What grade of gas should I put in my bike?

[snrusnak]

To all the guys saying "don't be cheap, buy the highest octane", you all are wasting money. You should run the lowest octane possible without detonation/pinging. This will give the best performance while not causing carbon buildup. It's not that I'm cheap, I just want what's best for the bike. I run 93 in my truck, but it's tuned to run on 93. The bike is tuned to run on 91, I run 93 in it as well because most stations have 93 here, not 91. Now if the station has 91 that's what I put in. Technically I could put a gallon of 89 and a gallon of 93 to get 91, but that's a PITA.

The only reasonable argument here for running higher octane than necessary is this one:

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.

 

[Blastonia]

I had tn fill up with 89 one time. My bike started pinging so bad i thought i was going to have to shut it down and push it.

 

[TooFst]

They put ethanol in all gas up here in Minnesota. (I believe more so in the winter but you will never notice it in ANYTHING, it's just used as a moisture absorbent) I bought a brand new Blast in 03 and a brand new XB in 04.. Both bikes had a sticker on the gas cap and mentioned in the owners manuel to use 92 octane.

 

[DrogeN Omen]

Here in New Zealand we have 91, 95 and 98 octain. But its RON not AKI.

Not sure but manuel says 91 which is our 95oct...

The Octane rating in the States is different to ours. Ours is Research Octane Number (RON) and the States uses AKI (RON+MON/2) From memory our 95 RON has an AKI of 91

 

[jetlee]

For Blasts...always use the highest grade available; for technical reasons I don't feel like getting into here.

 

[Luckdragon]

The standard ethanol mix is 10%, which is, according to the manual is OK. I have used the 10% blend with no problems when I have to. That said, there are a couple of stations in my area that advertise "no Ethanol in gas" -so I go there in my car and fill a five gallon can with premium to use in the Blast. The Ethanol blends,(as found in bourbon)
with ice, are for personal use.

 

[vroom]

For Blasts...always use the highest grade available; for technical reasons I don't feel like getting into here.

Dunning-Kruger

 

[jetlee]

Dunning-Kruger

You're ignorant. Just because you lack the mental capacity to grasp the concept of detonation, doesn't mean anyone that does is delusional.

A stock Blast's piston and head combination (15º piston with 10º head) promotes the creation of end-gas, which promotes detonation, which destroys your engine.

Watch this video and learn something:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuCUGcqO5SE

There's typically a $0.20 difference between 87 and 91 octane fuels. Seeing as our tanks only hold 2.8gal when bone dry, that's a whopping difference of $0.56!!!

OH MY GOD!!! SOMEONE SHOULD TELL PEOPLE THAT THEY'RE WASTING THEIR MONEY!!!

$0.56 for better protection against detonation in an engine that is (mistakenly?) designed to cause it? Use your head.


Maybe my response wouldn't be so riddled with sarcasm and insults if you'd taken the time to type a proper response instead of trying to insult me.

 

[Negative]

Hahaha!!...

Vroom.... Instructions are as follows:

Apply cool water to the burned area...