Is only 87 pump octane really okay?

[OB_Wreak Havok]

Some are saying 92 octane, some are saying 87 octane...I guess I'll go with 89 octane and split the difference.

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Im sure it will run just fine Wreak Havok. I end up with different ratings in my tank,depends what station im at. Id say 89 would be a great choice. Kinda splits the difference.

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Did that make sense GSXRboy? I ordered my APE cam chain tensioner today from John. I'm not gonna take any chances. Scary stuff.

 

[OB_Hapo]

...so did I...very infomative posts, WARBIRD...

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Thanks Hapo, I would'nt be very happy if I had a problem like that if I could've prevented it for 53 dollars or so. I wonder if Lofty Abuse found out exactly what went wrong with his bike the other day. Sent shockwaves around the whole planet. Amazing. Ive never seen more passionette people about there bikes as this group of Hayabusa owners. That includes Harley owners. Busa owners LOVE their bikes!

 

[OB_GSXRboy]

WARBIRD - I'm not sure if I missed something but when you raise your octane level I thought your bike got lean not rich?!?! Hence your bike would run a lot leaner on 110 octane than 94 etc.

The best combo I've found myself is the Torco 100 octane fuel. 110 isn't to bad but the bike leans out a little to much. Then 116 or above the bike leans way out and starts to pop...

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Id like to say something else about this octane stuff. I know I wrote a small book in the above posts[sorry] but when you get to 100 octane or so you CAN lose performance with a basicly stock bike. However, at the 87 to 93 or 94 range the difference is very slight. If it is hot where you live or you ride in heavy traffic at low speeds,where the engine temps are hotter and your fan is running, the higher octane is the best choice, because it resists detonation or"pinging" better than the 87 will. I personally use 93 most of the time because it keeps my motors from pinging and on the busa I get better milage with it. The performance loss is so slight Im not sure if I can tell the difference by the seat of my pants. And you get the benifits of better cleaning agents.

 

[OB_Hyper]

87 octane has been fine in my 99 copper for the last 10,000 miles with no problems.
Yesterday with 87 octane my stock bike was able to pull to 10700 rpm/207 mph indicated in two consecutive runs. JC is correct about the octane, higher in not better for stock.

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Hyper,I believe that is what I said. Did you read my long drawn out posts above? However I think the loss of power is very slight with say,92 or 93 octane,and in certain situations[like real hot engine temps] it will help protect against detonation.[pinging] Wanna bet your 99 copper would have pulled 10700rpm/207 anyway with 93 octane? I think 87 is fine and the service manual recomends it. Read my posts carefully and you'll see I said our busa's are designed to run on 87 octane. I also said there is probably a slight power loss with 93. And JC said all bikes are different. Heck, you'll never know what your 99 runs best on if you dont try it right? It might have run 10900/215 with 93 huh? Guess the only way to find that out would be make the runs, replace ALL the 87 with 93 and make 2 more runs right away so the conditions are the same. Just food for thought.

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Sorry GSXRboy, just the opposite is true. That popping you hear is unburned fuel. If it was lean you would be bogging under acceleration. When its rich it gurgles under acceleration. If you have retarded ignition or too rich a mixture,when you let off the throttle and coast down in rpms you will here popping and snapping. If you check your plugs when you run to high of octane you will see a lot of deposits on your plugs. If you run to low, you will see no deposits,or a white plug. If you are running stock compression and cams, 100 octane is too high unless your getting a whole bunch of air to your motor. You can call any proffesional tuner you want,the higher the octane,the richer the exhaust emissions will get if nothing else is changed. When you add a performance 4 into 1 pipe, and do nothing else,your bike can get leaner. To get the most from the pipe,you add a jet kit to add more fuel,or "richen" the air fuel ratio back to where it should be. With the busa, you use a PC2, and the maps you use or develop add more fuel to the system in CERTAIN rpm and throttle opening positions,and may take some away in other rpm and throttle position areas. A good example would be 3200 rpm with a very small throttle opening. The surging some people experience is caused by leanness. Now if you were running 100 octane and had this condition and dropped to 87 octane, the condition would get worse. It would run even leaner. Dont get octane numbers and quantity of fuel mixed up. You can run rich by having too much fuel running through the system or using to high of octane fuel. Or you can run lean by not having enough fuel running through the system or using too low of octane. All this comes from starting at the basesline or stock tune of the engine and moving octane up or down a lot of points and not changing the amount of air moving through the engine. We are talking octane numbers here and how it affects the engine if NOTHING else is entered into the equation. Like an airbox mod or something.

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

GSXRboy, another example would be the availability of high octane fuels in high altitude areas. In some places in certain states you cant even buy 92 or 93 octane gas. The pumps offer 85,87,and 91 being the highest. Because of the lack of air at these altitudes the higher octane fuel would make the vehicles burn even richer,creating more emmisions and making even LESS power than they already do at that high altitude. If higher octane numbers "leaned out the bike" you would see higher octane at higher altitudes available and lower octanes at lower altitudes or sea level. More air at sea level,need HIGHER octane right? Less air up high,less octane needed.

[This message has been edited by WARBIRD (edited 24 July 2000).]

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

No flaming GSXR, just trying to help. Just trying to get this to the top.

[This message has been edited by WARBIRD (edited 24 July 2000).]

 

[Guest]

Only have 4000 miles on my blue. Have ran cheap 87 and tried Shell 92. My bike runs better on 87. I try to use a major brand from a station that turns over a lot of gas, so I know gas is fresh. Money not the object, bike runs better cheaper! If the $.10 a gallon was going to break me, I'd sell bike. Guess Suzuki tuned my bike for 87.

 

[OB_daddy long stroke]

ok, what about people running pipes, moded airboxes and power commanders with the 007HARV program? doesnt that program advance the timing? would it still be ok to use 87 octane in this situation?

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Hey daddy long stroke. You should experiment and find the best fuel for your bike. The one thing you DONT want is any pinging. Different ignition curves with more agressive timing down low MAY cause pinging,however it may be hard or impossible to hear with an aftermarket pipe. So a guys gotta choose, play it safe and MAYBE lose a slight amount power,or go for it and run the 87. I dont think some people read my posts all the way through. All of the posts say Suzuki designed our busas to run on 87 octane. I gave my reasons for running 93, better cleaning agents and added safety against pinging. Im willing to lose that SLIGHT bit of power IF its losing any at all for that piece of mind. Then I get these replys like "My bike runs perfect on 87! Why in the hell should I use anything else?" I was just trying to put some informitive information out there,not tell anyone they wre doing anything wrong. If I were in your shoes daddy long stroke, Id go with the 93 every time. Dfferent map,pipe,air box, all add up to performance. 93 is formulated for performance vehicles. Choose a station that changes their filters often. I think thats very important, just like someone else said.

Talk to ya later.

[This message has been edited by WARBIRD (edited 25 July 2000).]

 

[OB_GSXRboy]

WARBIRD - Guess I just need to put some VP in and leave it alone :-)