What octane?

[pineappleunderthesea]

http://www.pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html 
Looks like our California overlords want us all to have ethanol in our gas. Not much of a choice.

Same here in CT... but other than a slight reduction in MPG, I've never has issues with E10 fuel. Ethanol is a cheap octane booster and oxygenate. There were subsidies for growers, not sure if there still are. Ethanol was pushed by EPA to reduce emissions, gasoline usage and foreign dependence. At least theoretically...

Here is my mini rant:  there are still heavy federal subsidies for ethanol.  Politicians suddenly become ethanol fans every 4 years because of Iowa corn growers, I believe Iowa is the first state to ballot, so to win there means you must bow at the altar of corn.  If you want to level the playing field, get rid of ethanol subsidies and let the free market decide, instead of rising the price of food that uses corn.  The cost and emissions of growing corn, harvesting, transporting, converting, and shipping again is no better than regular gas.  And there are politicians who want to go up to 20%...insane.

[foxracing254]

I use 91, as it is the only stuff around NS that is corn juice free.

 
 
Agreed, here in upstate NY there's a chain of station that has 91/no ethanol for around $.50/gallon more than 87 ethanol. The bike loves it, but I have yet to run ethanol in it so I have nothing to compare to.

[foxk56]

@foxracing254 , I'm in upstate NY as well, what chain do you mean? Nice username btw

[foxracing254]

@foxracing254 , I'm in upstate NY as well, what chain do you mean? Nice username btw

Fastrac markets, I'm in the Rochester area and I see them everywhere! Whereabouts are you?

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

87 from Shell or BP. Tried 91 and 93 - no difference. Once I get the flash from 2WDW I'll be using either 91 or 93.
 
 
These bikes only require 86 octane. So if you run 93 octane your bike is actually working harder to ignite the gas which in turn will cause power loss. 87 ignites easier so the engine has to work less. Some people think the extra octane will help and is safer, but unless your bike is pinging it's not necessary at all. 

[bmwpowere36m3]

For me its 87 E10 at a local station that gets a LOT of traffic (so fuel is fresh).

[foxk56]

@foxracing254 Fastrac markets, I'm in the Rochester area and I see them everywhere! Whereabouts are you?

 
 
Small world. Live in Macedon, work in Webster

[Beemer]

Same here in CT... but other than a slight reduction in MPG, I've never has issues with E10 fuel. Ethanol is a cheap octane booster and oxygenate. There were subsidies for growers, not sure if there still are. Ethanol was pushed by EPA to reduce emissions, gasoline usage and foreign dependence. At least theoretically...

.. and instead we got stuff that eats plastics in older fuel systems and attracts water to corrode even new ones... 
 

They never tell you about the down side of things when they see big $$$$$$$$$. 
This is my favorite!  "Ethanol is listed as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer."
http://www.calgasoline.com/facttopten.htm
 
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Study-warns-of-health-risk-from-ethanol-2601178.php
 
Thank you G.W.B. for all your lies!

[blackout]

@foxracing254 , I'm in upstate NY as well, what chain do you mean? Nice username btw

Fastrac markets, I'm in the Rochester area and I see them everywhere! Whereabouts are you?

I work in East Rochester and live in Canandaigua.  I run 87 E10 in the bike just because I'm lazy to plan stops, but I run the 91 octane no ethanol in my 2002 Yamaha Superjet....  

[gregjet]

"Ethanol is listed as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer."
 
Wonder if they put that as a warning label on the booze bottles. For those that don't know. Ethanol is the alcohol you drink!
 

[Beemer]

"Ethanol is listed as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer." 
Wonder if they put that as a warning label on the booze bottles. For those that don't know. Ethanol is the alcohol you drink!

It's federal law that all alcoholic beverages be labeled: 
 
 
“ GOVERNMENT WARNING:
(1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.
 
(2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems." 
 
 
 

[tony]

Funny how the laws disallow boozin' riders but mandate boozin' bikes

[gregjet]

"Funny how the laws disallow boozin' riders but mandate boozin' bikes "
 
Nice one Centurion!
 
Beemer,
It doesn't say carcenogenic though does it. That plus there is some evidence that ethanol may if fact be helpful as a preventer of some cancers and implicated in the cause of others. Many alcoholic drinks contain other substances that are cancer preventing ( eg falvinoids) and some that help create cancers ( eg methanol and heavy metals)
Saying something ( anything) can cause cancer is easy to do because almost everything you injest can assist or cause cancers. Most plant foods have things like alkaloids in them which are carcenogenic.

[lldemonll]

supposedly the US owners manual is the only one that mentions the bike can run on 87 octane
 
all overseas manuals say 91
 
regardless, i've got a flashed ecu so i run 91

[bmwpowere36m3]

supposedly the US owners manual is the only one that mentions the bike can run on 87 octane 
all overseas manuals say 91
 
regardless, i've got a flashed ecu so i run 91

 
 
Something to consider... in many parts of Europe, the lowest grade of fuel is 95 RON.

[designslucid]

87 as the manual states.

[twowheeladdict]

My manual calls for regular. I run regular. 93 is a waste and can be bad for your engine. If your bike pings and needs higher octane because of pre-detonation, you should try a top end cleaner.

[Guru]

I've posted this before, even in this thread: Europe & Japan use RON measurement when it comes to 'octane', North America uses AKI.
 
So there are two different scales.
 

North American 87 AKI = European 91.6 RON North American 91 AKI = European 95.8 RON
North American 93 AKI = European 97.9 RON

Read more here

[wr250x]

Fz07 only needs usa 87. It will actually run better on that compared to 91. Believe it or not there's more available energy in a gallon of 87 compared to 91. It's the compression and timing that make the difference ie the fz09 which requires 91.
About E10, probably the worse mix. Bump that to E20 and we have a different story. This is especially good if you drive a turbo charged car like audi, vw, subie ect. The slight bump in alcohol provides a slight cooling effect on cylinder temps as well as a bump in octane. Both of which are very helpful in pre detonation or engine knock. I drive a 2016 S3 and use 2 gallons of E85 and the rest 91( E20). My Fz07 gets whatever top tier 87 I'm near.

[timjh]

Top Tier for sure. Once you start messing with the fuel maps or spark advance there's safety in higher octane. I do get that.

[go4geoff]

 
 

supposedly the US owners manual is the only one that mentions the bike can run on 87 octane 
all overseas manuals say 91
 
regardless, i've got a flashed ecu so i run 91

 
Humm I normally run 91 with my reflashed ecu but today I decided to try filling it up with 87. My exhaust tends to pop and crackle a bit during high downshifts from 3rd and 2nd gear. When I put the 87 in today the pops were almost nothing. Perhaps even with the flashed ecu the bike doesn't burn up all the 91 octane fuel and that's why it burns off exiting the exhaust. The 87 octane might have a fuller detonation in chamber and produce better power in the end?

[Guest ChicagoAJ]

 

supposedly the US owners manual is the only one that mentions the bike can run on 87 octane 
all overseas manuals say 91
 
regardless, i've got a flashed ecu so i run 91

Humm I normally run 91 with my reflashed ecu but today I decided to try filling it up with 87. My exhaust tends to pop and crackle a bit during high downshifts from 3rd and 2nd gear. When I put the 87 in today the pops were almost nothing. Perhaps even with the flashed ecu the bike doesn't burn up all the 91 octane fuel and that's why it burns off exiting the exhaust. The 87 octane might have a fuller detonation in chamber and produce better power in the end?

You could run 87 if you don't intend on full throttle pulls to redline. That's really the only time you'll need the extra octane. But if you get on it hard for a few gears with 87 and you get a lot of pre-detonation say goodbye to your motor real quick. I'd stick with what the tuners recommend. 
I use to run my Cobra on 93 gas to drive to and from the track even though it was tuned on 110 octane/alcohol. But I knew if I got on it I'd have a lot of stuff to replace, haha.  
 
I know once I get my ECU flashed I'll be running 93 just to make sure I have the extra octane ceiling just in case the 91 gas around my parts isn't up to snuff.