Octane preferences

Hello all,
I just bought a 2007 VFR. I'm wondering what octane fuel you guys run in yours. The only thing that's available in Great Falls is 91. Should I pursue higher octane gas or is 91 fine? Thanks for the input.

 

check in your owners manual for the minimum to run. my bike requires only 87 but i run 93 mainly for the detergents that are in the fuel. every once in awhile in put cam2 100 mainly just because you cant beat the smell of racing gas, however i think the cam2 is not cat. conv. safe if you have one. i dont see any problem with 91 octane unless the owners manual says to go with something higher which i think is probably not the case.

 

The owner's manual says 86 octane is acceptable. Personally, I wouldn't put 86 in my lawn mower. I just wondered if anyone noticed any operable differences in running higher octane fuels.

 

91 should be fine. I run Chevron 92, and have been thinking about bumping it down a notch, and seeing if I notice a difference.

 

i havent noticed any difference as far as performance change with different octanes. the only change i ever noticed was it seems to have a deeper sounding exhaust with the racing gas. but i agree i personally would not run less than 91

 

I always run the highest available at the pump, partly due to habit (old air cooled high compression engines). Generally, I don't think you can go wrong with the higher octane. I have used 89 in my SV650 once or twice, since that was all there was in the middle of nowhere. I didn't notice any difference. Most new four valve engines have an amazing tolerance for lower octane fuels due to their combustion chamber design, but I would still stick to at least the mid-grade (typically 89 in good ol' CA).

 

Oh No, a fuel thread, almost as bad as an Oil or tire thread. LOL FWIW Chevron supreme with techron. If I could find something hotter I'd use it.

 

Just think; if we had two-stroke engines we could combine the fuel and oil discussions into one thread...:biggrin:

Hey, even better: If we had those big single-wheel vehicles with two stroke engines, we could combine...

I'll stop now.

 

BP 89, can't tell as it runs any different than the 93. So, the only difference I feel is that my hip pocket seems a little thicker.

Mac

 

I usually run 87 in my 04. I've done quite a few freeway runs and tried different octanes. Never seem to notice a difference. So usually stick to the 87, but from shell or chevron. Not ampm or whatever's the cheapest. Also run a can of fuel system cleaner through the bike every oil change, about 4k miles. Don't run the bike hard, or hardly going into the higher rpm's unless I'm getting on the freeway. If I ran the bike harder, I might notice a difference with the octanes?

 

yeaaah another confusing situation.. 91 is fine just remember you got a brand new bike ohh it holds 5.8 gallons so if u run it down lets say you buy 5 gallons to fill up are you really worried about 50 cents to a dollar per fuel up????the better the oil the better the gas the better the ride for the long hual.................................................

 

i likey that thar deseal jus fine! Be just a wee smoky but me don't done mine dat much. :yield:

 

The main concern is that 91 seems to be the highest octane offered in this town...if something higher was needed, other arrangements would have been sought.

 

I used 93 octane before I discovered the bike is designed to run on "86 or higher". There is of course no difference in rideability that I can detect, and no harm using either flavor. Because the bike has been specifically engineered (timing, compression ratio, etc) for "86 or higher", I now use 87 octane.

Many people believe that 93 octane usually contains a lot of special exclusive additives which help keep the injectors, valves, and combustion chambers clean. Some gasoline vendors may actually include such additives in their fuel, but many question if the quantity they use is sufficient to really keep the engine clean without additional treatment over time.

Personally I've seen more aggressive results (visually anyway) by running a bottle of BG 44K or a similar Naptha based solvent every 16,000 miles or so. A before and after shot with fiber optic scope is all you need to see

 

I agree, it's all advertisment about the additives, but would rather do it myself and then I know. If it runs fine on the 87, then I'll run the 87.

 

Octane

Octane rating? Don't worry about that!!!
Just block off the pair valve, gut the cat, replace the cans, change the rear sprocket, don't use Dunlop tires, use the very best synthetic oils, change the filters to K&N and just give an expert "listen" yourself to judge how well the bike performs when using the cheapest gas out there and you will see the bike "runs just fine".
I'd buy the higher Octane and foget the rest. But that's just my opinion. I've only been riding for 50 years.

 

Avgas.. FTW

 

Didn't we just dance this dance LAST WEEK??!!

86 cha cha cha or sometimes
88 cha cha cha (when I feel rich)

"Mr. Clark, I give it a 86, I can dance to it..."