Putting "Premium" in your bike

I dunno what to tell you, but my Subie Turbo gets about 23mpg on 87 and about 25 on 93. That is cruising sea level at 70mph. My KTM 690 seems to get about the same no matter what is in it. My old 950 got about 37mpg on 87 and 41 on 93. None of my motors ping, but the 950 would get piston rattle if I let it get below 3500 rpm in 5th or sixth gear.

my old 1990 e 34 535 only required 91 octane(RON) it ran slightly nicer and got better mileage on 95.Was very slightly cheaper to run the 91

I do use 92 octane.. the cost difference is what? 50-90Cents per tank full? Even on the Adventure.. it's nothing..! Why would you not use 92? :huh Usually Chevron and Shell Stations have pumps with a separate hose and dispenser for each octane grade.. so you know that whatever is left in the hose is the correct grade

I stand by the fact that you need to get to know your station. If the operator is the type that loads the premium tank when prices drop, that fuel could be sitting in there for quite a while.

This makes me miss my M30 powered E34. What a sweet motor.

You have REAL girls down there ? You've CHECKED, right ?

It needed more ethanol.

cant you just go to a gas station that has a different handle for each octane? i do

I only use premium because it's liquid horsepower

gas pump hose is 3/4" id, there is .00229 gallons per foot of hose


there may be .3 or .4 gallons residual in a 4 gallon fill up, that might knock the 91 octane rating down to 90.8, hardly anything to worry about

and I hope you get caught

Not really...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8652

Some stations blend mid-grade from two tanks, some stations have a dedicated tank for it. I believe I remember someone saying the hose on a single-hose system contains no more than a quart. Unless you are buying miniscule amounts of fuel you should never notice the difference.

My 1100GS supposedly needs premium and does not adjust for anything else. When I first got it, it would occasionally ping in hot weather even on Premium. Ever since I made a point of bouncing it off the rev liimiter at least once on every ride, I can get away with Regular most of the time. At worst, I get a minute amount of pinging during full throttle acceleration at mid rpm.

Back in the 80's, I had a small, high performance (German) car that, when tuned for optimal performance, would ping occasionally on any high octane fuel. Unleaded was just becoming available in the UK at the time and I found that when I mixed high octane leaded and high octane unleaded, it wouldn't ping at all. Not an option these days of course.

My 20-year-old Yamaha GTS requires 87 octane and the owner's manual states that up to 10% ethanol is ok. I don't recall seeing ethanol blended fuels back then but as I ride it freuently enough to avoid the fuel getting stale, I don't worry too much about what goes into it (but not "budget", no-name fuel unless I know I'll be running the tank out and fueling up again the same day)

I lives in the golden state, where all pumps iz single hose, 'n since gas iz usually over $4 a gallon 'round these parts, so most sheeple use regular. (87)
Now I'm too simple ta do the math, butt if'n mah bike getz 'round 40 mpg, 'n if'n I ride 20k mi. a year, 'n if'n when ya buy 92, yer get'in .7 gallons of 87, (Butt pay'in fer 92) 'n if'n yer bike runs just fine on 87, seems ta me only a chump would piss money away on the "good stuff?"

I've been testing the gasoline for ethanol content and have found that the premium fuel in my location (Robbinsville,NC) is ethanol free and the regular grade has 10% ethanol.

So far I have tested four different gas stations and since our fuel probably comes from the same tank farm that explains the results of my testing.

As an aside the one station that advertises ethanol free premium gets 10 cents more a gallon and the bikers line up here to get it.

Regular is about $3.60 and premium about $3.90 so the question is that since ethanol is about 70% energy of pure gas, maybe it is just about a wash in cost per MPG so why not run premium?

That's because you're supposed to use premium in that engine...it's built for it. Using a lower octane fuel makes the ECU retard ignition timing so you don't hole a piston. That's where the lower fuel economy comes from.

I run 91 octane even though my bike only requires 89, because many stations in my area offer ethanol free premium. I will pay the extra 10 cents per gallon to get non ethanol fuel.

Premium is 25 to 45 cents per gallon more than regular in every State I've been in lately. Edit - You're comparing to 89 but I still think I see 91 always at least 15 higher.

That is what, seventy-five cents a tank for a bike?

I usually use premium on my Triumphs because the medium is always old enough that it sets the ping sensor on my 675.

If you have a 2 gallon tank! (Regular to premium)

Many of us have 5 gallon tanks, and ride many thousands of miles a year. It adds up fast, with no benefit (in my case) to adding premium.

Jim