[redgoldwing1]

This may have been discussed before; if so, I missed it.
Does anyone actually know if high octane gas is good/bad to run in a GL1800? I've heard a few opinions, but if someone really knows the answer, that would be great. The Honda book states "regular" gas is fine, but I'm wondering if the higher octane would keep the plugs etc. cleaner.
Thanks...

 

[joe in calif]

It is not good for it, it burns hotter and thats not needed.

 

[lonewolftx]

The higher octain gasses are for higher compression engines. A gold wing isnt high comp. Hiigher octaine gas burns slower so the flame front follows the piston down instead of detinating causing a "ping." The question is the quality of the gas. Go on and use regular but buy a good brand. (Shell, Texico ect) While it is the same gas thje corner store sells, they have additives added before delivery to the station. They help keeping your carb/injectors and internal engine clean. You get what you pay for.

 

[marcsvette]

Buy good ole REGULAR from a Name Brand station. If the station looks like crap you can bet they are taking good care of their storage tanks....NOT!

 

[CVHoss]

In some cases, you have to decide the lesser of two evils -- running premium or running gasoline containing ethanol. I don't want ethanol in my old '87 1200 so I run premium. There are currently 13 states that require no "contains ethanol" labeling at all and several other states require labeling only when ethanol exceeds a certain percentage.

Some states (Missouri is one that I know of) actually require all fuel sold to consumers to contain 10% ethanol but there is an exemption for premium grade though it may contain ethanol. You can read about state requirements here.

I've never heard of an engine designed to run on unleaded fuel being damaged by running it on premium gasoline. The only thing I've ever heard of being hurt is your pocketbook from using a higher grade than necessary.

If the 1800 is designed to run on 87 octane and you are either sure that your fuel supply doesn't contain ethanol or you don't care, then I'd stay with 87 as long as the engine doesn't ping. If the 1800's computer controls the spark advance sufficiently, you shouldn't hear a ping even if the grade were too low. You would, though, probably notice a decrease in mileage as the computer retards the timing and/or increases fuel-to-air ratio to eliminate the knocking/pinging.

Hoss

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

I've always run 87 octane on all my Wings without any problem. If it an't broke, don't fix it..