110 Leaded Gas ok in a Dream 50R?

[DucatiBastard]

Yeah, its not a Ducati or even Italian, but I just bought a 2004 Honda Dream 50R.  The previous (and original) owner only used Sunoco 94 octane gas in it, not sure if leaded or not.  He didn't want Ethanol anywhere near this bike.  I'd like to do the same. 

The only high octane, non-ethanol gas nearby is 110 leaded from Phillips 66.  Honestly I'm not worried about cost.  Its a bike I'll bide infrequently and the tank is only 1.6 gallons. 

Will there be any issues with running this gas?  I have looked at pure-gas.org and the nearest non-ethanol gas is a 90 minute drive.  The owners manual says minimum 91 octane unleaded.  The bike is 49cc, carb'd, and has straight pipes.  Will the carb need a re-jet?

[motoxmann]

if the manual says min 91 octane, then you should stick to that or somewhat close. anything higher than 94 will start seeing a decent drop in power, as well as a fast pace of carbon buildup, unless you advance the timing 5+ degrees, which I do not suggest because it will be quite difficult to find the ideal setting.
yes you can use unleaded gas in that bike, but 110 is simply way too high of an octane to use. and why would you want to stay away from ethanol? it will have zero negative effects on that engine.

[DucatiBastard]

I'd forgotten about too high of an octane for the engine creating carbon buildup.  I'd heard this in reference to the two-valve Duc engines, that their lower compression and general tune made Premium fuel unnecessary and actually detrimental. 

This Honda has 11.7:1 compression and is basically a race tune.  I thought this might make the higher octane a viable fuel.

I'd like to avoid Ethanol for its general issues.  Replacement parts for this bike are near unobtainable, say a tank for rust-out due to water absorption or fuel lines for the same. 

With all due respect "zero negative effects" is a bit hard to believe with the complications Ethanol causes in our bikes and small engines in general. 

Thank you for the feedback motox! 

[Speeddog]

Can you get VP Racing fuel nearby?

They've got a good selection...

http://seffuels.com/learn.aspx
http://www.vpracingfuels.com/motocross.html

[DucatiBastard]

I really like the sound of SEF94 and T4 from VP Racing.  I'll have to check out the local speed shops. 

[motoxmann]

one more thought, I'm not too familiar with this 50r. does it have an o2 sensor? I'm highly guessing now considering it's so small, but only reason I ask is because leaded gas destroys o2 sensors darn near immediately.
and you say it has a race tune? what does that entail? is the engine fuel injected or carbed? is the ignition timing controlled via an ecu, or a simple ignition module? ihow do you adjust the ignition timing? I ask these because a race tune can be several different things, and depending on how it's tuned, it may already be set up for a different octane fuel

[zooom]

one more thought, I'm not too familiar with this 50r. does it have an o2 sensor? I'm highly guessing now considering it's so small, but only reason I ask is because leaded gas destroys o2 sensors darn near immediately.
and you say it has a race tune? what does that entail? is the engine fuel injected or carbed? is the ignition timing controlled via an ecu, or a simple ignition module? ihow do you adjust the ignition timing? I ask these because a race tune can be several different things, and depending on how it's tuned, it may already be set up for a different octane fuel

http://world.honda.com/HRC/products/machine/dream50r/

[motoxmann]

http://world.honda.com/HRC/products/machine/dream50r/

wow, I totally wasnt expecting it to be that type of bike haha.

to the OP: one thing you might try doing, check the ignition timing and set it to stock if it isn't currently, then run minimum octane rating or within a few points of that. if the timing is slightly advanced and you want to keep it that way, what I used to do with my motocross bikes that ran 11.5-12.0 compression was use a 50/50 mix of 93 unleaded and 100 unleaded. honda recommended minimum octane rating of 94-95 on my bikes, hence my choice to use this fuel mixture, and with stock ignition timing this was the fuel it ran the absolute best on.

and from what I can see, yes you should be able to run leaded gas in that engine. though I do know depending on what you use the bike for it may go against laws or rules to use leaded gas due to the emissions from using such fuel

[DucatiBastard]

I really appreciate all the feedback, thank you

Probably should have been more clear; 49cc, 6 speed trans, four stroke, DOHC, Carb'd, dual exhaust, 11.7:1 comp. NO battery, no O2 sensors, no kickstart.  This bike has a kill switch, that is the only electrical item on the machine.

I would like to keep the bike as close to stock as possible, I'm about 98% sure the ignition timing was not changed.  My ideal would be to run this bike with the best gas possible with these conditions: minimal usage, long storage.

All that I have learned about ethanol makes me want to avoid it for the conditions the bike will be used under. 

Motoxman, thanks for the input, I will look into "cock-tailing" my fuel mixture.