OCTAIN

well how high of octain can i put in my bike the highest i can buy is 120 and all the way down to 94 does any one know

 

I put 93 octane in mine and it runs like a champ. Where are you that you don't have the usual 87/89/91/93 options?

 

no no i put 93 in mine also but i was wandering how high can i get the octain up to

 

the compression on this engine is going to do best with 87-89, anything higher is just wasting your money and docking your performance. the only time you should ever need to bump up the octane your burning is if your going up a hill or something and you hear the dreaded knock of preignition

 

+1 to the high-octane not being needed.

Octane itself is an ignition inhibitor - used to stop pre-ignition (pinging or knocking). It's mainly used to engines with lots of carbon buildup in the combustion chamber, or high compression engines.

Our engines were designed to use the lowest pump gas, so 87/89 octane is just fine. Some gasoline manufacturers put different additive packages into the more 'premium' fuels, so the occasional tankful to take advantage of those certainly doesn't hurt.

Personally, I usually run with the mid-grade stuff for the best of both worlds. Most pumps just mix low & high to get the mid anyway.

 

Heres a neat link about octane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZx5w1jVUDA

This guy has a whole bunch of motorcycle related videos.
Gamuru originaly posted him, I have since watched all of them.

 

Hanging out at the bike shop today and my buddy/mechanic said "don't buy grocery store gas" - suggesting I use a brand dedicated gas station. (exxon or whatever). I'd never considered this before. Just bought 87 where cheapest.

anybody else have thoughts on actual brands of gasoline to use?

 

It all comes out of the same pipe except maybe the additive package.

 

What I've read is that the additives vary, but also places like BreakTime and QuikTrip and so on actually get the leftover gas that places like BP and Amoco weren't able to sell. So at places like that, you're getting the lowest common denominator, plus more water and impurities, since it has sat longer and been transported more.

Personally, I stick to BP for the bikes, since it's the only place in town that I can get 93 octane (for the crotch rockets) and it's one of those brand name joints. Too bad it's also in a questionable area...