Fuel - Premium or Ethanol Free?

[mikecook]

Anyone care to weigh in.  I realize the bikes call for 93 (or higher?) octane, but was wondering, my cars (and of course yard equipment) really run better on ethanol free.  A generator in my RV REALLY didn't like ethanol gas - ran terribly, unless it had ethanol free.

Sooo, which do you think is better for our bikes? Premium, with ethanol, or Ethanol Free, which shows higher octane than regular, but not as high as Premium.

Thanks,
Mike Cook

[david]

First and foremost, remember, our bikes are not designed for ethanol fuel. They will "tolerate" fuel up to 10% ethanol.

My 2017 R1200gs LC recommends 89 octane, as per the owners manual. It does not have a knock sensor
My 2012 R1200gs (oil cooled) recommends 91 octane, but will tolerate 89 octane, as per the owners manual. It does have a knock sensor
There are many WAWA stations around that have dedicated hoses for 89 octane ethanol free fuel.
The price is usually around that of high octane ethanol, give or take a few cents.
Also the newer Circle K fuel stations that are being built in the area are installing dedicated hose 90 octane ethanol free and that price is usually around the price of mid grade ethanol fuel.
You can't find the Circle K ethanol free from their website, but you can find the WAWA ethanol free fuel from their website.
Look for the blue handle at the pumps.
I try hard to run only ethanol free fuel in my lawn equipment. The fuel seems to last longer, and I don't worry about the ethanol eating into any of the plastics.
I run only ethanol free fuel in my bikes when available. I have pre-programmed into my gps, all ethanol free fuel WAWA's from Naples, to Brooksville, to Jacksonville, to Daytona and Orlando.
On my trip to the BMWMOA rally 2 weeks ago. I ran what I could find, but kept an eye out from ethanol free fuel and found it about 1/3 the time.
I also run my Jeep on ethanol free fuel, mostly because I want WAWA to continue offering ethanol free fuel to it's customers.
It's not enough to have ethanol free fuel offered at a station, because if that fuel pump hose is shared with ethanol fuel. The first quart or two that comes out usually will be what ever the last customer fueled up with. And that is usually low octane ethanol. Give me a dedicated hose.
Thanks
David