Today and Plans for Next Years Ride

[larrydr]

Today here in Manitoba we have 8 inches of snow and the temperature is  -    minus 4 degrees Celius ....You might say the riding season is done for 2022 ...I am making plans to do some riding in USA next season in 2023 ...I have Family / Friends in the USA and the gasoline prices in the USA are not near as high and they are here in Canada ...Todays   price here is    $9.87   per gallon ...My direct fuel costs in 2022 as a contractor where $3568 to date   in 2022   My Venture gets to very Cranky if I run the fuel with a octane rating of 87% ...I need to run fuel with a octane   rating of 89%  or higher to have stable fuel milage ...

[slowrollwv]

I bought my Venture off my oldest brother in 05 with 4300 miles. He had been running 92% in it. I tried 87% and got crappie milage also. I went to 89% and my milage went up to around 200 miles per tank and have been running it ever since.

[1BigDog]

I just started running ethanol free 89 and the bike loves it

[skydoc_17]

We are "Blessed" here in South Central Pennsylvania, we have a local chain convenience store called, "Rudders" (Like a 7-11, only much nicer) that sells ethanol free 91 octane and I run it in all of my bikes as well as all of my lawn equipment. I pay a bit more for this fuel, but the results have been worth it in the long run. My 87'VR is tuned strictly for performance, (VMAX Carbs., VMAX Cams, VMAX Intake Valves, FJR FInal Drive, etc.) where as my 89'VR is tuned for economy. Even pulling my trailer on the 89'VR I get well into the 40's MPG, and have hit 50 MPG Solo. (If I keep my wrist under control) Unfortunately, I can't say that with the 87'VR. What I do notice with all of the equipment I own is the fact that I have very little if any Carb. issues from the fall of the year until the spring of the next year! Both bikes, and all of my lawn equipment including my lawn tractor and snow blower start right up, and run every time. The other thing I do is to run AGM batteries in the bikes, lawn tractor and snow blower. When I keep them on a tender during the winter months, I average 6 to 8 years per battery. (My lawn tractor is going into it's 9th year, but I oversized this battery when I replaced the original!) They are a bit spendy to purchase to start with, but overall save money in the long run due to their reliability and life span. As they say, "You get what you pay for", and in the case of the ethanol free fuel, that has worked out to my advantage. When traveling on the "Open Road" on my Venture, I can't always get the ethanol free fuel, but because I am usually burning through more than one tank in a day, I don't sweat that much. When I get home, I always fill and store my bikes with the "Good Stuff" so to speak!

Earl