e85 (that is 85% ethanol )can only be used in engines designed to run it. It must have an ECU that can read/determine the fuel added to the tank and adjust timing for that fuel to burn correctly. You can't just drop it in and expect to go anywhere. Ethanol is also very corosive and fuel systems must be made to withstand that e85 with stainless steel lines and injectors that will hold up to it.

The 10% ethanol blend can still have all the additives/detergents that straight fuel has and is easily adjusted for octane ratings. So 93 octane, is still 93 octane, it just has a little ethanol added. One thing you will notice is a drop in MPG as ethanol doesn't get the same "Bang" as straight fuel.

 

What's your opinion of Citgo? A friend told me it seems to run better in his HD than other brands... I've never used it.

 

I use Conoco Phillips most of the time due to convenience to stations in the Midwest, many do not carry 93 octane and I choose carefully those that will carry it. I also did not see BP on the list, on longer trips I will use their stations for Premium fuel as I have had very good results and economy with their product, up to 10% better than with C/P.

A small consideration for all here when you buy gas, there is always a pint to a quart of the last chosen product in the hose/filter/measuring equipment of the pumps when we fill up, I choose higher octane gas to overcome some of that beyond the recommended rating by the MoCo. We are getting some ethanol in every tank we fill and I add Star Tron additive to at least every fifth to sixth tank while at home.

 

I wonder if the OP's link is kept current as it was originally published in 2007.

 

Conoco is the only major brand stations around here that has non-ethanol fuel.

 

I try to use stations that have seperate hoses for each product to avoid this situation. Sometimes it's harder than you think to find em though!

 

My Dad works in the petroleum industry putting in new stations and tanks. If you have a Hess station near you that is the best gas on the market hands down according to the insiders of the industry. And yes the additives are added either at the stations or just after the tanker gets his tank load.

Each brand has someone sitting at a computer watching the price from the wholesalers and will direct the trucks to the cheapest price at the time. There is a tank farm in Charlotte that I pass regularly and you will see the different wholesalers tanks some will be sitting there with no truck traffic while others are jammed full.

In NC all gas is 10% ethanol. Some places say they have no ethanol but I am not sure were it comes from. If the guberment is successful in raising it all to 15% then it will be bad for all motorcycles. Even automakers are against raising it to 15%.

 

I did not read the link yet on top tier, but i do notice that most stations have gone away from the individual hose per pump. Now when I get the premium, i get to enjoy the remainder of what ever grade of fuel was last pumped that is in the hose delivery system.
How much gas I get that is not premium, i have no idea; I'd like to have individual hoses back.

 

I'm no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once. I've hauled gasoline for 12 years. The last six for Chevron only. All our fuel comes by pipeline from California. At this time the fuel is generic, no additives. When I load my truck, I have to load off a Chevron lane as thats where the Chevron additive is injected into my tanker as it is being loaded. The other branded fuels have their own loading lanes. I usually deliver a full 11,600 gallon load to an individual station. Drivers hauling to remote locations may haul to different brands on the same load, however, they will load each customer from the lane that that has the branded fuel they are to deliver. These trucks load for one customer, then load another lane for another brand, etc. The additives are not the same, so it might look like a truck is delivering the same fuel to different branded stations that is not the case. That's the reason the trucks don't have branded graphic's anymore. They can haul different brands of fuel on the same load without a mismarked truck making a wrong branded station delivery. Water in fuel. Water is heavier than gasoline so sinks to bottom of tank. The fuel tank pickups stop pulling fuel with several inches of product still in tank to avoid picking up water. I use a paste on a gauging stick to check for water before making a delivery. Water isn't an issue here in the desert, but in areas where a tank gets water in it, maintainence will come out and pump the water from the bottom of the tank. Debris on bottom of tank. Back in the 1980's some fuel storage tanks were metal. Being buried underground, they could be below the water table and exposed to moisture. This would corrode the tank. It would rust though, resulting in fuel contamination of the soil. This corrosion also ended up inside the storage tank which would get stirred up during a fuel delivery. In the 1980's the EPA had all the metal tanks and contaminated soil removed and deposited in a hazmat waste site. All the current tanks are fiberglass and should be free of particulate matter. That said, I still wouldn't buy fuel when a delivery is being made, just for safety reasons. Ethanol- my oldest vehicle is the 1998 Buell White Lighting and the owners manual for it and my other rides indicate a 10% ethanol blended fuel is proper and I've had no fuel problems in my vehicles.

 

Kinda like beer....as a truck driver I've picked up beer at breweries that brew 4 beers and bottle 12