All of the above holds merit for certain. I know this though... The Vmax engine is not a FLEX FUEL design. I do not wish to put any alcohol into the carburetors and engine for a myriad of reasons, all of which have been stated above and within other posts.
Up here in C'est la vie land, we are blessed by the absence of E85 at the pumps. How long with this hold out, who knows for certain. I guess this depends on how hard the tree-huggers push in the coming years. We do have statements on the majority of pumps that read something like "fuel may contain up to 10% ethanol". These labels, IF present, are usually placed above 2 of the 3 octane choices available for purchase. A station might have Bronze, Silver and Gold with increasing octane ratings stated below. A few stations may even offer a fourth even higher octane. I'll choose whatever is available that doesn't include alcohol. I've noticed that since I have been doing so, I have WAY less carburetor and engine operation issues. BTW, I still also use Seafoam once in awhile. Yeah, I know this stuff can be "hard" on carburetor components too. But I think that it's a lesser evil than to bath your max in alcohol at every fill up.
I don't track my Max, and don't know if I will ever care to. If I wanted to make the sort of power that is required to "win" races, I'd be doing this trade for a living including sponsorship etc. Again, I don't, so to me, bringing this sort of "extra" horse power to the streets seems a waste for me. All I really want is that 20 years from now, to have a vintage ride that I and others can appreciate looking at. AND it still is ridable! Just like my 84 XJ750RL I've had since new.
Nope. My thoughts are to keep my max for MANY fun filled, less headache, ridable years. I hope to have it bronzed like baby shoes, and use it as my tombstone one day in fact. That way when petrol is all dried up and folks come to visit me at my site, they can jump aboard and enjoy one last blessed hell ride with me.
