old bike+high octane=horrible performance?

[ikazuki]

joe; the facts that have been laid out so far indicate a confirmation of bad gas. an in-line fuel filter will save you trouble in the future. good luck brother. ikazuki

[SqDancerLynn1]

Their is a sayin NEVER buy gas for at least 2-3 hours after their delivery. It sturs up the water & all of the crap in their tank. I alway use 87 in the winter During the summer I use 91 or it pings

[GSJoe]

Will gas treatment neutralize the bad gas issue? Or do I have to completely go through the hassle of draining the thing out?

[wolfie]

If it's just water in the gas, sometimes some Heet or knock off alcohol based water remover will do it.

[mkaczmarek]

Gas Treatment...

I know that its a hassle to drain the tank from the "bad fuel".

Plus there's the obvious costs of replacing a full tank of fuel, but lets face it, any fuel additives or treatments you want to "try" are obviously not going to be free either, plus nothing's guaranteed that they will infact work in your case. Then you have to take into account the possibility of getting some of that filthy fuel into your carbs or even the engine I think the obvious choice would be to play it safe and get rid of it altogether.

I'd remove the bad fuel and use it in my lawnmower which is happy as long as you give it a liquid resembling gas. (hopefull you have one) either way you'll have to dispose of it one way or another.

================================================== ================================================== ===================
1979 GS1000E

"The less you know, the more you believe."
"We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong."

[dietcokeking]

"No gasoline cleans better than our premium gasoline" really means that it doesn't clean any better than regular. Ditto "no gasoline gives more power...". The Federal Trade Commission proved it. There is an insignificant amount of extra detergent in high octane gas, and it's there for marketing purposes. I think you got bad gas.

[toymechanic.]

Bad High Octane Fuel

i THINK MORE AND MORE WE ARE SEEING BAD HIGH OCTANE FUEL IS BECAUSE it is setting around longer. With the price of fuel noone is spending the money for the high stuff. So it sits around and gathers moisture. If you bought high octane and it does anything but run better, then you got bad gas. On everything I have used high octane in, I have been able to tell a difference in. It may be the differenc ein out running your buddy or not. It does make a noticable difference (if you get fresh fuel).

[dietcokeking]

One more time... Premium fuels have no more potential energy than 87 Octane fuel. If it doesn't detonate (ping) excessively on 87 Octane, there is no reason to use higher octane fuel.

Premium fuel does not make a bike or car run stronger or faster if the vehicle is designed to operate on regular fuel. The sometimes exception to the rule is newish autos - some of these computer equipped vehicles will advance ignition timing until ping is detected, thereby offering a few more ponies for those folks willing to pay extra. My car provides 230 hp with premium fuel, but ONLY 220 hp with regular.

If your vehicle manufacturer says 87 Octane is okay, and it doesn't ping excessively, save your money, 'cause you're not going to go any faster!

[Hotblack]

One more time... Premium fuels have no more potential energy than 87 Octane fuel. If it doesn't detonate (ping) excessively on 87 Octane, there is no reason to use higher octane fuel.

Premium fuel does not make a bike or car run stronger or faster if the vehicle is designed to operate on regular fuel. The sometimes exception to the rule is newish autos - some of these computer equipped vehicles will advance ignition timing until ping is detected, thereby offering a few more ponies for those folks willing to pay extra. My car provides 230 hp with premium fuel, but ONLY 220 hp with regular.

If your vehicle manufacturer says 87 Octane is okay, and it doesn't ping excessively, save your money, 'cause you're not going to go any faster!

That is exactly the science behind it. Some people claim to have consistently better performance with high octane gas, and that may be - but in that case everything they tried it in pinged - audibly or not - with lower octane. Either that OR their findings were not arrived at very objectively.

It is NOT impossible to get better performance with higher octane gas EVEN WITH AN ENGINE DESIGNED FOR REGULAR. As mentioned above, some people use mid grade when it's hot, and in my experience this is not a wasted effort - for some. My 750 DEFINITELY pings when it's REALLY hot and under load, and higher octane is definitely advised in that situation. usually I don't ride when it's that hot though (Hell I don't even WALK) so it's not much of an issue for me. Older engines can have increased octane requirements, the explanations I've heard (and they seem to make sense) are that carbon buildup in the combustion chamber can a) raise compression and b) provide irregularities and sharp edges which facilitate detonation. Larger combustion chambers are also more susceptible to detonation than smaller ones. I had a Buick Centurion with a 455 ci engine (over 7 liters) that claimed to run on low octane fuel - I never succeeded in getting it to do that. It needed the best gas I could find or it woule ping mercilessly. I never figured out why, so I had to feed that pig premium no matter what.

If your bike pings under normal conditions with regular gas, investigate timing, compression, etc. to see if there's a mechanical cause.

And remember, not all pinging is audible, so if you truly notice better mileage with premium under well monitored conditions, then it means you're getting some pinging that you can't hear. Probably not too dangerous, but why take chances?

[katoranger]

I run 87 in my bikes unless the owners manual says otherwise. I tried the premium gas and it was difficult to start. My lawnmower and 74 chevrolet don't care.

Allen

[Tarbash 27]

For My 79 Gs750. I Noticed The Brand Of Gas Had An Effect. I Always Run Exxon In My Bike. I Made A Trip From New York To Florida On It And Noticed It Would Run Different If I Bought It From A Different Brand Station. And When I Got To Florida I Bought About Every Brand Their Was. The Bike Ran So Bad On Bp And Getty. It Would Ping And Felt Like It Had No Power. The Next Time I Filled It, I Put Exxon In. Ran Like A Champ. I Just Stick With Exxon Now Or Mobil. It Seems To Run Th Best With It. Im Not Sure If Its Because I Jetted The Bike With It Exxon And Dialed It Into That Or What.

[DaveT.]

I think high octane for a stock bike is a bad idea. It cost wayy more and my bikes seem to get much less gas mileage with 92+ octane gasoline. I tried 100 octane once and it seems like my mileage was cut in half... :shock:

[Hotblack]

For My 79 Gs750. I Noticed The Brand Of Gas Had An Effect. I Always Run Exxon In My Bike. I Made A Trip From New York To Florida On It And Noticed It Would Run Different If I Bought It From A Different Brand Station. And When I Got To Florida I Bought About Every Brand Their Was. The Bike Ran So Bad On Bp And Getty. It Would Ping And Felt Like It Had No Power. The Next Time I Filled It, I Put Exxon In. Ran Like A Champ. I Just Stick With Exxon Now Or Mobil. It Seems To Run Th Best With It. Im Not Sure If Its Because I Jetted The Bike With It Exxon And Dialed It Into That Or What.

My Buick liked Amoco the best, also Exxon or Mobil. Gulf actually did well in it. BP, Hess, Getty - Ping city. People say it's all the same gas but my car had definite thoughts on that.

[toymechanic.]

[QUOTE=Hotblack]That is exactly the science behind it. Some people claim to have consistently better performance with high octane gas, and that may be - but in that case everything they tried it in pinged - audibly or not - with lower octane. Either that OR their findings were not arrived at very objectively.

It is NOT impossible to get better performance with higher octane gas EVEN WITH AN ENGINE DESIGNED FOR REGULAR. As mentioned above, some people use mid grade when it's hot, and in my experience this is not a wasted effort - for some. My 750 DEFINITELY pings when it's REALLY hot and under load, and higher octane is definitely advised in that situation. usually I don't ride when it's that hot though (Hell I don't even WALK) so it's not much of an issue for me. Older engines can have increased octane requirements, the explanations I've heard (and they seem to make sense) are that carbon buildup in the combustion chamber can a) raise compression and b) provide irregularities and sharp edges which facilitate detonation. Larger combustion chambers are also more susceptible to detonation than smaller ones. I had a Buick Centurion with a 455 ci engine (over 7 liters) that claimed to run on low octane fuel - I never succeeded in getting it to do that. It needed the best gas I could find or it woule ping mercilessly. I never figured out why, so I had to feed that pig premium no matter what.

QUOTE] If you would have retarded the timing it would have quit pinging and you would not have to feed that pig high octane, but in the process you would loose HP. Ever car I have ever had, I would advance the timing and always use high octane because it is cheap HP.

That is what the cars of today do the computer picks up knock and ping(via the knock sensor) and retards the timing.

AND ONCE AGAIN FRESH HIGH OCTANE WILL MAKE AN ENGINE RUN BETTER AND FASTER! EVEN A STOCK ENGINE!! BECAUSE IF THE COMPUTER PICKSUP PINGING IT WILL RETARD THE TIMING THUS LOWERING HP. These old bikes are the same way. They don't have computers of course, but if they are pinging or close to pinging there is a lose of HP. If your bike doesn't run better on high octane, then it is bad high octane! Get fresh stuff!

[Scud]

Yep...steer away from gas stations that have big trucks filling the tanks, they stir up all sorts of bad stuff that goes into your tank...not just water...

Scud