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My manual says that i shouldn't use fuels with certain ethanol, methanol etc percentages. Does any one know which stations (76, shell, mobil) has the best fuel. And is it a nation wide standard for the same companies or does it very depending on the state.

not sure about the varies of differ states, but here in tx i always fill up with the high grade octain. my bike specifies not to use any thing less than 90. so i use 93 occtain, even at 3 bucks a gallon im still reaping the benifits of a heathy running bike and eccelent gas milege. as for the stations walmarts, cheveron, shell, even most interstate truck stops have a good grade fuel.

TKDean wrote:My manual says that i shouldn't use fuels with certain ethanol, methanol etc percentages. Does any one know which stations (76, shell, mobil) has the best fuel. And is it a nation wide standard for the same companies or does it very depending on the state.

What exactly does your manual state?

It varies depending on region. Some as high as 18% most common is 8-10% The brand really dosen't make a dif. on al. level. The level must be posted on the pump by law. Forget about finding a higher octane. (our premium comes in either 89 or 91) Here our mid grade usually has less ethonol but in SD it is the opposite with midgrade having the most ethanol. Also I have noticed different preformance with ethanol from SD and ethanol from Colorado or Cal. (the SD stuff seems to run OK but Colo and Cal dosen't. Some stations carry ethanol based fuels yearround not just in winter. This is true of Western and some others. Here it is best to find out where gas is coming from. (gas from Denver BAD, gas from NM GOOD)

You usually get bad gas from Western, Safeway and Philips 66.

You usually get good gas from Sinclair (AKA..Diamond Shamrock, Clif Brice and Ashamera) and Acorn.

All others seem to vary greatly from one station to another. (here I can count on U-Pump It, Gasamat, and Loaf and Jug being ethanol free, but 40 miles away in springs Loaf sells ethanol year round) I didn't know Union 76 was still in bussiness, I guess they have become obscure like Exxon.

You didn't say what the the limits were in the manual. Metro areas that are mandated by the EPA to use an oxygenated fuel with generally have a 10% concentration. Ocassionally, you'll find up to 15%. Most of this info can be found on the pump labels. Most modern cars and bikes will have no problem with concentrations of 15% or less.

If your bike is less than 20 yrs. old, they're probably warning you away from special fuels with a high ethanol concentration like E85 (85% ethanol). This fuel is primarily for "flex fuel" cars that have been appropriately modified to handle high concentrations of ethanol. I've never heard of a bike that was so modified.

I've never heard of a bike that was so modified.

Here's one I found on CL

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/mcy/494257429.html

I like this one better

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/40a6 ... drcrd.html

Seriously I do not know of any production bike that can run E-85. However this may be the warning OP refers to.

http://www.pocket-bike.co.uk/

Well i cant remeber exactly what the manual says. But its something like nothing greater than 10% ethanol and 15% methanol or vis versa.