Modern Vespa

I live in an area where non- ethanol gas is available. Should I be using it instead of Ethanol? I know in small engines ethanol gas gums everything up, is it the same in larger engines?

If it was mine I'd use non-ethanol where possible. But octane is the real thing; you have to use the proper octane. I'm lucky living around lakes, we have non-ethanol fuel available of the proper octane.

If the ethanol free gas is at the station you'd normally fill up at, at the right octane, and within 10% of the price of E10: sure. But if you have to ride even a few miles out of your way to get it (or pay extra for it), your savings get wasted on the refueling trip.

Remember: both in Italy and the US, E10 is the standard, and E0 is relatively hard to find. They're not going to sell a modern engine in 2022 that has problems with ethanol.

I've heard that ethanol can separate if you don't burn through it regularly, but I've been away for 5 months, and my HPE started up just fine when I came home. You can fill up with E0 if you know you're going to park your Vespa for a while, but generally, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Vsteve49,

See if this thread offers you information, which may be of benefit to you, in Lynden, WA. New To Texas: Non-Ethanol Fuel

Cheers,

I've never used or sought after ethanol free fuel or fuel "performance" additives since they started putting ethanol in the stuff at the regular pump. If it's a modern, non-vintage engine that's designed for it, there's no reason to pay a premium for either ethanol-free or...well...premium octane if it's not called for.

If the fuel & bike is going to sit more than a month, I'll use a little fuel stabilizer like SeaFoam or Stabil. Beyond that...just don't go above 10% ethanol like the manual says.

I've had a lot of salesmen try to scare me into using nothing but premium octane and to seek out non-ethanol or else my engine would spontaneously explode, no matter the bike or model year. I've never had an issue.

Thanks for the great response, and good advise. 👍🏻

My scooters run fine on ethanol blended gasoline. The only time I go out of my way to use ethanol free gasoline is in engines which will sit unused for an extended period of time. My experience is that I have less trouble with the fuel system being gummed up from extended inactivity this way. And yes, I also use a fuel stabilizer when I store an engine for several months.

Where I live, in order to use the recommended octane level, it is non-ethanol gas. So I do use non-ethanol mostly but have had to use ethanol on occasion. I think the important parameter is to use the recommended Octane level of fuel.

My scooter never sits longer than 2 weeks. Sitting is bad for our scooters. Ride it and don't worry about the blended fuel, but do use the correct octane rating.

I've only read about stale gas, ethanol woes and knocking from low octane, gummed carbs and unleaded damage to older valves. I must lead a charmed life since all I've suffered is a clogged idle jet or leaky carb.
CA gas prices are another matter entirely.

When I went to Americade I put nonethanol premium in the bike at four bucks a gallon in Lake George just for laughs. My highway mileage was identical with non ethanol going home as it was going up on ethanol blend. Like everyone I put a few ounces of Seafoam in my tanks during periods of non use to prevent gumming in the carburetors.

It is not really the ethanol that can separate.
Ethanol is hygroscopic. It absorbs moisture from ambient air. Depending on absolute air humidity after some time some water containing ethanol may separate and form a layer at the bottom of the tank. Your engine will not run on water.

I'm fortunate that here in upstate New York, the local convenience store/gas station chain, Stewart's, sells, as it's only premium fuel, 91 octane ethanol free gasoline.
I have no idea if it's better to use than premium ethanol blend, but I figure that given that my scooter fleet remains unstarted from November through April, and every second gas station up here is a Stewart's, it's a no brainer. I get a consistent 70-75 mpg on both 250 GTSs with the non-ethanol stuff.

I've noticed several people in the New England and surrounding area mention that non-ethanol is just what's available for premium (assuming 93 oct?). I'm kinda curious about why that is. Down here a few states below y'all, finding non-ethanol is really rare and, when you find it, insanely expensive. Any ideas? Is it the winter temperatures, or…what is it?

Yes, that's what I meant to say. 🙃

Same story in northern California/southern Oregon. In California, E0 is illegal in street vehicles, which makes it really hard to find, and expensive when you do (e.g. 25% higher). Then you cross into southern Oregon, where some sideroad tackle shop has a single gas pump from the 20th century, and for some reason it pumps 91E0.

All of this is even more bizarre, because ethanol is higher octane than gasoline. It makes sense that Maverik's E0 is 87 octane, because there's no ethanol to inflate the number. Premium in southern Oregon and upstate NY really is premium - high octane and no ethanol filler.