Gas Question
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,643
Likes: 3
From: Palm Beach
I have discussed this topic on many other fourms and have posted my personal findings.
I live in Oregon and the state did NOT have ethanol in the gas up until about 6 months ago, when they passed a law to mandate at least 10% in the gasoline.
Now before I go on, let me explain that I travel a lot, especially between Oregon and California. There is a HUGE difference is fuel mileage between gas in the two states. When I would fill up with gas in CA, my mileage would instantly drop about 15% and this is no exaggeration. And to back up my findings, as soon as Oregon started putting ethanol in the gas, my mileage with Oregon gas has dropped.
A little more.... I also have a BMW 540i and it took about 3 tank fulls to gas for the computer to adjust to the ethanol when Oregon changed the gas. The car ran like crap along with about a 15% decrese in mileage.
Problem is, now most states have laws or regulations that require some ethanol in the gas so there isn't much we can do about it. Once the computer adjusts (if you have been running gas with NO ethanol) it will run normal again but will NOT regain mileage.
There are many online articles about ethanol and all of them I have read say ethanol will reduce mileage.
The "experts" say 10% ethanol will NOT harm the engine
Sorry to make this so long but just a little more info I have gathered. Last year I took a 4500 miles road trip thru Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. I was in a Scion XD car which averages about 34 mpg with the ethanol gas in Oregon. I ran several tanks full of gas while traveling thru Wyoming and averaged 40mpg but the gas in Wyoming did not have ethanol. That's a huge difference in mileage. I could also tell better performance but that's easy to see in a car with such a tiny motor.
Hope this info helps. You really can't worry too much about the gas, just make sure you run premium. We do a lot of long trips on the bikes and you can't always be picky on which brand of gas you want.
I live in Oregon and the state did NOT have ethanol in the gas up until about 6 months ago, when they passed a law to mandate at least 10% in the gasoline.
Now before I go on, let me explain that I travel a lot, especially between Oregon and California. There is a HUGE difference is fuel mileage between gas in the two states. When I would fill up with gas in CA, my mileage would instantly drop about 15% and this is no exaggeration. And to back up my findings, as soon as Oregon started putting ethanol in the gas, my mileage with Oregon gas has dropped.
A little more.... I also have a BMW 540i and it took about 3 tank fulls to gas for the computer to adjust to the ethanol when Oregon changed the gas. The car ran like crap along with about a 15% decrese in mileage.
Problem is, now most states have laws or regulations that require some ethanol in the gas so there isn't much we can do about it. Once the computer adjusts (if you have been running gas with NO ethanol) it will run normal again but will NOT regain mileage.
There are many online articles about ethanol and all of them I have read say ethanol will reduce mileage.
The "experts" say 10% ethanol will NOT harm the engine
Sorry to make this so long but just a little more info I have gathered. Last year I took a 4500 miles road trip thru Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. I was in a Scion XD car which averages about 34 mpg with the ethanol gas in Oregon. I ran several tanks full of gas while traveling thru Wyoming and averaged 40mpg but the gas in Wyoming did not have ethanol. That's a huge difference in mileage. I could also tell better performance but that's easy to see in a car with such a tiny motor.
Hope this info helps. You really can't worry too much about the gas, just make sure you run premium. We do a lot of long trips on the bikes and you can't always be picky on which brand of gas you want.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 6,642
Likes: 48
From: Ogden, UT
So when you get right down to it, using 10% Ethanol saves absolutely no oil. If you get 10-20% worse mileage with 10% Ethanol, all you are doing is taking food out of the supply chain with NO other benefit?
I too see the drop in mileage with Ethanol, this just goes right along with the global warming hoax!
I too see the drop in mileage with Ethanol, this just goes right along with the global warming hoax!
Club Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 14,564
Likes: 9,223
From: the 50s & the 60s
I needed gas today and stopped at a Marathon station because it was on my right and I noticed it had a different hose for each grade. I figured, lemme give it a try. Well the pump said that the gas can contain 1 to 10% ethanol. I have never noticed this info before at my local Texaco station. But I filled up with the 93 octane anyway. I'm not sure if it was psychological or not but my bike ran a little weaker...
My question is...
does all gas today contain ethanol?
Is is bad for the Harley engine?
My question is...
does all gas today contain ethanol?
Is is bad for the Harley engine?
Spin, I don't know the answer to either question,
but it looks like you are getting some intelligent answers
to your specific question........
Also some replies drifting off into political garbage.
Political talk is fine in the Political Room.
I deleted a few of the replies........
mud
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