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11/28/2011
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Phoenix, AZ
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Edited Date/Time
12/1/2018 7:16pm
Thinking about starting to use some good fuel for my new KTM 500. Its a 10,000 bike I figure I should put the best in it. I dont ride that much so it wont really cost me a fortune. I'm not doing it for horsepower gains, just something that burns nice and clean and wont harm the fuel system. I would like to run something leaded for the added protection to the engine. I've heard oxygenated fuels go bad really quickly? I would probably be running 50/50 with pump 91. Anyone know any good articles about using race fuel in a dirt bike? I read a decent article on mxa about VP stuff but personal experiance from people would be appreciated. Thanks for anything you guys can teach me.
The Oxy fuels will not go bad as long as the they are stored off the cement ground (on a pallet) and do not expose to the direct sunlight and kept sealed. If the bike if fuel injected you may need to have it remapped for race fuel and tell them what type of riding, race fuel and mix.
You could mix (1) gallon VP U4.4 with (4) gallons of non-ethanol pump. Ask the station how much of the pump 93 they sell. If it sits or they do not sell a lot you may be better to run 87 since it’s going to be fresher You are not going to need a lot of octane unless the motor compression has been raised. Just a splash of race fuel will be sufficient to help throttle response and a slight increase in power.
If the VP u4.4 is too expensive you could try the VP VPR.
FYI – Standard Race fuels require leaner jetting/mapping and oxy fuels require richer jetting/mapping. Personally I would run oxy fuel
Good Luck!
Personally I drain the tank and carb anytime the bike is going to sit longer than 24 hours. Fuel stays fresh in a metal container, and the carb never has any nasty deposits.
The Shop
I spoke with VP directly yesterday. They said T4 is awesome for stock bikes and provides a small HP increase and also throttle response. It is oxygenated but unleaded.
VPR is the same as T4 but leaded and thus a bit more octane....this is more of a two stroke fuel.
VPR and T4 are near the same price.
U4.4 has more oxy than T4/VPR and is leaded like VPR. It is quite a bit more $ than T4/VPR.
I am personally going to try T4 soon. My bike is stock, 14 YZ250F.
As far as mixing it or running it straight goes... Your bike will love you if you run it straight. You can mix it but then your ruining the high purity race fuel fuel you just paid $14+ a gallon for. If your going to run race fuel just bite the bullet and run it straight. You will be MUCH happier with the outcome. Below is an idea of what pricing should be.
VPR / T4 $70 per can
U4.4 $90 per can
MR12 $140 per can
Actually, keeping it on the concrete here probably does more good than harm. The temp of the concrete stays more consistent throughout the day than the air in my garage. Temp fluctuation is what causes condensation so having it on the concrete here probably helps prevent that since the desert has large air temp flux day to night. In any case, mine's been sitting on the floor for years and never had a prob.
It all depends on how you motor is setup but if you are running a fairly stock motor you are fine to run or mix non-ethanol pump with a splash of u4.4 or VPR. Everyone with a stock motor has better results keeping the octane lower.
Pit Row
I would send your ECU to Tokyo Mods (I think they have a special for $79.00) and ask them to rempap the bike for VP VPR.
I think you will be very happy with the results.
Good Luck!
My friend bought a fmf pipe and then did the ecu remap and said the remap made a way bigger difference than the pipe!
T4 is oxygenated and actually has the same amount of oxygen content as VPR.
VPR has more octane and is also leaded. T4 is unleaded and lower octane and would run better in a stock bike than VPR.
IF you are going to play with ignition timing or bump compression then yes VPR would give you more room.
i had a bad time when Sunoco went from MTBE to ethanol with their other 260 unleaded.
Yeah I have zero complaints with 260GTX. Great fuel for sure.
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