What grade of gas should I put in my bike?

[onelogue]

27,000 miles on my last Buell. Not a single engine problem using 91 octane ETHANOL blend.

 

[Alfatango1]

I live in California where I'm pretty sure all gas is blended with Ethanol. Never had a problem in any of my bikes.

 

[CoastieRider]

I use JP-8 (NATO F-34)..

 

[MAGIC]

Diesel

 

[kab]

Where I live in Iowa there are only two stations that have straight 91 no ethonol gas. Last time I took a long ride I stopped about six times and everywhere had blended fuel.

 

[cpatt]

one of these days ill pick up a can of race fuel... see what that does..

 

[snrusnak]

WOW lot's of info here (whether correct or incorrect) lol.

There are two different things to consider: octane rating and ethanol content.

Octane rating: Use what is listed in the manual at a minimum. Higher octane than needed is a waste and does not increase power or any thing like that, but it is safe. Do not use octane that is lower than required or you will get detonation. Also, running much higher octane than required can cause carbon deposit build up. Octane rating is defined literally as the resistance to detonation, a higher octane rated fuel burns slower and has more resistance to detonation than a lower rated octane fuel. Typically, higher octane is required with more compression and more timing advance. Run what's required by the manual. The xb's I believe require 91 octane. Here in FL usually you have 87, 89, and 93, so run 93 in this case. If you have the choice between 91 and 93, choose 91. If you really want to get it to 91, then fill half tank of 89 and half tank of 93 and "wala" you have 91.

Ethanol content: Again, like the manual says, the 10% ethanol mix will not harm the engine. Now, if I had the choice to buy pure gas I would, because it is better. It will get slightly more mpg and power (ethanol contains less energy than pure gas per the same volume). Ethanol also will deteriorate rubber hoses, gaskets, o-rings, etc. in time. Using a 10% mix isn't a huge deal, but I would never run E85 (85% ethanol) in my vehicles(and my truck is actually a flexfuel vehicle).

Here in Florida I think that practically all gas is 10% ethanol blend. I don't remember the last time I saw a pump here that wasn't(except right next to the drag strip...).

If the pump says "91" then it is 91 octane, whether it has 10% ethanol or not.

 

[big C]

ethanol drys out rubber e-85 will eat alum fuel lines unless they have a special coating so dont use any fuel that has ethanol in it

 

[Alfatango1]

ethanol drys out rubber e-85 will eat alum fuel lines unless they have a special coating so dont use any fuel that has ethanol in it

It's all safe, California has more cars than any state in the union and more lawyers too. If the blends would destroy their Mercedes Benz's, Ferrari's and Bentley's the oil companies would be paying billions in law suits here. Don't worry about Ethanol.

 

[gilby]

Snrusnak you are exzactly right. The manual on my 2006 buell blast says to run 87 octane or higher. I have run higher octane in my bikes in the past but on any air cooled motors I have found it to be better to run only what it needs. Although I have never had a high performance one. I did have a sportster with 55000 miles on it that spent its whole life with 87. It got hit by a car with me on it, it never blew up from it. Like you said if you put in a different timing module or change the compresion you will have to run higher. Possibly even intake and exaust changes could make the difference. I do know from dirt bikes if the bike does not like the octane you will know in about 10 seconds from the sound of the motor.

 

[ezblast]

Primo only - period. Ya cheap f##ks - jeeze.
EZ

 

[allen77360]

i use 87. i believe there is 10% in each grade. ethanol does make more power but takes more of it to produce it. just dont use e85.

 

[vtech007]

Use the highest octane of the best name brand. Don't cheap out.

 

[GOduc]

mix a little of all three, thats always fun!!

 

[pierce]

Ha - its like a suicide with gas.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080622183906AAkFvaZ

Gas is exspensive, but your machine will thank you for buying the highest grade gas possible without ethanol. Its getting harder to find non ethanol gas, but with the help of the internet .....

http://pure-gas.org/

 

[anrkizm95]

my manual says 91 oct min.

 

[Stevenc150]

Ethanol sucks... [down][mad]

 

[Dizzy]

I don't know of a gas station around here that doesn't have ethanol in their gas. I have a 2005, the manual says 91 or higher. Most stations around here are 87, 89 and 93 so I use the 93. And, compared to filling up my truck, it's cheap!

 

[icepop77]

air cooled engines can run very hot (and the tendency to cool unevenly, leaving hotspots in the cylinder walls at combustion chamber), which can cause pinging and knocking (which can damage your engine). Higher grade/octane fuels mitigate knocking. It's pretty simple: use the high octane gas to prevent potential engine damage.

 

[enicar1]

Ethanol cause gas to turn to snot and gum up carb much quicker (months).

Here in Wisconsin, KwikTrip sells premium without ethanol in it. I run it in my Blast and anything that might sit for a while like lawn equipment.