gnu (01/28/83)
My 1980 Honda motorcycle runs fine on cheap old regular gas, and gets about 50 miles/gallon. I'm sure that many newer cycles also still use regular. (PS: Lowest price I've seen in SiliVali/SF is about $1.01 in Mt. View). John Gilmore, Sun Microsytems
laurir (01/29/83)
The ARCO station in King City, Oregon just hit 88.9 cents per gallon for regular gas. I can no longer get ten dollars worth of gas into my car! -- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekmdp!laurir)
goutal (01/30/83)
My car is something of an oddity this way. I have a Datsun B-210 wagon. (only *slightly* odd in itself...) Apparently, in '77 or so, they went to unleaded gas. Then, in '79, they went back to regular. Finally, in 1980, they returned to unleaded, and have continued to used it ever since. I gather that all their other models used unleaded regularly (:->) since about the same time as the 210. I have the 1979. -- Kenn
fair (01/30/83)
Try finding leaded premium gas (92+ octane) for a 1965 Oldsmobile 98 convertible... Erik E. Fair ucbvax!fair fair@Berkeley
bobr (01/30/83)
I do not think that **any** motorcycle uses unleaded gas.
jwb (01/31/83)
The years for Datsun's regular gas use are not correct. I have a 1978 B-210 and a 1978 280Z. Both use regular gas. California cars at that time used unleaded and my Z has a place for a temperature indicator light for a catalytic convertor. Incidently, at the time GM had a big ad campaign to the effect that Datsun was trading fuel economy for regular. Considering the 5 years I have had with 40+ mpg on the B-210 and 30- mpg on the 280Z along with the price differential I think the Datsun approach was a good deal at the time. It is my impression that Datsun went to unleaded for some models in 1979 and others in 1980, but I am not sure. Jack Buchanan
dmmartindale (02/01/83)
Because of less-strict emissions standards in Canada, many cars here still run on leaded gasoline - my 1981 Rabbit for example. Prices for fuel seem to be about 50% higher than those mentioned for the U.S.
ee163hp (02/05/83)
Yes, but almost any motorcycle CAN use unleaded gas, if the rider chooses to pollute a little bit less. -- Larry West, UCSD
lrd (02/08/83)
Larry West, UCSD, said, in reference to this topic: "Yes, but almost any motorcycle CAN use unleaded gas, if the rider chooses to pollute a little bit less." True, BUT -- 1. The contribution to atmospheric pollution, by all motorcycles, is less than 1%. Polluting a little less will be an improvement of far less than 1%. 2. Regular is less expensive than no-lead; using unleaded gas, at a higher cost, will increase your engine's tendency to detonate (pre-ignition, or knock). This is particularly noticeable on warmer days (when most motorcycles are used) with air-cooled engines (most motorcycles are NOT liquid cooled). Typical octane (anti-knock rating) for regular is 89, for unleaded, 87. Of course, if you don't like the engine knocking due to your use of the more expensive nolead, you can always pay even more for premium unleaded! 3. Unleaded gas causes MUCH faster wear on valves, valve guides, and valve seats than regular, both in cars and motorcycles. The combustion after-products of tetraethyl lead act as lubricants under the extreme high pressure and high temperature conditions that are encountered by valves (particularly exhaust valves). The use of regular gas will extend valve life by several hundred percent. Regular does have one minor drawback -- spark plugs last longer when unleaded is used, but I can change spark plugs in 10 minutes, at the cost of a few dollars; the cost of replacing valve components is in the hundreds of dollars! If your engine (car or motorcycle) runs properly on regular, you are wasting money and accomplishing very little by using nolead. L. R. DuBroff -- BTL, Naperville, Illinois