Red Petrol 91 Is Gone, What Now?

[smedly]

Rule of thumb

the higher the octane the better for your engines performance generally, so if you were using benzine 91 then 95 is fine - although it will have little effect on low compression low performance engines (may even lose performance depending on engine management), the problem with low octane is that the fuel will tend to ignite more essily so you will get pre-ignition or knock, on high compression and turbo charged engines higher octane helps prevent this, if your engine has a knock sensor and electronic management (most fuel injection engines) then higher octane fuel will prevent retarding of the ignition due to knock therefore increasing performance, it's a balance and is dependant of many factors as detailed above

Same applies to gasohol and the less alchohol the better

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

[bbradsby]

the o-rings and fuel lines have all long ago been reformulated for resistance to alcohol, but ethanol is hygroscopic, so will collect water from the air and condense it in your gas tank.

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So if you have a real machine you don't consider a throw - away scooter, enrich the fuel-air ratio, get some epoxy tank sealer for your baby and change out the fuel lines preemptively. I noticed my 2001 bike's in-tank fuel pump's wiring contacts had corroded washers & nuts, but not terminal posts; so possibly these should be changed out to stainless steel. My old aluminum-tanked bike corroded completely through at the low spots due to water separation. I guess the water was alkaline pH.

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US Govt NREL labs have a plethora of info, and this one was pertinent IMHO: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/52909.pdf It deals with E10 endurance testing of small, marine two- & four-stroke engines that -like bikes - run at high loads (hull/wind resistance) and have high power-to-weight/displacement ratios.

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Their tests ran the engines at wide open throttle for 300 hours to accelerate wear, to simulate aging & long-term effects of E15 fuel. All engines ran hotter, leaner and metal weakening in the piston and valves were identified due to the added heat of ethanol combustion. Their big bike equivalent had valve failure from heat stress cracking; The two-stroke had a catastrophic crank bearing failure that was blamed on reduced lubricity or oil dispersion by the ethanol, so be warned! Your two-smoke is not welcome in the 21st Century. I'd go to full synth 2T and track the plug color carefully.

Edited February 23, 2013 by bbradsby

[ClareQuilty]

Trying to get answers on other threads but failing. What fuel are Nouvo Elegance drivers using now benzene 91 (red) is gone? Is everyone using benzene 95 yellow? Or are some going with gasohol 95?

I think you should use 95 Yellow 'benzine', for sure. Don't touch gasohol if you can help it.

Edited February 24, 2013 by ClareQuilty

[TCA]

Thanks for the replies above. I've emptied my tank of nearly all the gasohol and gone with benzene 95. It's still cutting out unless you keep the revs high but hopefully this will be sort-lived as the gasohol is completely replaced. I'd hate to think the gasohol has done any lasting damage, especially as it's in the bike manual as usable!