Octane ratings...

[Chicago]

contribution revolked

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[user_deleted]

highest available from an outfit who sells alot of it.

 

[BambamXB12r]

I do, I always run the highest octane I can find at a reputable gas station.

 

[submax]

Highest I typically find around my neck of the woods is 92, which is what I run. Just found a Chevron not too far from me that sells an ethanol-free 92, so I'm giving that a try now.

 

[AZmidget91]

Lowest octane without detonation, will make the most power. The higher the octane, the more timing you can run, which makes more power.

If tuned for a certain octane, you don't want to run anything less, otherwise you risk detonation. More won't hurt.

 

[vicenzajay]

What AZ said....

We're super fortunate to have fairly widely available ethanol-free gas available here (which wasn't the case the last place we lived) - Like John said, I use the highest available from a station that sells it constantly.

 

[snrusnak]

Like AZ said, lowest octane possible without detonation. As the manual says, 91 or higher. Higher than needed will burn slower reducing power slightly and will also promote carbon buildup in the combustion chamber. But with the buell being air cooled and operating temps getting extremely high, I always run 93 for added protection.

 

[onetuford]

I run 87 octane ethanol free in my 5 horse snow blower, my 12 horse chipper, my 24 horse Craftsman tractor, my 40 horse Merc on my boat, and 91 octane ethanol free exclusively in my '03 XB9R. I lived in a town a while back which had one gas station. They sold E-10 91 octane and without fail every winter I was taking my blower apart to drain rotten fuel from tank and carb bowl. Now that **** fires right up after storage with ethanol free fuel. I guess what I'm saying here is corn gas sucks IMO. No offense to the Midwestern farmer Buellers that may read this.

 

[snrusnak]

^it's definitely true. As soon as they started with the ethanol fuel my mower started requiring yearly carb rebuilds to run properly. Before that, I never touched the carb in over 5 years. That's when I lived in a city and couldn't find ethanol free fuel without a hassle. Now I live in a small town and use ethanol free fuel in all my small equipment and it is so much better. I still use ethanol fuel in the truck and jeep but they are new vehicles designed for it.