Fonzie Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 What's everyone use..........the cheapy 87 octane, or the higher end 92-94 stuff. I don't know why I'm thinking I read somewhere that we're supposed to use the higher end stuff (thought I saw a tag inside the tank or something??) but now I can't find that, and wonder if I was hallucinating. Anyways.........been using the 87 octane the last few tanks, and so far, haven't noticed any discernable differences. I know Sam says he uses regular in his 'Busa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmacza Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 What's everyone use..........the cheapy 87 octane, or the higher end 92-94 stuff. I don't know why I'm thinking I read somewhere that we're supposed to use the higher end stuff (thought I saw a tag inside the tank or something??) but now I can't find that, and wonder if I was hallucinating. Anyways.........been using the 87 octane the last few tanks, and so far, haven't noticed any discernable differences. I know Sam says he uses regular in his 'Busa In South Africa we only have 93 and 95 octane unleaded (and a 93 octane LRP which I don't use). 93 works just peachy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I believe that owner's manual calls for 87; that's what I use and have never had any sort of problem, i.e. no pinging. Why pay for the premium spread, when the cheap stuff will do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonzie Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 I believe that owner's manual calls for 87; that's what I use and have never had any sort of problem, i.e. no pinging. Why pay for the premium spread, when the cheap stuff will do? My thoughts exactly!! I'm a tightass on consumeable stuff like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikesblackbird Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I believe that owner's manual calls for 87; that's what I use and have never had any sort of problem, i.e. no pinging. Why pay for the premium spread, when the cheap stuff will do? My thoughts exactly!! I'm a tightass on consumeable stuff like that I have tried all grades and I don't see a difference in any of them, so I stick with the 87. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykotek-xx Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 87, all day every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airborneXX Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 87 all the time. Also change my oil at 3500 miles AND use Castrol GTX. Fuckin crazy I tell ya :icon_duh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Owner's manual calls for a minimum 87 octane.... that's all I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beondwacko Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Call it a force of habit.......I don't know. But Fueling an engine that has 11:1+ compression(11.8:1 right?) makes me reach for the premium grade when I fill up. Also, when an engine runs a little on the lean side, there is more of a propensity for detonation. I know from my dyno chart on my bike that I do have some lean holes in the air/fuel ratio especially in the upper rpm range. It's at the higher revs where the ecu will go into full advance more so with the ignition timing too. There have been a couple of times that I have put regular (87) into the bike. One time was last year right after hurricane Wilma when getting gas was almost impossible. I ran the bike on generator fuel, but was weary about getting into the throttle. Once again, maybe it was a semantic issue but I swear that the bike ran differently on the cheap stuff. It sounded a little different at highway speeds. Either or, I still run some sea foam through about 2 times a year just to help keep things clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhanxx Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 87 all the time unless 88 is the lowest grade... I've heard high octance can do more bad than good to the XX, but for the life of me i can't remember Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beondwacko Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 87 all the time unless 88 is the lowest grade... I've heard high octance can do more bad than good to the XX, but for the life of me i can't remember No such thing as higher octane being harmfull. THere comes a point where once you exceed the octane rating that the engine likes to run on there's no benifit to using it. If the bike makes it's full power on 89, then 93 will offer no benefit or improvement, just higher fuel costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Krypt Keeper Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 My bike gets buzzy on 93 :icon_think: I noticed this 2 yrs ago or so.. Me and buddy took a sick day to go ride around the BRP and we stopped for gas that was out of 87, so I filled up with 93. next 100 miles the bike was buzzy feeling in the pegs and bars. Next gas stop I put in 87 and after about 10 miles I didn't notice the buzz anymore.. Don't know if it was just the gas or where I got it from but when your on one of the smoothest bikes you notice these things.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para045 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 87 all the time unless 88 is the lowest grade... I've heard high octance can do more bad than good to the XX, but for the life of me i can't remember No such thing as higher octane being harmfull. THere comes a point where once you exceed the octane rating that the engine likes to run on there's no benifit to using it. If the bike makes it's full power on 89, then 93 will offer no benefit or improvement, just higher fuel costs. Can anyone tell me whether the octane ratings vary from here in AUS to the USA as like brianmacza we only have 93 octane which is just called unleaded and 95 which is called premium unleaded and at some stations ( BP+Shell ) they have 98 octane ( Ultimate 98 and Shell Ultra ). So far most of my riding has been on the standard unleaded but after trying the premium the engine seemed to run a bit smoother :icon_think: ( no more power though it seemed ! ). I have not tried the BP Ultimate and someone said that the Shell Ulta was crap My BB is a 98 carbed in stock condition except for a K+N filter :icon_doh: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonzie Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 Glad to hear so many are using 87.......now I feel a whole lot less guilty! As far as the lean/rich thing......that was something else in the back of my mind........if I've been using 93/94 this whole time, could it be contributing to my running rich/fouled plugs problems I'd been having??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXBIRD Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Can anyone tell me whether the octane ratings vary from here in AUS to the USA as like brianmacza we only have 93 octane which is just called unleaded and 95 which is called premium unleaded and at some stations ( BP+Shell ) they have 98 octane ( Ultimate 98 and Shell Ultra ). It is the same thing but different labeling. In US octane rating is the average of "research octane number" and "motor octane number" (R+M)/2. US 87 woud be equivalent to 91 elsewhere. I don't know. But Fueling an engine that has 11:1+ compression(11.8:1 right?) makes me reach for the premium grade when I fill up. If this is your reasoning, think about all the money you could have saved... Higher octane ratings correlate to higher activation energies. Activation energy is the amount of energy necessary to start a chemical reaction. Since higher octane fuels have higher activation energies, it is less likely that a given compression will cause knocking. Although note that it is the absolute pressure (compression) in the combustion chamber which is important - not the compression ratio. The compression ratio only governs the maximum compression that can be achieved. If the combustion chamber is designed to "not to detenota early", you are not gaining anything but making your wallet lighter by using higher octane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCHXX Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I have always used the 93 oct (I think I heard somewhere it was better for the engine). Is there any problem switching back to 87 after you've run 93 for an extended period? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverbird1100 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I like the 87 just becasue It probably has the highest turnover at the gas station, fresh gas is good gas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86gn Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Running higher octane than you need could carbon up the top end because its not burning completely. Use the lowest octane you can without detonation/pre-ignition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhanxx Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Running higher octane than you need could carbon up the top end because its not burning completely. Use the lowest octane you can without detonation/pre-ignition. That's it, the bad i couldn't remember, mucho thanks... Still can't remember the source for that info, but i DO remember i took it seriously... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 if I've been using 93/94 this whole time, could it be contributing to my running rich/fouled plugs problems I'd been having??? No. I have a 97 since new. Never had anything but 93. It ran 10.42 at the track on a night with bad air. Must not be too bad for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in PA Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 if I've been using 93/94 this whole time, could it be contributing to my running rich/fouled plugs problems I'd been having??? No. I have a 97 since new. Never had anything but 93. It ran 10.42 at the track on a night with bad air. Must not be too bad for it. If you're going to keep using 93 at least get an ignition advancer to make use of it. You'll notice the difference immediately. I'm still loving it. Since I'm using the fixed 4 degrees with 89 gas, I'd get the adjustable and try say 7 degrees with 93 gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 If you're going to keep using 93 at least get an ignition advancer to make use of it I do. Had a adjustable one for a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in PA Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 If you're going to keep using 93 at least get an ignition advancer to make use of it I do. Had a adjustable one for a couple of years. Well jeez, we've been going back and forth about how 87 is fine in our bikes and you say it's not and you had an advancer the whole time. That changes everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 Well jeez, we've been going back and forth about how 87 is fine in our bikes and you say it's not and you had an advancer the whole time. I didn't say that it wasn't fine to use 87, I just said that I have only used 93. If I put on the mileage that some of you guys do, I might try a lower grade also. Just for the record, I use 89 in the Wing and my truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kf4mtw Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 I always used premium fuel in everything, string trimmer, mower, generators. Could be my imagination but my stuff always starts, like to think the premium is responsible for that. Bought a new 88 Chevy van, still ran good with 120000 miles, felt guilty and bought a set of plugs for it, the original factory ones still looked good. My garden tractor is a 82 Simplicity 16 horse Briggs 42", use it every week, starts right up, I have never pulled the sparkplug out of it! With the 11 to 1 compression the XX has I would be surprised if it ran as good with regular. I just started using regular in my new F250 4x4 recently due to gas prices and it runs great after getting a new program for the SCT chip in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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