Octane.........

[CaptainFlake]

I usually put 92 in my '04 but with gas prices being what they are here in Seattle I'm thinking about putting in '87. Does it matter?

[Speed3]

I don't run anything lower than 89 octane in my bike. I have the timing advanced 5 degrees, and it doesn't like any thing lower. Try 87 and see if it pings. If it does, go to 89.

I was told by a Triumph mechanic that I trust that Triumph recommends 89 octane. That's what I run with no trouble. The dealer I purchased it from said I was supposed to run premium, but it runs better on 89. I've never tried 87. Heck, my Magna runs like ***** on anything but 87.

Jer..

[MrEd]

87??
Isn't that what they used to use in the old sovietunion? :razz:
Can't even get lower than 95 here

[Legman]

Some European Countries use a different standard for Octane rating than the US. The rating of 95 in Sweden is similar to the rating of 89 in the US. Australia uses a similar rating to Europe. Regular unleaded here has a rating of 91, and premium unleaded can be from 95 to 98.

[Celt]

uk is 95 and 97 is the super.

i think

[Captain_Rat]

I think the 02-04 manual specifies that no lower than 89 be used. Again, I think I read that.

Capt.

[hANNAbONE]

Les'see...20 cent difference here between 89 & 92.

20 cents X 4.0 gallon = a whopping 80 cents more per fillup...that's chicken feed - hec, I pee that away on my daily morning soda..!!

I think for the peace of mind and the tradeoff knowing I won't have any issues with "dino juice", I'll continue to opt for the highest rated petrol I can find....usually that's a local BP station (which by the way does not use imported oil for the middle east...just an FYI)...let's keep them in business please -- right??

Let's also consider that the octane being 92 is the best refined money can buy short of jet fuel or drag strip fuel. Why would anyone purchase an inferior product for cents less.???
What with carbon buildup and other deposits in the less formulated fuels -- I don't get it..!! -- hec, make mine the high test every time.!!



That's my take -- y'all do what cha want..

[MrEd]

On 2005-06-26 17:25, Legman wrote:
Some European Countries use a different standard for Octane rating than the US. The rating of 95 in Sweden is similar to the rating of 89 in the US. Australia uses a similar rating to Europe. Regular unleaded here has a rating of 91, and premium unleaded can be from 95 to 98.

It does make sence that you don't run around on ***** gas but why the different standards? Oh well why not? We have different standards on exactly everything else :brk:

[Repeater]

On 2005-06-27 14:07, hANNAbONE wrote:
Les'see...20 cent difference here between 89 & 92.

20 cents X 4.0 gallon = a whopping 80 cents more per fillup...that's chicken feed - hec, I pee that away on my daily morning soda..!!

I think for the peace of mind and the tradeoff knowing I won't have any issues with "dino juice", I'll continue to opt for the highest rated petrol I can find....usually that's a local BP station (which by the way does not use imported oil for the middle east...just an FYI)...let's keep them in business please -- right??

Let's also consider that the octane being 92 is the best refined money can buy short of jet fuel or drag strip fuel. Why would anyone purchase an inferior product for cents less.???
What with carbon buildup and other deposits in the less formulated fuels -- I don't get it..!! -- hec, make mine the high test every time.!!



That's my take -- y'all do what cha want..

Quite simply because many motors do NOT run as well on 92 octane. An octane rating is simply the rating of how long it takes for the fuel to completely combust. Motors with a relatively low compression will NOT see any gain from running 92 octane. At all. None. You're throwing money away, nothing more. You don't get better mileage, and you don't get more power, no matter what the wannabe shadetree mechanics say. Very low-compression engines may, in fact, lose performance by switching to high octane fuel, simply because the fuel is still burning while the piston has already finished the power stroke.

Read:
http://theserviceadvisor.com/octane.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/octane.htm

The only time you should use higher octane fuel than recommended is if it's old, worn out, and has begun to predetonate constantly. Then, the higher octane fuel will resist burning from the hot spots on the pistons. And then, you've got bigger problems to worry about than what kind of fuel you're using.

Higher octane fuel alone giving motors an added boost in horsepower, mileage, etc. is a myth. If any advantage is ever seen in a car engine, the discrepancy is best explained by the ignition system of the vehicle automatically advancing or retarding the timing depending on present conditions, including fuel type. And that performance increase has the same effect if you were to do it on the old fuel, more or less. Motorcycles, though, just don't do this, unless motorcycle manufacturers have recently greatly increased the complexity of their ECUs in recent times.

Using higher octane fuel than is absolutely necessary is simply dumping more money into the oil companies' coffers, nothing more, nothing less.

I'm anxious to see when we'll get diesel sportbikes in the future. It'd be a kick to run a motorcycle off of some home-processed biodiesel or other stuff you just find lying around.