Do all modern Chinese scooters require premium gas? By mike932 (Read 2,404 times)

[mike932]

Do all modern Chinese scooters require premium gas?

[cyborg]

I wouldn't think so,, too low of a compression ratio to require it,,, I run midgrade shell myself in both my dr and Stella,,, no ping detected,,, ever,, and it gets bloody hot here in socal,,, road temps 150-190 as measured with my laser temp gauge,,, mid day ,, late august thru early oct,,, both air-cooled too

[rapidjim]

Oh Boy the great fuel debate!

My opinion, as well as the guy that owns the small engine shop up the road, small carburated engines love higher octane without ethanol. Ethanol eats rubber and the shelf life of ethanol fuel is only about 30 days.

[davec]

I always used the rule that if the compression ratio was 10:1 or greater, ethel/hi test was best

[randy]

It will cost only a few cents more to use premium so why not? I only use 93 octane with no ethanol. Over kill maybe but I know I have good fuel under my butt.

[Guitarman]

The engines are actually designed with a 'cost sensor' in them. The cheaper the fuel you use the worse the performance you get. The sensor actually triggers a series of small servos which in turn move small scraps of metal into the path of critical moving parts inside the crankcase. These servos are designed to look like important parts so that if you ever get the nerve to open the engine up you won't be able to tell which parts to remove and which to leave there. Although it won't matter, because they are worked in so that by removing one of them, you cause a chain reaction that destroys the engine from the inside out.

My advice?  Pour 5 gallons of the cheapest gas you can get all over it and see how high it flies when you toss a lit match on it.

[dmartin95]

May 5, 2015 11:41:44 GMT -6 mike932 said:

Do all modern Chinese scooters require premium gas?

I only put high octane in my scooters. 

[glavey]

Require? IMHO, no. Is it a good idea (with regards to air-cooled engines)? Again, IMHO, yes.

[jerryscript]

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0210-paying-premium-high-octane-gasoline

[rapidjim]

May 7, 2015 16:01:25 GMT -6 jerryscript said:

www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0210-paying-premium-high-octane-gasoline

This article pertains to cars, a different animal than a motorcycle or small engine.

Most motorcycle manufacturers suggest 93 (premium) octane or higher. Ice bear recommends 91 octane or higher by the owners manuals. I have seen many scooters with a sticker by the gas fill saying 92 or higher. The bigger issue is ethanol, esp if the scooter sits for long periods of time. Around here we can still get non-ethanol premium fuel, the pumps are marked, For use in motorcycles, vintage cars and off road motors. As I said earlier, ethanol eats rubber, which is not a big deal in cars since there is very little rubber lines in the fuel systems now. Older dodge mini vans had an issue with the rubber fuel lines at the fuel filter, deteriorating from the inside out due to ethanol, they now use hard plastic lines. I use to be skeptical of this until a friend told me to try something, I took a small mason jar filled it with ethanol based fuel, then put a piece of rubber gates fuel line in it, put the lid on and let it sit on the self for 30 days. The rubber turned to mush. Now imagine those particles getting into the fuel bowl of your carb. And yes in the liquid state it will get past the filter.

[cyborg]

Ouch

[glavey]

May 8, 2015 7:23:14 GMT -6 rapidjim said:

...Around here we can still get non-ethanol premium fuel, the pumps are marked, For use in motorcycles, vintage cars and off road motors...

Is there a specific sticker/marking on pumps (other than what you have said) that denote non-ethanol fuel?

[jerryscript]

OK here is an article pertaining specifically to motorcycles.
www.motorcycleperf.com/TechTips/BadGasoline.html

Not to argue too much, but the simple fact is, high octane is to prevent knocking in high compression engines. GY6 is not a high compression engine, and I have never heard one knocking from low octane fuel. If you don't hear knocking with regular gas, you don't need a higher octane.

[Alleyoop]

All well and good but even shell says it contains up to 10% ethanol and I use nothing but shell around here where I live being using shell for the last 25 years. Don't know about any fuel lines melting like people say and I use the same in my Trike. The Original fuel lines are still on it from 2009 so go figure. When we drove to Florida this past Nov and stayed Dec I filled up with whatever gas station was around. So my take it is ALL BS unless of course you fill it up with pure ethanol then it is a different story. But just about all gasoline's are required to have ethanol blend just so the farm boys make money on their crops.
Alleyoop

[mike6736]

Just a quick kick to the Rabbit... Alley your full of carrot juice... I tell ya I always run 89 mid grade and when flying down the interstate I run just regular as I find at high speeds it just runs straight out and notice no power change. On that note I also run Seafoam every few tanks.

Magoo