Jerry; as I mentioned, I only have my own experience to speak of. My big lawnmower (which, now that I think about it, has a bigger engine than the Hawk...
) has been running on QT premium for about four years now with no issues. I stabilize the gas with Sta-Bil and it seems to be doing just fine. The weed eater and edger are the same, although they get two stroke oil in addition to the Sta-Bil. The only thing I've really ever had trouble with is chainsaws, but I think that's my own fault for buying the cheap ones in the first place. The '87 Rebel I've got in the stable hasn't had any issues either, come to think about it. The whole carby had to be replaced once in it's life because the previous owner rode it into his garage and turned the key off, and then forgot about it for nearly 12 years. The carb wasn't even worth trying to clean. It was pretty bad. In any event, the premium fuel seems to be head and shoulders above the basic 87 octane, and I'm happy to pay the few extra cents per gallon when filling up the equipment and motorcycles. They have very miserly consumption habits anyway. The cars just get regular gas, because the missus and I go through enough fuel that it never really sits in the tanks. Happy Thanksgiving!