110 octane mix fix a hic up?

[pewee]

Had my 03 xb9r for about a month now and have put about 500 miles on her. I run 93 in all my bikes but there isn't any places here that sell ethanol free 93. Anyway I have noticed that my bike no matter if its cold or warmed up with have what I call a hic up or a cough when riding at a constant lower rpm. It does it one day and not the next. Havnt been able to see what rpm it does it at because it does it so randomly and I can't constantly watch the dash while riding. It will just "cough" and then goes on just fine. So I was talking to a buddy of mine and he said that his harley did that and he did a full tune up and still had the problem. So he then put one gallon of 110 octane in his bike when he filled it up and ran it through to clean all the ethanol crap out. After that he said it ran fine and now about every two months he does that. Anyone ever heard of doing this? Is this a good or bad idea? Was it just luck that the bike ran fine after or does this really work? Want to make sure its not gonna melt my bike if I run that high of octane. Thanks

 

[GAXB9R]

I wouldn't do it on a regular basis.[cool]

 

[pewee]

Okay. I guess its worth trying. His bike holds almost 5 gallons and he uses 1 gallon of 110 so I'm going to just do a half of a gallon just to be safe.

 

[snrusnak]

Are you asking if the higher octane would help or if the ethanol free fuel would help?

IIRC the bike only requires 91 octane, so running anything above 91 is a waste of money. You should run the lowest octane possible without causing detonation/pinging. It won't really hurt anything to run higher octane(except your wallet) but it will promote carbon/gunk buildup. Higher octane = slower burn and also = more resistance to detonation.

As far as ethanol free fuel, heck yes it's better. I recently found an ethanol free fuel near me (91) and have been running it in my truck, and will start running it in my bike soon.

I doubt you'll notice any difference with any of this though, as long as you are always running 91 or higher (whether it be ethanol blend or straight gas).

My bike coughs as well, usually only when really hot.

 

[newyorkbuell]

I have read somewhere that doing the breather re-route helps with the low speed cough/stumble, and also it can be tuned to not do that. I my bike is tuned, has the breather re route and sometimes i use to still struggle with crappy fuel in my area. I am picky when it comes to where i buy my fuel and there is not many good stations in my area, so for the past year i have been running 16oz of 111 power mist race fuel that i have for my motocross bike. Ever since doing this i have never had spark knock stumbles or poor gas mileage.

 

[snrusnak]

Breather reroute, colder plugs, richer than stock map(race map or custom) will all help with the cough. I have these three things and my cough/hiccup went from nearly unrideable to almost completely gone.

 

[konarider94]

As far as ethanol free fuel, heck yes it's better.  I recently found an ethanol free fuel near me (91) and have been running it in my truck, and will start running it in my bike soon.

it is better because of the higher energy density and our bikes are unable to account for that change of getting a lower energy fuel. ethanol creates a small error in the oxygen sensor because it is an oxygenated fuel. a bike properly tuned for ethanol would run great.

but when the op mentioned cleaning the "ethanol crap" out of the system with 110 there is no truth to that. it will not build up in the fuel system or engine. it should not fall out of solution with the gasoline, provided there is no water in your gas tank.

 

[snrusnak]

Exactly, ethanol has less energy per volume. It also has higher octane rating though, so you could probably tune an engine with high compression and more ignition advance and get just as much power from it.

The biggest downfall with ethanol IMO is that it eats rubber parts(hoses, gaskets, orings, etc), it's not really any cheaper, it doesn't last a long time, and it attracts water.

 

[bobaganoosh]

110 will do nothing for you. with a custom tune you can help with the stumble but buell's all have that at around 3000 rpm. your never gonna completely get rid of it. also the breather re route and tps reset may help

 

[kbaddict]

Octane does not clean parts or have anything to do with such. The higher the octane the more it ******* the fuel from igniting under compression. That's why in this case it should not be having any effect and therefore it is a waste of money. However, if you run lower octane then what is recommend then it could have adverse effects due to the fuel prematurely igniting under compression and not a spark from you ignition system.

 

[pewee]

Okay. All great advice. I was thinking maybe it would some how clean out some of the moisture or build up (like calcium build up) in the lines but I guess not. If I had to guess id say my cough is around 3000 rpms so maybe its just the "buell cough" and ill never fully get rid of it. I plan to change the exhaust and remap to a race map in the very near future so maybe that will make a difference. At this point I'm still getting used to all the quirks of this bike but I still love her just the way she is. Has anyone used a fuel system cleaner like b12 or anything to remove moisture and dirt?

 

[kbaddict]

Mine has a flat spot around 3500-4000 rpms as well. I currenly have a Drummer exhaust with an EBR ecm that was programmed for a Buell race can before they started pre-programming them for different types of exhaust. Doesn't really bother e though.

 

[snrusnak]

Don't waste the money on any of that stuff, you won't notice any difference except for a lighter wallet. If you want to be proactive then put some seafoam in the tank every oil change, you don't need to do anything more than that.

The colder plugs and the race map made a world of difference on my bike. The breather reroute made a little difference as well.

 

[GOduc]

You wouldnt feel any difference whatsoever. Completely overkill

 

[pewee]

What plug would you recommend? I actually need to run a colder plug because most of my riding is highway between 60 to 70 mph. I ride 40 miles like that each way when going to work and back home.

 

[snrusnak]

Ngk I don't know the number off hand but I think its the 9 not the 8. I think the 8 is stock heat range and the 9 is one range colder. Id look it up but my laptop broke last night and I. On my wife's kindle and don't really know how tkbuse it well lil. Someone e else will give u the part number and id recommend iridiums

 

[pewee]

Thanks. I will cross reference the plug and will get a colder one. I just ordered a catch can off of ebay and I will be doing the reroute as soon as I get all the parts together. Now to do some research on straight pipes or knocking the guts out of the stock exhaust and remapping. All I want to do after that is a chain conversion and ill be done in the performance department.

 

[newyorkbuell]

why do you want to do a chain conversion?

 

[pewee]

One reason is to change the gearing a bit, one is looks, and the last reason is if I break a belt I'm dead in the water but if I bust a chain I can have a master link on my keys like with my shovelhead. Its just an idea I'm rolling around. I've never had a belt driven bike and they just make me a bit nervous. Any insight on this matter?

 

[GOduc]

8's burn hotter than the 9's.