Z1OwnersClub GB

Hi I have what may seem like a dumb question it's about using unleaded petrol in bikes that were made to run on leaded fuel. Does this impact on the running of the engine as I heard that it makes the valves run hotter and it would be better to use a lead additive in your fuel. This may be just an old wives tale but there may be something in it , anyway I would appreciate any feedback from the experts here thanks in advance

Can't claim to be an expert but these bikes were designed to run on leaded 2 star which was pretty poor even then. I don't think anyone here runs lead additives in their z's.

Type in unleaded to the search and you should get enough info to see you right

heno55 wrote:Hi I have what may seem like a dumb question it's about using unleaded petrol in bikes that were made to run on leaded fuel. Does this impact on the running of the engine as I heard that it makes the valves run hotter and it would be better to use a lead additive in your fuel. This may be just an old wives tale but there may be something in it , anyway I would appreciate any feedback from the experts here thanks in advance

The Zs were not made to run on leaded petrol

The main market for bikes made in Japan was the USA and unleaded petrol has been there for a long time

nicomkii wrote:Type in unleaded to the search and you should get enough info to see you right

thanks I should of thought of that I just did and got lots of info I'm happy enough with my 1980 z1 classic as she was built for the American market , but I've been offered the chance of a 1975 kz900 that might have been the one assembled in the USA and my thoughts are that 1975 might have been early for unleaded .

I had a 1975 Z1B from 1979 to 2013 and it ran OK on unleaded.

Thanks for the swift reply lads I'm happy enough to continue on with the unleaded

Virtually every jap bike built was designed to run on unleaded. There was a few exceptions though but not the zed's .unleaded is fine