lead substitute new information

hi guys, i posted a question a while back about leaded gas and i just found a manufacturer sticker on the backside of my right cover which gives information on idle, oil type timing and gasoline.
it says to use regular gas 91 octane and then in perenthesis (LEADED)

so what do you think ?

thanks

Dave

 

now and then i ride out to this gas station that sells dirt track fuel, it is leaded 110 octane, it is awesome it realy makes the bike come alive. just remember that leaded gas can only be used through carburators, and will not go through injectors.

 

I highly suspect that sticker is WRONG. No XJ motor was designed for leaded fuel. There's even been cases of manuals having it printed in them but we've proved that they also are wrong -- all XJ motors are designed for unleaded.

Leaded fuel would go through injectors just fine.... for a while. It will clog them up though.

Octane is a combustion inhibitor - higher levels are used to prevent self-detonation in a heavily carboned up or high-compression engine (ie race engines). If you haven't modified your engine's internals to greater than a 10:1 ratio, and aren't having any detonating or pinging, then higher octane fuel offers no performance increase and no benefit -- other than making the fuel companies richer of course.

 

true the sticker could be wrong but id bet ten to 1 its the original sticker

 

pictishusa, my other bike is a early model BMW K100RS fuel injected
the book for it says leaded premium 98 octane, it's got around 90K miles
and hasn't had leaded gas for years
don't worry about it, fill'er up and ride
maybe i should put some split-shot in the tank

 

I've run every XJ I've owned (I'm on my third one) on regular unleaded and they've all run fine.

The compression ratio in these bikes isn't high enough to need high octane fuel. According to the Chevron website, the use of premium grade gasoline in low compression engines may actually reduce power.

I have to use 91 octane in the R6, but the Seca gets 85 octane and runs great on it.

 

I never heard that leaded gas wont go through, or plug fuel injectors. I have worked on plenty of F.I. cars from 1970 on. Back when we (USA) were converting to unleaded, we were concerned that the loss of lead would lead to premature injector failure for the lack of lubrication properties of lead.
I have to say I've seen more failures of injectors that never saw lead. Usually burnt out, but occasionally plugged at least a bit.
Any failure of the old lead exposed injectors was normally the stub of hose that broke down from age and heat started leaking.

I've never replaced the older, bulky externally mounted electric fuel pump. I have replaced plenty of the tiny submerged and cooled in-tank modern electric pumps. Lead related or pure build quality? Either or both, take your pick.

Steve

 

Actually, it's catalytic converters that get plugged up by the lead. That's when we got the unleaded pumps.

For a while we could get lead for the pre-catalytic vehicles. But then somebody figured out all that lead in the air was turning babies in Harley riders :wink: . So no more leaded fuel.

 

lol :lol:

 

Lead was good for the valve seats and guides of older engines. Bad for the environment.

I had a 1953 desoto a few years ago and bought a product called "Instead -O-Lead" to add to its unleaded fuel. It was a lead substitute, but I don't know what its chemical make-up was.

I sold the car in 1996, but still have some product in my garage. Never have had the need to use it in any of my rides.

 

Wouldn't our bikes run better using premium gas rather then regular? I just put some premium in mine for the first time since I got it and it seems to be running better....

 

Higher octane petrol will burn more slowly than low octane. It may therefore have the effect of slightly retarding your ignition which will make it feel smoother. Whether it will mean lower mpg or power you will need to decide for yourself by using a dyno and/or clocking your mileage and getting a calculator out.

Over the years my experience has been that with higher octane petrol the engine seems to warm up more quickly (ties in with slight retardation) and that where there is a problem with the fuel system and or ignition I get better mpg. When I have resolved the other issues - new plugs, replaced a pick up, reset the carb fuel level, cut out any air leaks etc (not all wrong on one machine - over a few bikes) the mpg advantage has disappeared.

In fact my last few attempts trying higher octane mpg have led to noticeably worse mpg. I can't comment on the power, though, as most of my driving is in town.

 

I agree our bikes don't need lead. I got the same sticker that says 91 LEADED ! on my "81 Seca 750. so Pictishua doesn't need an eye exam.
Jim_Vess - Is 85 octane a Colorado thing? Cheapest I see is 87.

I was into bugs, Scooter at buggie barn explained to me that higher octane completed it's burn quicker, so it started cooling off sooner, so the VW motor runs cooler. Sounded good at the time, but runs contrary to the slower burn theory. Scooter was a hippie.

 

Interesting...I always thought that higher octane meant better mpg and better performance.

 

Nope - that's exactly the markething hype the oil companies are spewing out that they want you to believe - makes you buy the expensive stuff unnessesarily.

Higher octane is only needed if you have a high compression engine, or if you're getting "pinging" (aka pre-detonation).