E15 gas
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E=Ethanol. E15=15% ethanol. Ethanol reduces fuel economy, so E15 is WORSE than E10 for fuel economy. E10 is often used for regular (87) octane fuel. Typically, the higher the octane rating, the less ethanol it can have in it.
What you really want is Premium fuel (91-93 octane, depending on whether you're in Canada or the US), which, to the best of my knowledge, typically has NO ethanol.
What you really want is Premium fuel (91-93 octane, depending on whether you're in Canada or the US), which, to the best of my knowledge, typically has NO ethanol.
To find fuel with no ethanol use this phone app. Great to have when traveling on the bike
www.pure-gas.org
Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada
Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.
where are you finding 99 octane in CA at the pump?
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Absolutely do not run E15 in your bike. Many vehicles void warranties if this is done. The bikes run poorly on E10 vs. Ethanol free. Don't do it. Don't put it in your lawn mower either or your car for that matter unless it is listed as multi-fuel vehicle.
1) According to the AMA -- and they should know, IMO -- E15 is illegal for all motorcycles (and many other devices), will void warranties, is generally no darn good, and often sneakily labeled. See, for instance:
AMA opposes year-round sales of E15 fuel - AMA
The AMA disagrees with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allowing year-round sales of E15 fuel. The policy change, announced in…
magazine.americanmotorcyclist.com
AMA Strongly Opposes Proposed E15 Emergency Waiver - Adventure Rider
Shots fired! On April 18, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) distributed a press release […]
www.advrider.com
2) As @reg26 noted (post 3), there's an app for that (screen shot from my iPhone):
It's free, and I've been using it for years.
3) Here in upstate NY and environs, most Stewarts shops sell ethanol-free high-octane (and E10 in the regular and mid-grade). Prior to that change a couple of years ago -- Stewarts' selling E0 high test -- I would often get gas at Pitstop, which had (has?) a similar situation. Other than those two, in most of my riding areas in NY, VT, and MA, virtually all other gas stations sell E10 in all three grades.
This is not that much of a big deal to me (and I don't currently own a Beemer) -- E0 high test, vs. using Regular with E10 in my scooter -- except that I want to make sure, as the season winds down, that the bike is stored with a tankful that is completely free of ethanol.
Same sort of thing goes for my lawn tractor, snowblower, etc.: I fill my five-gallon containers at a nearby Stewarts, with E0 high test (and a dash of StarTron), even though they can all use Regular, so no ethanol ever enters their systems.
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Modern BMW motorcycles are designed to run up to E15. My 2019 R1250RT is. It's right in the owners manual. I don't think I have ever run it. I won't run in the bike unless there's no other option at the pump but the fuel system is designed to handle it. Ironically, our 2021 Mazda CX-5 is not. E10 is the max.
Sometimes the AMA is full of crap.
Sometimes the AMA is full of crap.
Interesting — I didn’t know that. Would you mind, for my continuing education, taking a pic of that page?
My 2015 R1200RT says in the manual to not use over E10. Maybe in years following they upped it? AMA is not FOS as they recognize that there are still millions of bikes that can not run E15 let alone the millions of cars also
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2022 RT Manual
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I have a 2016.
Below is from my manual..
![Rectangle Font Parallel Number Pattern]()
Below is from my manual..
Thanks.
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Gee whiz all my motorcycles, cars, lawnmowers have all run beautifully for miles upon miles and years upon years on E10 gasoline.
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I will run anything but E-15.
I guess in the newer bikes they have switched to Viton in all rubber fittings and gaskets. It is one of the few compounds that hold up to alcohol.
While I agree the bike runs fine on E-10 non corn gas runs better. I am not too excited on the E-15 just stay away from it at all cost IMHO.
And those showing the manuals with the E-15 it is saying MAX amount. So to me that means it can run it but the preferred is E-10 or less.
I guess in the newer bikes they have switched to Viton in all rubber fittings and gaskets. It is one of the few compounds that hold up to alcohol.
While I agree the bike runs fine on E-10 non corn gas runs better. I am not too excited on the E-15 just stay away from it at all cost IMHO.
And those showing the manuals with the E-15 it is saying MAX amount. So to me that means it can run it but the preferred is E-10 or less.
That's good to hear, and that's another set of data points.
Let me provide some others.
- In 2009, I bought a brand new 2010 Camry (SE, V-six, 268HP!). This was our daily driver, the sole car for my wife and me (and a couple of years ago we gave it to a local daughter).
That car had a diet of nothing but E10 Regular (which is what, as I mentioned earlier, all the stations sell for Regular here in my neck of the northeast). Absolutely nothing went wrong with the car -- just scheduled maintenance -- until the alternator failed at 183,000 miles (well, okay, I replaced the clouded over headlamp enclosures a few years back).
So that mirrors your experience.
- OTOH, non-daily drivers may be another matter.
As I mentioned, I don't get all excited about using E10 Regular in my bike(s), until the end of the season nears.
Perhaps you live in a more temperate climate, but my bike(s), lawn tractor, and snowblower sit unused for five or more months each year. Because ethanol blends are hygroscopic, and ethanol tends to separate out, and because of potential damage to hoses, gaskets, seals, and suchlike, I don't want it sitting idly in these machines for months on end. even with StarTron or other stabilizers. (I'm old, but not old-school enough to seasonally drain gas tanks and carburetors. It's my understanding that that sort of thing may induce its own set of problems vis-a-vis dried out seals and so forth, but I digress.)
I am not alone in this. An uncle had a mowing/landscaping business a few counties over from me, and bemoaned the destruction of his equipment brought on by any ethanol blends. The same goes for my current mowing guy, the owner of his company. (I still use my Cub Cadet to mow a portion of my lawn that lies beyond a decking bridge over a creek; his zero-turn mowers are too large to use that.)
Do your own research, certainly. Here's a snippet from a 2013 Consumer Reports article, for instance:
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved gasoline with 15 percent ethanol for use in cars year 2001 or newer, yet it prohibits its use in mowers and other power equipment, stating it may cause damage. A Department of Energy study found that E15 caused hotter operating temperatures, erratic running, and engine-part failure. But even gas with the usual 10 percent ethanol (E10) could help destroy small engines.
"Ethanol has inherent properties that can cause corrosion of metal parts, including carburetors, degradation of plastic and rubber components, harder starting, and reduced engine life," says Marv Klowak, global vice president of research and development for Briggs & Stratton, the largest manufacturer of small engines. "The higher the ethanol content, the more acute the effects." Servicing dealers are reporting similar problems, even with E10, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, the industry's trade group.
(www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/03/gas-with-ethanol-can-make-small-engines-fail/index.htm)
Back in the realm of motorcycles, you might stumble across a class-action lawsuit filed against Ducati in 2010. Here's a summary:
In other words, the ethanol fuel was destroying the gas tank and making the bike inoperable. Ducati had been trying to fix the problem by simply replacing the gas tanks with identical ones that had longer warranties. But this seems (and seemed) like just a temporary solution, and enough motorcycle owners agreed that a class-action lawsuit was filed. It was reported that the ethanol fuel tank problems were so widespread that almost 300 Ducati owners had taken the time to file complaints with the National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration.
The lawsuit took a couple of years to wind its way through the courts but earlier this year, a settlement was reached where Ducati gave bike owners extended warranties and would pay for repairs to the fuel tank for tank expansion problems caused by ethanol fuels.
(www.bellperformance.com/blog/bid/108054/motorcycle-manufacturer-gets-sued-because-of-ethanol-gas)
I think the bottom line is that not all manufacturers -- of some bikes, and many small-engined equipment -- are as diligent in their engineering and manufacture as BMW. (And of course, BMW even sometimes goes overboard with its engineering prowess -- I'm reminded of those power-assisted brakes on some bikes, awhile back.) If you're having good luck with E10 in all your equipment, fine, but apparently not everyone else is.
Our current daily driver requires Premium gas, and we mostly fill the car with the E0 Premium found at regional Stewarts stores (a chain, sort of like 7-Eleven, or Cumberland Farms, etc.). It's competitively priced, or perhaps a few cents more than we could find elsewhere, but I do this to encourage and support their selling this E0 gas (which, as I mentioned, I used to fill up my five-gallon containers for the power equipment), and I certainly have nothing against the slightly greater energy density and mileage of E0, and I like the chain, because it's employee-owned.
As I say, go ahead and do your own research, see what you feel is reliable -- or not -- information on the 'net, and come to your own conclusions.
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Thanks.
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Have researched it deeply and am aware of the differences. Since EtOH containing fuels do degrade fairly quickly compared to E0 fuel I make a point to not fill my PHEV's tank beyond 1/3 full and we make a point of using that up within 3 months--because 85% of all driving is in EV mode so one has to make a point of running the ICE, which I do at a minimum of once a week to fully warmed up during winter time, and once every 10d or so during the warmer months. My motorcyle gets ridden regularly during the winter but once again I don't fill the tank up fully, the bike is garaged and as we live in a semi-arid area I'm not concerned condensation in the tank either from not keeping the tank full. As a side anecdote we bought a used Honda mower a couple of years ago, mowed a big lawn with it for 2 months or so using E10, then put it in a shed at the rental property where we used it for those two months. I had planned to winterize it fully but kept putting it off. We then went out of state for 6 months, and finally some 1.5y later arranged to go pick up the mower. It started on the 8th pull, ran like a top. I ended up draining the fuel out and put some fresh E10 in. Starts right up, and it's now for sale. You can always cherry pick the odd horror story but I'll stand by the original comment: Gee whiz all my motorcycles, cars, lawnmowers have all run beautifully for miles upon miles and years upon years on E10 gasoline. E0 fuel is ungodly expensive here--I checked because I thought it might be a good idea for our PHEV uses very little gasoline. Same same in Nor Cal where we last lived before being burned out literally. I assumed E0 would be the best choice especially for our PHEV but never could get a solid answer on which is better: to use E0 fuel and have condensation concentrate on the bottom of the tank, or have moisture dissolved/dispersed using E10 fuel.
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