| Author | Message | ||
     Just_ziptab |
There is only one pump within 40 miles of me that has 91 octane fuel......and it's a full buck a gallon more than 89 octane. Dammit!!!  | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'd think you could buy octane booster cheaper than that and just run 87 octane. Either that, or move! | ||
| Fahren |
May the roads between you and the pumps be twisty. | ||
| Cataract2 |
89 seems to run fine in the engines. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
im weary of how well boosters actually work | ||
| Mnrider |
I'd get a big old gas can and bring some home with you. Mine runs better with high octane from a pump with it's own hose. The premium even smells different. | ||
| Nillaice |
I've ran 87 with no issues in the winter/colder months, but I've had issues with 87 octane in the humidity and heat. if 89 is the best you can easily get, id try a few tanks of it and be mindful of engine knock. you'll recognize it when the bike starts running terribly and feels like its gonna grenade into your crotch. if so, stop dump some octane booster in the tank and keep a bottle of it (tightly capped) under your seat. what the recommended octane rating is really are trying to avoid is pre-ignition or "engine knock" if you can get away with 89 and no knock, you're golden like a shower | ||
| 86129squids |
Seafoam is your friend. And, 89ish should be OK as long as you're not flogging it. Heck, I'm riding a '77 Beemer now, don't know for sure if the valves in it are OK for unleaded gas!  | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Yep,I put $50.00 bucks worth of non ethanol,91 octane...into two cans and hauled them home....as I have for the last ten years or so. No local premium since the early 2000's. That kinda sucks. I ran the X1 dry and a buddy rescued me with a gallon of "mower gas"....it burned too fast for the X1............tang bang, bang tang. The real problem with the 89 octane is the ethanol and I will forever blame it for locking up the fuel pump in my XB12R. My Honda 230L has run fine so far on ethanol 89 octane,tho it requires 91........but it has not sat thru a Winter yet with ethanol/89 in the tank. I did buy a can of ethanol specific Sta-bil........but I am wary of it. They say the air space is the problem when ethanol is stored. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
If I don't run premium in my July, it pings! And it even pings sometimes when it's really hot out like over 95. | ||
| Rick_a |
I can only run mine hard on 93 plus octane booster or race gas. Octane booster work well, they're just imprecise as far as mixing ratios with a bike. The manufacturers assume you have a large tank that an entire bottle can be dumped into. Just cruisin' premium works fine. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I just read an article about gas pumps and dilution. If a pump uses one common nozzle for all grades, theres about 1/4-1/2 gallon of fuel that has to be used of the previous fill up before you get to the grade you selected. So the problem is on a smaller tank, like the DR at 2.5 gallons is that potentially 20% of the fuel is a lower grade. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I've never seen them, but people claim there are "motorcycle sized" packages of octane booster in the form of "ketchup packets". Depending on the amount of fuel you add, you might have to use 2 or 3. That'd be better than eye-balling the correct amount from a bottle. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I saw something a while ago about there being no standardization on the octane points because the manufacturer of the octane booster doesn't know how much fuel it's being mixed with. If I dump an 8 oz bottle of octane booster in a 2.5 gallon tank, it's going to be wildly different than dumping that same 8 oz into a 38 gallon tank on a full size truck. Admittedly, I've never actually read the bottle to see, but is there a chart or information showing what the ideal amount of gas is to get that octane increase? | ||
| Hughlysses |
If you use the same product all the time, it wouldn't be hard to figure out how much to use. Add some, ride, if it knocks, add more. I'd think you'd quickly figure out how much to add per gallon for your regular fill-ups. I just checked and Lucas and Amsoil make octane booster specifically for motorcycles packaged in small bottles; there may be other manufacturers. | ||
| Nillaice |
on ones iv'e used the directions read to use one capful per gallon. not very precise and kinda messy. Katsup packets would be neat. or put some in a 2-cycle pre-mix style bottle. | ||
| Svh |
I keep one of the AMSOIL motorcycle sized boosters in my bike. Saved me last fall when I got a bad batch of fuel and the Uly was pinging like mad. Not cheap but it got me home and thats worth the money. | ||
| Glitch |
During March Badness, or was it Buelltoberdest, I don't remember, but anyway, there was no premium to be had anywhere. We all were using boosters of one sort or another. I was using Lucas brand motorcycle booster and had no issues. Bobby used it in his 1125R and he said it didn't ping, but it felt like he lost some power. Once the gas situation got settled and we could get non-ethanol again, someone suggested I check my plugs. They looked like they had been run extra lean. That was about 30,000 miles ago, and I've not had any issues with valves or anything else. | ||
| Airbozo |
My sportster requires race fuel (at least 100 octane) or it will ping like crazy. I keep a bottle of octane boost handy for the times I cannot get 100octane, and I tend to over use the boost just in case. I don't use it often, but I have not had any issues. I do notice a difference in power though. I'll have to check my stock at home. I quit using one brand because it didn't seem to add any octane at all and the pinging and power sucked. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
The only good thing about that lone station that DOES have the 91 octane......it is pure.......dedicated pump and hose.No dilution of ethanol or lower octane fuel. | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I run 91 in the my race bike (XB12R) with no issues. I try to get non-ethanol when I can, but will run ethanol if I have to to. In most cases, race gas is a waste of money (even in race bikes). The main execption being a bike that is specifically tuned to run it. | ||
| Jon |
I run my 1995 S2 on chicken crap and planters peanuts | ||
| No_rice |
i run 89 ethanol in EVERYTHING. always have. well, except my tahoe. that ran e85 at a solid $1 a gallon cheaper and only a loss of 2 mpg average. unless its extremely warm i dont even worry about it in the bikes. only ever had a problem with 2 fuel pumps in all the years. and those were literally back to back. i filled up 2 of my cars at the same pump the same afternoon. drove one to pick up my daughter an hour away and the pump seized. got hauled home. fired up my blazer the next morning and the pump crapped out of that. water in both. and i dont run octane booster either. | ||
| Airbozo |
"I run 91 in the my race bike (XB12R) with no issues. I try to get non-ethanol when I can, but will run ethanol if I have to to. In most cases, race gas is a waste of money (even in race bikes). The main execption being a bike that is specifically tuned to run it." It was my intent to run pump gas, but alas I cannot. Anything less than 100 octane and you can hear the pinging from a mile away. I even tried to tune the bike for 91 Octane, but it just wouldn't run properly. |
