Leaded 110 Octane Fuel

Dont worry, T.E.L. leaves that grey tell-tale..

Well you got that right about the jetting. Low rpm to about 3500 it is fine. After 5500 it is awesome... But in between it studders miserably. I am going to have to pull the plugs to see what they look like.

I pulled plugs and noticed they are a bit dark... But more importanly noticed that the gaps of the two plugs are completely different. I am sure that cant be good. When i pulled them yesterday i dropped one still stuck in the socket wrench and thought it landed on the wrench, but it must have hit the gap side.

I think a new set of plug is in order.

Well i dropped in some new plugs and went for a spin. They were completly black. So, the bike was running great on pump gas, too rich on racing. I guess I need to drop the needles.

I'm always surprised about people putting in special fuel (AKA aviation/race) that isn't readily available, speaking from experience your really limiting your self as any "real" rides you'll have to use pump gas and you'll to be in for a bit of a let down wit it in and possibly damage your engine -

unless of course, like i suspect many people on this forum, the radius of your driving range will be less than a tank full of gas

Yeah... I think life would be easier if i just drained the race gas and filled up with pump gas. Problem solved.

+1 -

remember the "Kiss" philosophy, makes dealing with Nortons (or any british heap) more manageable

Johnnymac said:

Yeah... I think life would be easier if i just drained the race gas and filled up with pump gas. Problem solved.

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I was at Mosport one year, standing at the pump with my gas can waiting for a spectator who had ridden in on his Gixxer to fill up his bike with 112 leaded. Mind you, it was about $4.00 a liter, but he just kept pumpin'...

When he was finished, he looked over at me and proclaimed, "This sh*t's gonna make me fly!!!!"

I wouldn't say it makes me fly, but it keeps the gum out of my carbs. Unless I want to spend bucks on a metal tank, it's about my only option right now and it's only 20 miles away. Do what you have to. It's certainly not the panacea.

Dave

DogT said:

I wouldn't say it makes me fly, but it keeps the gum out of my carbs. Unless I want to spend bucks on a metal tank, it's about my only option right now and it's only 20 miles away. Do what you have to. It's certainly not the panacea.

Dave

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One of the bikes in my shop is a very nice McIntyre Matchless G50 replica. It hadn't been ridden since Daytona in October, last year. I recently went over to get it ready for an event, and to my displeasure found the one-off fiberglass tank was full of gas - gas sitting from almost a year ago. But.... it was 110 Sunoco leaded, and the tank didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. So all you fiberglass tank owner Ethanol haters, bring me your gas cans, and for a small upcharge I'll fill them with race gas for you at each outing.

So what in this fuel is the reason that carbs would need to be rejetted??
It is the lack of ethanol?
High octane?
Lead?

Avgas is certainly not for everyone, but it works for me and my situation.

If I had my druthers, it'd be a Lotus 7, and some day it may come to that.

Dave

Johnny , I have run my 850 [ FCR's ] on all sorts , 91 doesn't like it much , 98 premium runs quite well , and when filling at home 50/50 avgas100 & 98 prem . The better the fuel the more the bike likes it .
This is aussie fuel , been doing it for a while now , no problems .

Using better grade gas than needed does not hurt engine, so of course av-gas with lead should work fine w/o eating tank resin.

From the Tetraethyl lead days of hi octane the grey color should be seen in tail pipe and light soot on plug tread rim. If plugs not read new on a one run test then what's seen is an average of mixture and may run a bit lean-hot short of WOT. But this is just finer tuning level beyond plenty good enough your plugs show.

Thanks Guys. I know that this fuel won't hurt my engine, but it does run like crap on it. Way too rich. What in the fuel causes it to run rich vs. pump gas? Is it the octane, lead or the lack of ethanol?

New fuel formulas d/t mileage mandates gave us current 'lean burning' gasoline d/t additives and ethanol so may require richer tuning to run best compared to Super Hi Test of yore. This also messes with - lightens the classic tints seen on plug read chops.

I decided it wasnt worth the trouble. Dumped the race fuel and put in plain old pump gas. Works great.

I guess I'm just Cheap and Lazy!
It has always been pump gas for me.
All of my bikes and street vehicles, never a problem.

Even back when I was running a race car (383 small block - 750 holly carb), it just got the cheap stuff.

I often ride further than 1 tank from home, so I would be forced to use pump gas anyways.

For years I thought that higher octane fuel meant higher powered fuel. In fact it has become part of the lexicon- as in- he or she is "high octane" , meaning hight energy. We ve probably all heard oldtimers talk of getting 5 more miles per gallon with premium fuel than with regular in a car that is designed to run on regular. This claim is a myth.

I was quite surprised to learn that low octane regular pump gas has more energy per gallon than high octane premium does.The octane is an anti knock agent, needed to prevent pre-ignition in higher compression engines.
Only use as high an octane fuel as you need, going higher in octane only costs more, it does nothing to add power, in fact it saps a small amount away.

Glen

I might be fine with pump 93 but the stickers say 101. 50/50 mix gives 93+93+110+110/4=101.5. Even if I go 3 and 2 I will still have 99.8. Seems to be a fair compromise. Today 5 gallons of 3 to 2 mix cost 5.05 per gallon with 93 costing 4.09 and 110 costing 6.49. Again, this seems to be a fair compromise.

Ideally you could test you engine on lowest octane in worse detonation conditions, how ever you may detect that early w/o damage, then work up octane til it don't knock or ping or clatter for max power play. When not with higher octane then just use throttle smarts till detonation protecting inside again. Almost every chemical that helps resist detonation by compression/heat also delivers less heat pressure per unit of mix burnt. Oil or kerosine fuel is famous in diesels for power per unit but also as famous for knock of compression ignition.

Ms Peel is set up for fast burn small chamber, big squish bands and 3 sparks in a row, so will have best of both worlds, normal operation on plain 87 oct then add water instead of fuel for 116 oct yet not reducing combustion pressure as plain octane molecules do or richening up to stifle combustion pressure.

There is a bit of sliding scale as often more torque pressure made with more advance spark but that rises peak pressure at TDC zone of detonation, so engines that have high enough CR to take adavantage of hi octane can squeaze more mileage out on hi test and lose some on low test d/t having to retard to avoid bangs.

The PowerArc guy sold me on his kit after telling tale of Hot Harley none of the fancy ignitions could prevent detonation even on best gas,then put in the Powerarc and it worked, then told go try cheapest gas for owners pleased surprise report it made even more power w/o knock/pings. Peel could see 17 effective CR with boost on top of 10.5 static CR. Fast burn chamber and fuel don't need as much spark adv so less pressure to TDC but more just after.