Putting "Premium" in your bike

So if my bike requires premium fuel and I put a car tire on the back running a semi-synthetic blend of oil what octane rating should I use assuming its the eve of the Summer Solstice on a Tuesday??

Your biggest problem running premium is how well the station manages it's fuel. Some of the independently owned joints will fill the premium when prices are "low" and then it sits in the tank for quite a while.


Also
The valves are at the top, so you're really not adding much to what's left in the hose. Blenders don't matter.

Sunoco 260 if it's before 9 PM. After that use Gulf Crest. :huh

If your bike has a guardian bell, it is OK to use 87 octane but add some Marvel Mystery Oil in case you have to lay 'er down......:huh

Two or three, it is the same effect.

Jim

Looks kind of like a Top Fuel piston after a bit too much nitro.

Rod

All the bikes I've owned for the past 25 years all require 91 or above. Never had an issue in all those years with filling up and having an issue due to lower octane. Ride all over the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic region. Do not know how it is in other parts of the country.

Offcamber for the win!!
One question: are your pants outside your boots, or tucked in?
Ok, I lied. Second question: do you wave to everyone, or just the scooteristas, scurvey-dogs, power-rangers, squids, hacks, cacks, and quacks..... Or just the darksiders?

I got to "high octane burns slower" and realized it was written by a art history intern. There is some relevant info in there but I cant take it seriously after that.

My car gets 10% better fuel mileage on 92-94 than 87 (it calls for premium only). The ECU retarding timing from knock sensor input is likely the culprit for the mileage.

Depends, do fill your tires with Nitrogen?

I think one needs to worry more about the % of ethanol, especially if one has a Ducati or mid-2000 MotoGuzzi with their plastic tanks.

{Meh, 205'd}

That is not correct. They have a Premium tank and a Regular tank and the two are mixed at the pump to make Mid-Grade.

Like some of the Sunoco stations still have pumps that sell about a half dozen grades. They are not separately piped to a half dozen separate tanks.

I was talking about this very subject with the attendant at a local Mobil. They'd run out of Regular (the tanker truck was on its way) and he had taped little paper notes to the pumps saying "No Regular". Then when I was there he was changing them because after he got them all up, he realized they couldn't pump Mid-Grade either.

I would. I ride for sport, not to save money. On a bike weight is important, so I'd like to get higher power out of a smaller, lighter engine. My 990 wants Premium, so did my Aprilia. Though I have a DRZ that is a lower perf workhorse and that doesn't mind Regular.

By tuning for and then running Premium only, you can the same power out of a smaller displacement, lighter engine and get better gas mileage. Or, more power out of the same displacement & weight. One of cars takes premium. It can be run on Regular but timing & boost are retarded. Current market price differential between Regular and Premium is around 10% around here, and that's about the difference in fuel mileage. There is noticeably less power though I don't have a dyno figure.

it can be a false economy to only buy vehicles intended to run on regular, you're just boxing yourself in to lesser performance, or more fuel burned to get the same performance.

when fueling my KTM (don't care for the DRZ), i always go to the one local station that has separate hoses for each grade of fuel to avoid the issue.

(i think i'm avoiding the issue anyway...i guess i'm not really sure how the internal of the pump/tanks work.)

You probably are avoiding it. The pump blends from the tanks to make Mid-grade, but if there are separate hoses, each hose only ever gets its own grade in it

I put 91 in as a habit. My old VW Bug's distributor would turn itself. Having 91 octane would just give me that many more mm of turning to fix it before my engine would explode.

Point is, if you are riding gently it wouldn't knock, the timing wouldn't retard, and you would actually get better mileage.

I wish we had 94 octane near me. Then again, I run 87 in my GS with better mileage than most. I must be slow!

Jim

2-3, doesn't matter, same results as I mentioned.

Jim

Sorry I only preach on Sundays and then only when I am getting paid.




:fyyff

I usually use high octane in my 09 GS. So what you are saying, JimVonBaden, is it alright to run 87 octane? I appreciate your knowledge and advice. A friend swears his bike runs fine on low octane but I always tell him he should use high octane. Am I wrong??