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Fuel

E

Ericreed22

New member
Hi everyone,

I just bought a GTL Exclusive, and I'm absolutely in love! That being said, I've heard to refuel it with 93 octane premium, and others have said to use Rec. 90 Ethanol free. It's almost time for me to fill up for the first time. What do you recommend.

Eric
(Overjoyed owner)
 
Mine has a sticker next to the fuel cap that says 89 or better.
I have put in 87 when nothing higher was available.
 
Recommend '93 octane ethanol free. Cuz de don't sell 98 octane in America. Of course my bike is an '05 RT so maybe a difference.

image.jpg
 
Fuel GTL

Eric,

I have a GTLE that I purchased back in the summer and have about 7k on it. I use ethanol free high octane 93 when available but will use ethanol free 87 octane over higher octane fuels with ethanol. I have had no problems with lower octane fuels and have not noticed any differences in either performance or fuel economy.

I live out in the country and finding 87 octane fuel without ethanol is easy but not so much for higher octane. If they have ethanol free high octane then that's what I use but....

Fill up with the best gas you can while out riding and enjoying your new favorite motorcycle, I know I do!
 
okiegman said:
Eric,

I have a GTLE that I purchased back in the summer and have about 7k on it. I use ethanol free high octane 93 when available but will use ethanol free 87 octane over higher octane fuels with ethanol. I have had no problems with lower octane fuels and have not noticed any differences in either performance or fuel economy.

I live out in the country and finding 87 octane fuel without ethanol is easy but not so much for higher octane. If they have ethanol free high octane then that's what I use but....

Fill up with the best gas you can while out riding and enjoying your new favorite motorcycle, I know I do!
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
Wes,
When I was OKC I SAW A LOT OF 91 octane ethanol free for sell. I think you live in Eufaula though sooo... I may be not be helping. Try the pure gas app. You may find local ethanol free gas in places you didn't know were there.
 
rangerreece said:
Wes,
When I was OKC I SAW A LOT OF 91 octane ethanol free for sell. I think you live in Eufaula though sooo... I may be not be helping. Try the pure gas app. You may find local ethanol free gas in places you didn't know were there.
Click to expand...

Merry Christmas RangerReece - I spend more time in Tulsa which is where I have problems finding pure gas - I have the app, it works but not 100% accurate.

Eric - I've heard so many horror stories about ethanol if I'm stuck and must use ethanol gas then I make certain the next several tanks are ethanol free high octane (if possible).

Get out there and enjoy that thing!
 
Roz - ron

Europe uses ROZ to rate octane while gasoline is rated by RON in North America and the K16 only needs 89 RON.
 
d martin said:
Europe uses ROZ to rate octane while gasoline is rated by RON in North America and the K16 only needs 89 RON.
Click to expand...

Close I think, but in the US the octane on the pump is ROZ + RON /2 or in simpler terms the average of ROZ and RON.

Or more technically Research Octane plus Motor Octane divided by 2.
 
89 (mid-range) is the right stuff. Premium/91+ octane sounds like it'd be better but it's a waste of money because the ECU will just advance the timing to compensate for the slower burn of the higer octane. The only time premium might helm is if you have a knocking problem, and if your new bike knocks then something is wrong.

As to ethanol, I only have corn gas available and none of the theoretical issues have bit me. The longest I've had a bike sit with untreated corn gas in the tank is 3 months and it started & ran fine. I will admit that I'm not a 10/10 rider so I would never notice a 10% decrease in performance, would you?
 
No, but I do notice a consistent 10% decrease in gas mileage with ethanol.

Voni
sMiling because sometimes you just have to use gas with ethanol
 
Really a lot of misunderstanding regarding ethanol.

Ethanol is an octane enhancer.

When fuel does not have ethanol it needs some other additive to achieve the required octane. Tetraethyl lead is not it in the USA, as it's illegal.

Lower octane is lower octane, regardless of whether there is ethanol in the fuel or not.

Octane is the measure of resistance to pinging (and that's all it is), and regardless of the composition of the fuel you need what the manufacturer recommends.

It's nice and all if the bike has a sensor to enable it to adjust to lower octane fuel. But when it does, performance is reduced and fuel economy suffers. Not worth the tradeoff.

If you keep amount of fuel + air constant, the path to increased performance and at the same time reduced consumption is compression plus ignition advance. The risk is pinging and that's addressed by octane. Your knock sensor retards timing, decreasing performance and economy. The only way to change compression on the fly is with an electronically controlled turbocharger or supercharger, which you don't have.

You will probably be better off with no ethanol fuel, but NOT if that means lower octane than needed. You may hate ethanol but it's cutting off your nose to spite your face if you avoid it by going to lower octane.
 
lkchris said:
Really a lot of misunderstanding regarding ethanol.

Ethanol is an octane enhancer.

When fuel does not have ethanol it needs some other additive to achieve the required octane. Tetraethyl lead is not it in the USA, as it's illegal.

Lower octane is lower octane, regardless of whether there is ethanol in the fuel or not.

Octane is the measure of resistance to pinging (and that's all it is), and regardless of the composition of the fuel you need what the manufacturer recommends.

It's nice and all if the bike has a sensor to enable it to adjust to lower octane fuel. But when it does, performance is reduced and fuel economy suffers. Not worth the tradeoff.

If you keep amount of fuel + air constant, the path to increased performance and at the same time reduced consumption is compression plus ignition advance. The risk is pinging and that's addressed by octane. Your knock sensor retards timing, decreasing performance and economy. The only way to change compression on the fly is with an electronically controlled turbocharger or supercharger, which you don't have.

You will probably be better off with no ethanol fuel, but NOT if that means lower octane than needed. You may hate ethanol but it's cutting off your nose to spite your face if you avoid it by going to lower octane.
Click to expand...

That helps immensely. Thank you very much. Where I live, I have 2 choices. 90 octane ethanol free, or 93 octane premium that could contain up to 10% ethanol. I guess 93 premium it is.
 
Europe uses a different rating system than the U.S.and Canada. The U.S. Octane numbers are 4-6 numbers lower than the European numbers for the exact same fuel. So if it requires 98 in Europe, it's 91-93 in North America.
 
wbrownell9 said:
89 (mid-range) is the right stuff. Premium/91+ octane sounds like it'd be better but it's a waste of money because the ECU will just advance the timing to compensate for the slower burn of the higer octane. The only time premium might helm is if you have a knocking problem, and if your new bike knocks then something is wrong.

As to ethanol, I only have corn gas available and none of the theoretical issues have bit me. The longest I've had a bike sit with untreated corn gas in the tank is 3 months and it started & ran fine. I will admit that I'm not a 10/10 rider so I would never notice a 10% decrease in performance, would you?
Click to expand...

You have the logic or really premise wrong. It can run more advance with higher octane which produces more power. It can run on lower octane than 91, but it will make less power and probably get worse gas mileage.
 
Voni said:
No, but I do notice a consistent 10% decrease in gas mileage with ethanol.

Voni
sMiling because sometimes you just have to use gas with ethanol
Click to expand...

I've noticed a dip in gas mileage of late. About 10%. I wonder if it's winter fuel?
 
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