® Gasoline and your CB500

Put simply, there are just two things you need be concerned about when it comes to gasoline. And believe it or not, ethanol is not one of them. The two things are varnish and carbon. That's it. Octane is a non-issue. And ethanol is a non-issue.

Ethanol
However, though not something you should worry about, let's start with the ethanol question since it is on everyone's mind. Elsewhere on my site I have a more complete article on ethanol, but the main points regarding it are: corrosion, poor performance, and rubber deterioration.

Corrosion
Carburetor corrosion is not primarily caused by oxygenated gasoline. Ethanol can accelerate it, of course. But carburetors have been corroding from the very beginning, long before ethanol was common in fuel. And the main culprit is the very poor metal used in carburetors made before 1980. See the aforementioned full article for the details on this.

Performance issues
Ethanol has been blamed for performance problems but it does not deserve that. Mass-produced engines have a built-in margin to accomodate changes in air/fuel ratio consistency, so oxygenated gas is not an issue. What ethanol does however is make engine maintenance shortcomings more apparent, and that is where the complaints regarding performance come from, not directly from ethanol. It is poor maintenance, not ethanol, that is responsible for many vintage machines running less than their best.

Rubber issues
The claim of rubber deterioration is equally fallacious. The issue is actually the rubber, not the ethanol. Nearly 100 percent of the rebuild parts folks are using are very poor quality. Better gaskets and diaphragms are available, but their existence is little-known and greatly overshadowed by the clamorous commercial dissonance that is the powersports aftermarket. In addition, less than careful handling of float bowl gaskets has always resulted in slight swelling; that has been true since the beginning.

Varnish
Check out the full scale article for more detail on the above. Now let's look at the two things you do want to think about. The first is hands-down the most important, and that is varnish. You absolutely must assimilate this fact: for the past 30+ years pump gasoline has been stripped-down, dumbed-down, and hollowed-out due to the removal of the traditional aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylene) that gave the fuel its preservative characteristics and of course its exotic smell. The aromatics were removed when evaporative emissions became a thing, first in California in 1984 when a percentage of motorcycle production was fitted with charcoal cannisters and venting valves, then by 1990 the gasoline itself had the aromatics removed to make it less evaporative. Unfortunately, the lack of aromatics makes gasoline not last. The OEMs have for several years published in their owner's manuals a timeline of just 3-4 weeks. If you don't want to have to remove your carburetors every month or so to clean them out, then take heed.

Carbon
The other issue with gasoline is very specfic to Honda standard roadbike models. Do not put premium gas in them. Premium is old car gas, meant for cast iron V8s. As such it contains detergents and whatnot that in most Hondas leaves behind excessive amounts of carbon. This is not an opinion. This happens. The valves accumulate carbon so badly they tend to stick in their guides. Every veteran Honda road bike mechanic knows this. Stick with regular. And now, there is another reason to avoid premium. With so fewer vehicles using it today, it's the premium stuff that is staying longer in the undergroud tanks at the gas station. This means it is already old by the time you get it, leading to the issue above, varnish.


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