unleaded gas 1985 Vmax

[lawnerd]

Just bought an '85 Vmax. Prior owner claims it was meant to be run on leaded gas and that I need to put additives in the unleaded gas. I find this hard to believe. I thought they started phasing out leaded gas in the 70's and I heard that Japanese bikes had hardened valve seats from the 60's on.

Any owners of 1985 Vmaxs around. Do you put additives in your gas?

Thanks.

 

[KJShover]

Unleaded only here, with the occasional seafoam. Stay away from the ethanol though.

 

[maleko89]

Nope, use regular unleaded. I would stay away from ethanol if you have a choice.

 

[mattness]

id call that guy up to see just what the heck he was putting in it lol

 

[gamorg02]

if you look in the early owners manual it says to use leaded fuel, but unleaded can be used if thats all you can find.

at least i remember reading it somewhere, anyone got an owners manual older than 1999?

 

[2fear]

Using unleaded in my 85 for the 19 years I have owned it :ummm:

 

[Jdk203]

Not trying to hijack the thread but it brings up something I've been wondering. Who runs Premium and who runs Regular in the bike and what differences have you noticed switching between the two.

 

[KJShover]

Not trying to hijack the thread but it brings up something I've been wondering. Who runs Premium and who runs Regular in the bike and what differences have you noticed switching between the two.

All octaine is, is just the amount of additives to prevent detonation. You get the best performance by running the lowest octain before detonation.

I run just plain ol Unleaded in my Vmax. My XS with the 13.5:1 pistons would detonate with regular unleaded but got by with unleaded plus.

 

[EvilD]

Leaded fule was soo watered down by 1985 that the amount of lead in it was almost non existent.

 

[lawnerd]

Thanks all for the replies. That's what I figured, the bike can run on unleaded without anything else.

The previous owner used to add Mystery Oil or other "lead substitute" additives.

The bike ran rough and would stall at idle when I bought it. I did a shotgun cleaning of the carbs and reset the idle (previous owner had the idle set at 3,000 rpm trying to keep it from stalling!) and now the bike runs like a charm. I am also running some seafoam through to get out any of the other crap that might be in there.

Love the bike, wish I had bought a Vmax long ago!

 

[tugla]

if you look in the early owners manual it says to use leaded fuel, but unleaded can be used if thats all you can find.

at least i remember reading it somewhere, anyone got an owners manual older than 1999?

+1 on the unleaded for sure and lowest octane to stop det.
Garrett the 97 manual says unleaded fuel and only up to 10%ethanol and no methanol.

 

[MtnMax/Magniac]

The manual for my 1985, copyright 1984, says to use "regular gasoline". No mention of lead.

 

[gamorg02]

interesting. wonder where i got that info from. i'll have to try to dig something up at some point eh.

 

[ghostntheshell]

I use 91 octane.

Call it psychological or whatever, but I find it smooths out.

 

[RaWarrior]

The "premium vs regular" has been brought up several times. Science says you get maximum power running the lowest possible octane without pre-ignition. Despite the Max's relatively high compression, it runs fine on regular 87.

If it makes you sleep better at night, run the premium stuff. It won't hurt anything, but some dyno testing has shown a 1-2hp loss on 93 vs 87 in a stock engine. It was also discussed that the engine may seem to run "smoother" on high octane(less vibration) because it is actually making less power. So many people automatically assume that "premium" means "better", moreso because it costs more, and the expensive stuff is always better....right? The

I've tried regular, "mid grade" 89, as well as the "premium" 93/94. I didn't notice any appreciable difference, other than fill-ups cost an extra dollar or two. Over a day of riding, that can add up pretty fast. Look at it this way....with the money you save using regular, you essentially get a couple free beers at the end of the day. :cheers:

However, I did notice an overall improvement when running ethanol-free fuel. Overall it just seemed to run....better. Kind of hard to describe, maybe it was the "placebo effect", I dunno. At least in NY, ethanol-free gas is pretty hard to find, and stations that sell it often charge "premium" grade prices for regular fuel. The marina where I work sells only ethanol-free 89 gas, which I try to fill up with when possible.

You'd think the previous owner would have taken a hint that pouring mystery oil and lead substitute in the tank made it run like crap.....some people are just set of notions

 

[Roadracer]

...Look at it this way....with the money you save using regular, you essentially get a couple free beers at the end of the day. :cheers:

...

Dude, we gotta ride sometime...I like your reasoning.
:eusa_dance:

 

[shorthair88]

I also have an 85, w/ original owners manual. all it says is fuel: type.....regular gasoline. I run unleaded w/ seafoam every 3rd tank or so. hope this helps even a little.