what will leaded gas do to an atv engine?

[TRI-Zbrian]

my friend has this lead additive and i was just wondering what its for and what it would do to a 4/2 stroke atv engine if mixed with the gas.

i know a little bit about it i think it was used for older engines or something like that

[JW125M]

i've heard it wears away piston rings faster than normal...thats just what ive heard

[Beer_Smurf]

For most ATVs it will do nothing.
ATV engines do NOT need the lead for the valve seats.
If you have a modified high compression engine it may help with detonation.
However you are probably better off buying race or avgas.
If you use too much, and it is really lead, you can get lead fouling on your spark plug.
Do NOT put it in an injected engine with an O2 sensor. Cannondale?

[TRI-Zbrian]

i see. thanx for the info i didnt plan on using it i was just wondering about it. :-D

[monoxide]

iam running AV fuel in my Tecate, and it seems to work fine. i have 175lbs of compression, too.

[TeCaTe_MaN]

the reason they have "UNleaded" gas now is not what it does to your engine but what it will do to you if you get a good amount of gas on your skin....mann it will straight-up kill you :shock:

[J.D.]

Leaded gas is supposed to help your engine run cooler and such. Probably won't do much on a stock engine though.

[samster143]

Recently I have been running Sunoco 114 octane mixed w/ 93 in about a 60/40 ratio. I run it in my 200x w/10.5 compression and in my RD400 2 stroke with about 150 psi compression. It works great! Instant throttle response.. Really pulls harder in the upper rpm's. 5.50/ gal so A Little pricey. I think it is worth it. The machines idle a little higher than normal that is normal. It is good stuff!

[TimSr]

Im with BeerSmurf. Considering when your trikes were new, they were most likely ALL running it. Back then you got it from the gas pump, and it was called "regular".

Lead was used in all pump gas prior to the late 70's because it was a very inexpensive octane booster and had lubricative properties as well. It was phased out for environmental reasons - lead emmissions from your exhaust. Also new cars from the late 70's were being equipped with govt mandated catalytic converters, and leaded gas would quickly clog them. The most difficult part of the whole transition was creating an unleaded fuel that performed as well as leaded fuel, with the same octane rating, without a huge price increase. Since that time other additives have been added to achieve most of the benefits lost with lead.

New vehicles might be a different story, but when your trikes were made, they expected that they would be run with leaded fuel.

[roofinggun]

Lead primarily affects woman and children, but has effects on the neurological, renal, reproductive, etc. systems. Gas that had lead caused deposits in the ground from the exhaust, but lead was banned primarily because of so many cases of poisoning caused by lead paint in and around pre-1978 homes. Funny thing is that lead paint was the more expensive high end paint.

Does anyone run fuel with a percentage of ethanol in their trike. Does it affect the performance?

[SoCalDesertRider]

Ive been running Sunoco 110 and before that VP 110, straight, which are both leaded, and so far no problems. I run it in the 250R and the YZ80 and I ran in the 200X before I sold it. My friend runs it in his '01 CR250 and '02 CR125 with no problems.

[HemiChallenger71]

The race gases usually arent actually leaded they have a lot of additives and other properties that achieve the octane rating they have (and that awesome smell). I guess that gas could still be leaded but I doubt it. Although I know leaded gas is still used in Australia (can someone from down under confirm this?!?) and for planes.

[samster143]

The aviation fuel is called 100LL for low lead. It does have a high quantity of lead in it (more than race fuels), but less than previous AV fuels. Almost all racing fuels will be leaded, some Hi-Perf. auto fuels are unleaded so they can run in Cat. equipped cars, however their octane is lower than the leaded ones generally.