| Author | Message | ||
     Eddie |
I am very pleased with my 1125r and I have noticed it only wants premium fuel. Any thoughts on using a fuel additive? pro and cons ? | ||
| Court |
I've found that with gas at $4.00 a gallon that if you use a 50:50 mix with water that it's like having $2.00 a gallon gas. There remain unresolved performance issues with this method. I use 87 octane in the truck and 93 in the Mercedes zoomer. . . my theory is buy good gas and follow the mfg suggestions. My wife once tried 87 in her Mercedes and the fuel consumption skyrocketed. No idea why. | ||
| Old_man |
Court, My Mercedes calls for premium. I never tried regular. I suppose they have a knock sensor that retards the ignition if the gasoline octane is insufficient. This would give significantly less power, thereby using more fuel to get the same job done.-- Explaining the higher consumption. Jack | ||
| Court |
Good thinking . . . I got as far as "put what they told you to use in it" and left it at that. I'll explain the knock sensor to her, but you may have to add the details at Homecoming.  P.S. - I'd suggest you keep your distance while explaining. | ||
| Ccryder |
It used to be you would pay 20-30% more for premium gas. Now a days it's about 6-8% more. I can see on my ST1300 that I easily get 10% better gas mileage with premium. Besides, they run better on the good stuff. I do the math and the seat of my pants tells me to go for the good stuff. Later Neil | ||
| Vincent |
Have to use high grade stuff. The reasoning behind this is because when you have engines with a high compression ratios, the compression gets so high that the low grade fuel will actually ignite prematurely and you get what they call a ping. This is where the fuel ignites before it reaches TDC due to immense pressure and cylinder heat, which isnt good. The higher grade stuff is able to be compressed more, without detonation, before combustion. So do yourself a favor and use the good stuff. | ||
| Bdutro |
"So do yourself a favor and use the good stuff." But only if your engine is designed to run it! Rules are very simple: There is NO benefit from using premium in an engine designed for 87 octane and there is minimal economy (and usually a penalty as Court described and Old_man correctly explained) from using 87 in an engine designed for 91+ Moral is, the sticker doesn't lie. If you have to use additives, it's usually masking crappy fuel or another issue like oil vapors getting into the intake. | ||
| Slaughter |
The ONLY thing worth considering is some of the pump-grade legit race fuel. VP makes a few fuels that are not only street legal but WILL improve performance somewhat. No, they're not really high octane but they can be had for about $5 a gallon in drum quantities or $6.50/gal in 5-gallon drums. VP C10 is great - about 96 octane. VP also makes the "StreetBlaze 100" - also about 96 octane. Both I believe are legal for street in most states. | ||
| Vincent |
which in this case, it says to use the good stuff. So again, "do yourself a favor and use the good stuff" in your buell since that is what it calls for. You dont want to ping using 87 octane. Puts added load on the crankcase and makes for a hotter engine. Use 91 with the high compression engine. True, there isnt any bennies from using 91 in 87 nor any harm, but the other way around can be BAD!! An engine firing in the middle of a compression stroke isnt good people, and it will happen. Use the good stuff in the 25r. | ||
| Cmonkey |
I'll agree with Slaughter! IMHO The best fuel additive is none whatsoever. I've found it easiest to mix in fuel of a higher octane. Around here (SoCal) I get 104 unleaded race fuel for around $8/gal. If I mix in a half gallon of 104 with 4.5gal of 91, I can raise my octane to 92.3 That's just enough to stop the pinging in my car's motor. Considering that you can pay a lot more for a quart of snake oil that may be composed of unknown quantities of tolulene, alcohol or other unknown 'petroleum distillates'.... if I ever need to raise my octane, I'll keep the good stuff handy. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I'll just use pump premium. Had a Split-window Vette that only ran on 1/2 pump gas and 1/2 AV gas 100LL. That was fun on trips, watching for small airports. Used to mix a quart of Sunoco, blue or purple, don't remember, to a Peanut full. 12.5:1 Sporty loved that in San Diego. That or Trick had some good race gas. PITA Pump premium works. Z | ||
| Vincent |
Nice Zac. Thats my kinda ride. Have an 81 Camaro over here with a 454 12:1. Doesn't like the pump gas as well. Used to have a 55 Gal drum of Av gas on the ready. Limits the distance you can travel but damn does it sound good and run good. I used to be able to idle that thing at 300 RPM's. Damn thing shook everything and turned alot of heads. Now i got it in pieces in the shop for a resto. School started so limited on the time and money but when its over, im going back to the hot rods. Man I bet that vette was nice. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Eddie Using an octane booster may or may not work. First use what the manufacture recommends as a minimum. Your bike might not be able to fully utilize the higher octane. You can try it but don't be surprised if there are no gains. Also make sure that the booster does not contain lead, or you will get to spend less time with your Buell. Joe | ||
| Eddie |
Thank you very much for the ideas. I have tried my first tank of additive and am amazed at the difference. I will post if there is any gas millage increase. So far I am getting 35 mpg. But the Beast doesn't like to sit in morning traffic noticed millage drops when that happens. Also just a bit concerned of how hot it will get in the summer sitting in traffic.  |
