then let it sit for months?

Many people can't get ethanol-free gas and I don't hear them posting about problems. I got almost 13,000 miles on my 2008 X with original fuel pump and everything and it's never had anything but ethanol gas.

I've got daughters with used cars with well over 120,000 miles on them and they don't have issues running ethanol gas.

Ethanol is Hygroscopic and will pull in water given enough time the water will drop out of suspension and contaminate the fuel. Typically this is only an issue if the fuel sits but I have seen it do this as quick as 3 months. This is one of the reasons I add fuel stabilizer to the bikes that I don't ride very often. The other thing I have seen with Ethanol is the 'green ring of death' that it leaves in carbs when it sits - I don't think this is as big of an issue in FI systems. Lastly Ethanol has a lower energy density than gasoline so you loose out on fuel economy and power to a degree. Some of your premium gas contains more ethanol to raise the octane rating with the end result that you have less energy in the fuel.

It has been awhile since I last looked but running ethanol in gas use to be an overall energy loss - in other words it took more energy to make the ethanol than what it replaced by using it in gasoline. I am sure things have improved since then. Still not sure if the Government is still offering tax incentives on ethanol but if they are I suspect this stuff will gradually phase out once those go away.