It gums up the carbs fast that my experience with ethanol

and if i remember right it also run alot hotter

 

Fuel with ethanol is rumored to go bad faster than fuel without ethanol. It is also rumored to be harsh on seals not developed to be immersed in partial ethanol gas.

It for certain DOES have less potential energy, and less resistance to compression. As the octane rating is actually a measurement of octane to heptane (and not a true measurement of volatility/reaction point under compression) ethanol doesn't affect it, despite causing pre-ignition/knocking in some rides.

 

hd even tells you when you buy an hd bike that that kind of fuel will burn up the motor

 

why do these always turn into a which gas is better thread, its really over like 13cents so **** or gtfo!!!

 

Harley does so little to update their technology this doesn't surprise me. Not only are they running 20-30 year old engine technology, but they can't even be bothered to update their engines to deal with a nation wide fuel additive that isn't ever going to go away and has been around for a long time. It's always been added in the winter as ethanol does infact aid cold starting.

 

Most all gas sold in the uS these days has an ethanol blend. In Ohio I think there are 10 stations that sell without, and they are all marinas.

FWIW, I have found my bike runs for crap on 87, runs good on 93, but best on 91. I have 44,000 miles on it. When it was new I'm sure 87 worked fine. Not so much now with higher mileage.

 

Dunno bout that. Properly rejetting the engine is a pita. Sync is just annoying.

Tossing a jet kit in is easy enough, sure. But it'll still need to be tuned. And even with the tools to properly read a/f mix, it still means several adjustments to clip position and repeatedly buttoning everything up... only to take it back apart to make the adjustment.

Carb sync is tedious. But aside from the annoyance of screwdriver maneuvering, its straightfoward and gauges (which can be bought or made cheaply) let you know when you got it right.

I did both on my F3 and would take a Carb sync any day

 

The dynojet kit is pretty damn close for 90% of the bikes out there. It's a safe start and will get you close enough to be fine. Sure, "properly" rejetting requires the work you mention and Dyno time, and is all that for 2 extra horsepower. Not worth the difference over just a baseline Dynojet kit.

You can install a dynojet kit in minutes, and while you're in there you can do the baseline carb cleaning pretty much any F2 is going to outright need.



Of course this also all boils down to you owning an F3, which uses ram air while the F2 does not. The added complexity of ram air on a carb based system alone is probably where your carb fears have come from.