Triumphrat

BillyRaff · 05-07-2006, 02:40 PM

Regular Gasoline: 85 Octane
Midgrade Gasoline: 88 Octane
Premium Gasoline: 90. Octane

raproe · 05-07-2006, 02:55 PM

I use midgrade because that's what the owners' manual recommends. I have used regular when it was all I could get at rural gas stations and it seemed to work OK with no pinging.

There is no advantage to getting a higher octane than the owners' manual recommends, particularly if the premium is made by raising the octane with ethanol. The ethanol raises the octane but lowers the energy value so engine power and mileage are actually less.

Thunder_Forever · 05-07-2006, 04:40 PM

I use premium because I work for a pipeline company with 23 large capacity storage tanks on sight that hold everything from diesel, regular, premium, jet fuel (turbine), & ethanol. As you all know, midgrade is literally just a 50/50 mix of reg. and prem.....oh and in CA our gasoline also contains 5.73% (avg.)ethanol that we blend while loading on the trucks that take them to your gas stations. We actually recieve the fuel straight from refineries in Oakland and I physically test the fuel qualities as shipments in the pipeline transition from regular to premium to diesel, etc. before swinging valves to other tanks.

I can tell you right away that turbine is treated like a king and is the biggest money maker but runner up is premium.
This fuel is very protected whereas our regular tanks often get tested and show trace amounts of water and other foreign materials, even dirt in some cases.........these are shared tanks with space leased by shippers all over, basically this fuel could be at any gas station you go to. This is the way it goes all over the nation......

So......my car gets the regular ($$$) and my Bonneville never gets anything less than premium. Any other questions?

Thunder_Forever · 05-07-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

On 2006-05-07 12:55, raproe wrote:
I use midgrade because that's what the owners' manual recommends. I have used regular when it was all I could get at rural gas stations and it seemed to work OK with no pinging.

There is no advantage to getting a higher octane than the owners' manual recommends, particularly if the premium is made by raising the octane with ethanol. The ethanol raises the octane but lowers the energy value so engine power and mileage are actually less.

Ethanol has nothing to do with octane...it is an air quality issue and the amount applied usually depends on area requirements according to state legislature and EPA regulations.

Oh, and the same amount is applied to both regular and premium based on the percentages required.

[ This message was edited by: Thunder_Forever on 2006-05-07 14:44 ]

mikemm03 · 05-07-2006, 05:33 PM

Billy, It may all be mumbo jumbo but the octane ratings in are part of the country are:

87
89
93

Silverado57 · 05-07-2006, 06:57 PM

I was using premium but just switched to 89 octane (as per the manual) and on the recommendation of another experienced rider.

mecscc · 05-07-2006, 07:11 PM

Gasoline threads are second in fun only to oil threads.

Use what the guys who made your bike said to use: unless 1) you consider them complete idiots (but then why would you buy a bike from them?) or 2) you have increased the compression ratio on your engine to above 10.5:1.

That means 89 octane here in the US.

Using premium in an engine that doesn't need it actually is not good for it OVER TIME

(I know. I know. It feels better to use "only the best." But then why not use racing grade all the time?).

The higher the octane the more narrow the detonation window, meaning that there is more chance of misfire, meaning more chance of imcomplete combustion products building up on pistons and valves, which, over time, means less volume in the combustion chamber, meaning higher compression ratio, meaning the need for higher octane! Voila! You were right all along! How's that for a self-fulfilling prophesy?

Monte :-D :-D

[ This message was edited by: mecscc on 2006-05-07 17:12 ]

Thunder_Forever · 05-07-2006, 07:12 PM

Quote:

On 2006-05-07 17:11, mecscc wrote:
Gasoline threads are second in fun only to oil threads.

Use what the guys who made your bike said to use: unless 1) you consider them complete idiots (but then why would you buy a bike from them?) or 2) you have increased the compression ratio on your engine to above 10.5:1.

That means 89 octane here in the US.

Using premium in an engine that doesn't need it actually is not good for it OVER TIME

(I know. I know. It feels better to use "only the best." But then why not use racing grade all the time?).

The higher the octane the more narrow the detonation window, meaning that there is more chance of misfire, meaning more chance of imcomplete combustion products building up on pistons and valves, which, over time, means less volume in the combustion chamber, meaning higher compression ratio, meaning the need for higher octane! Voila! You were right all along! How's that for a self-fulfilling prophesy?

Monte :-D :-D

There you have it......you need a job?

bonnevillebilly · 05-07-2006, 07:29 PM

2001 bonny
The owners handbook says to use 89 OR higher.
I have used 93 octane premium grad in all my bikes.
My old Triumphs called for a minimum of 94 octane ,but there few places, if any you could find 94 octane

Normandy · 05-07-2006, 07:50 PM

94 @ chevron up here. Find 92/93 smoother running.