Hey I was wondering what the difference is between leaded and unleaded fuels for a 4 stroke are as far as performance goes. Does leaded damage anything in the long run? Which runs better? Gas is getting expensive as hell here in El Centro. I paid $2.26 a gallon today and I figure if it keeps getting higher I might as well use VP.

VP makes an unleaded fuel called Ultimate 4. It seems to work pretty well. It has a noticable difference in throttle response and gives my bahemoth a little more pep. It smells good to boot!

Lead is a lubricant. On vehicles without a catalytic converter lead is only a benefit. On cat vehicles, lead will clog the cat.
As I understand it, to get the octane levels to an acceptable level with unleaded vehicles, the fuel formulators do some 'magic' that actually works pretty well. There has been stories (myth?) about gains in octane rating by combining unleaded fuel with a small amount of leaded. Not sure on this one.

doesn't she get mad when you call her that?

i've run vp c-12 for years in everything from lawn mowers to race cars, never had a problem with it. my crf 450 i drained the unleaded out the dealer put in and put vp in it, been there ever since.

But using leaded race gas in a bike that does not have enough compression is a waste of money IMO. The only good you good out of it, is a nice smell........mmmmmmmmmmmmm :o

Ok, from what I've been told, lead is just a lubricant. Now, the new gas doesn't have lead......but(this coming from a Union 76 refinery worker) they use Pig Fat in their gas to lubricate the valves. PIG FAT. not 100% sure, but that's what I was told. Other than that, Lead just helps the gas run a bit cooler.

yeah you dont really need it for most bikes, but you can get real agressive with the jetting and not have to worry about it burning up on you with race gas.