Triumphrat

Big_Guns · 05-28-2005

The Owner's Handbook states 89. That's generally mid grade gas in the US. My dealer says use Premium, 91 or higher. At $.20 or so more per gallon, what do you guys use? If I'm correct, using the lowest rated gas that doesn't cause pinging actually produces more HP and certainly is cheaper. Would my money be going up in smoke, (or exhaust fumes) for no reason with premium?

AaUuuuGaa · 05-28-2005

I use the lowest possible octane rating that the manual calls for.

Contrary to popular belief, gasoline's octane rating is not necessarily indicative of the horsepower that it generates. Rather, it is a rating of their resistance to combustion. So, if your bike runs well on lower octane gas, you really ought to NOT run a higher octane gasoline... you'd just be wasting money and actually retarding your engine's ignition.

Big_Guns · 05-28-2005

That's what I thought, just interested in a few more opinions.

Diego · 05-29-2005

> So, if your bike runs well on lower octane gas, you really ought to NOT run a higher octane gasoline... you'd just be wasting money and actually retarding your engine's ignition.

The first part is right on the money, but I don't think the last part really reflects what you meant to say. The higher octane means the fuel is more reluctant to ignite, but it's not "slow" enough to be measured as retardation in degrees of crankshaft rotation.

So far as pinging, the 955 engine in my Tiger is definitely not happy with medium-grade gas in the warmer months. The new head on the 1050 may be more resistant to pre-detonation and thus able to run 89 octane year 'round, but I haven't been eager to test that theory yet on a new engine.

beers2u · 05-29-2005

I was forced yesterday to put 89 octane (gas station in the boonies) for the first time in my '04. If anything, the bike ran better (mid-70's F temps). Makes me think 93 octane is a waste???

Zee · 05-30-2005

Newbie here, would somebody mind describing how you can tell if an engine is 'pinging' please? My 1050 sometimes sounds like there's a box of pins in the engine or the sound of water spashling on a flat surface (only way I can describe it...). Dealer tech suggested trying different fuels including four-star or the highest octane fuel I can get.

Any other advice out there?

kuhlka · 05-30-2005

I ran 89 octane on the way from St. Louis (like the manual suggests for my 03) after pouring in whatever had the highest octane rating since I bought the bike and low and behold, I got 52 miles per gallon, which was A LOT better than mid 40s with 93 octane. I actually went 160-180 miles before having to fill up and I still had a gallon left to burn every time!

crashmasterd · 05-30-2005

Because Triumphs all generally have well designed combustion chambers none of them really need any more than 87 octane fuel. The recommended octane level of 89 is Triumph covering it's a$$.

I always run regular unleaded at 87 octane in all my Triumphs and none of them has ever pinged- and I'm a mechanic and know what pinging sounds like. My 12/1 compression Speed Four is happy as a clam on 87 and never pings.

Because of the extremely poor combustion chamber design of most Hardly Davidstones (Think 'Buell') 89 octane or better is a requirement. Particularly if they have had their compression increased.

Even worse, in the good old USA the quality of "Premium" fuel is often quite low. As recently as a year ago, independent testers checked random fuel stations and found that in almost 30% of pumps the "Premium" fuel had the same octane rating as the "Regular".

So save your money and buy a mocha.

kuhlka · 05-30-2005

Why haven't the fuel corporations been sued for fraud for false advertisement and a whole slew of other offenses if they're selling 87 octane as though it were 93? Oh, our President is an oil man, lol.

crashmasterd · 05-30-2005

Quote:

On 2005-05-30 12:00, kuhlka wrote:
Why haven't the fuel corporations been sued for fraud for false advertisement and a whole slew of other offenses if they're selling 87 octane as though it were 93? Oh, our President is an oil man, lol.

The poorest member of his cabinet, Millionaire Condoleezza Rice, has an oil tanker named after her.

That, and how the heck are we supposed to know? They keep cutting back on regulation on everything.

The next step: I'm buying a sugar beet farm and converting my S3 to ethanol.