valve saver

[Little Scotty]

Our founding father,in his usual calm and quiet way,said,words to the effect of,"these bikes[xs1100s]were designed to run on unleaded petrol"

[Eveready1100]

Coopz, there's been a fair bit of discussion on that topic.
The bottom line goes something akin to:
If you've got a high compression big bore / modified motor, use premium to reduce pinging (or detonation).
If you've got a more or less standard spec motor, use plain old 91 RON unleaded. Using the premium stuff in a stocker generally means harder starting and plugs foul easier

NEVER use anything with ethanol in it!

[Cooper]

Has anyone done any checks on the ole girls running on premium unleaded I know many will chime in but is there any noticeable difference. Other than the price difference  my ole girl was bit more pokey of the mark but that was all I really didnt notice much else   but on a different forum some run 95 all the time Coops

[Eveready1100]

Had a bit of a Google around and found this snippet from a USA tech Q&A board -

"Unleaded fuel has been around as long as gasoline has been around. Remember the "lead" (tetraethyl lead) was a fuel additive, it's not something that's removed from the fuel. Many companies did distribute fuel without the lead additive, even back in the 50's and 60's. IIRC they didn't call it "unleaded" they called it "no lead".
For most people though, the year 1975 was important as that was when catalytic converters were made mandatory, and you can't use leaded fuel with the catalytic converter."

and from a Toyota forum -

"Since 1975, it was compulsory in Japan to use unleaded fuel so this motor, being Japanese, was manufactured with hardened valves and designed to run on unleaded. We didn't go to unleaded here in Oz until the late 80s "

I'd say that confirms both Fred's and Pete's points, with the emphasis on the date in Japan being 1975 when leaded fuel was banned, so one could pretty well say for sure that the 78 XS1100 would've been designed to run on unleaded.
Without Catalytic converters to foul up, you can run an unleaded engine on leaded or unleaded with no ill effects, but I wouldn't want to run an old school holden or ford engine on unleaded without an additive.

And just to balance out Fred's bike's example using additive, I'll finish with mine of 346,200 klms with an all original motor untouched internally, EVER, and it's only had one tank of two stroke mix put through it (trip to Mount Isa, 2003) in its life using no valve saver stuff.

But every one is an individual. If you want to put a drop of stuff in the fuel tank for peace of mind, by all means go ahead.
You can't hurt anything.

[petejw1966]

hey fred, id be struggling to find it now,
was a fair while back, it had something to do with
the bikes being marketed for the usa, apparently they
have been using unleaded fuel way before it was introduced here.

[Fred]

Mate, are you sure it says "Unleaded Fuel" not "Regular Fuel"?

Both my workshop manuals state "Regular" which is of course around 89 - 91RON, or in Australia "Standard Petrol" at the time.

We didn't have Unleaded in 1978. Did they have it in Japan and so needed to differentiate?

But I still can't find a definite reference to it.

In the meantime with 300,000 klm up on only one rebuild I'll keep putting in 20 cents worth of "Nulon Lead Substitute Valve Saver" ( are we allowed to promote a product?  ). Cheap insurance I think FWIW

[petejw1966]

from memory in the workshop manual
it stated the engine (head) was built to run on unleaded fuel
so in reality it wouldn't be needed, but in saying that it wouldn't hurt either,
I never found the need when I had my bike.

[steptoe]

I personally don,t know,, I!m going on what  chemists (in the fuel game)  have told me,,

I,ve never had the time or inclination to go spend hours searching for the "truth"

 I was told the lead in old fuel was used to create a barrier to cussion the valve and the seat,,  unless that little bottle chemically changes in some way in the fuel to do the same job I don,t know,

I use the 2 stoke to lube the complete top end and the carbs

I don,t use a lot 2 stroke all the time, it hangs around for quite a while before being washed off I,ve found in my own case

[beemeerr11]

I use a splash of Castrol R30.
 Flashlube is like as thin as water not vicious like 2 stroke are you sure about that?

Lou

[retro]

Hi
    Thanks as i have a suzuki gt750 in my garage i have plenty of 2 stroke oil.
    So just a dash every couple of tanks of fuel.
                                               Thanks Tony

[steptoe]

that,s a bit harsh Fred,

having changed industries that I work in now and having chatted to a few different people that believe they know what they,re talking about,,, valve saver is actually 2 stroke oil that you pay thru the eye tooth for {as valve saver}

for Tonys' benefit,  I personally don,t use saver as such,,  every now and then I,ll throw some 2 stoke fuel mix in the old girl to lube the top end and valve seats

[retro]

   

    thanks i will try and find it.
                                  Tony

[Fred]

In another word......YES

There's that can of worms again

Tony, search the site for this topic. We've been here a few times now and there is some interesting thought on it and some informed thought on it.

[excess.11]

In a word......no.

[retro]

HI
   Do we need to use valve saver in the petrol.
                                             Tony