What kind of gas do you use?

Octane Level


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Flicka

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Well who could forget the stickers they put on the gas tank that take an electric belt sander to remove! If you bought your bike new like I did it says on the sticker as well in the manual to use 90 octane or higher. The octane rating is basically referring to the speed at which the fuel is burned through the engine. Any sport bike with high compression that revs as high as they do will need the premium gas. I guess if you never take your engine above 5000 RPM's it may not matter as much but really? Besides even at lower RPM's the engine could still nock and that ain't the best for your engine. The extra 20 cents per gallon really isn't worth the risk.


Remember that's not the case on Gen I bikes. We probably have several of those guys reading in here too. :laugh:

Airship

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Chevron Premium, best we get out here in sunny Cal. is 91. Only gas I use, Chevron is what the big three use for emission testing because it burns the cleanest. 1988 Honda CRX with 258,000 miles and original fuel injectors, burned Chevron Premium for most of it's life. My 26 year old Corvette, 90,000 miles. On rebuild the valves and heads were clean as a whistle, run on Chevron. This stuff really works...

Wag

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It deserves to be readdressed that the reason for octane differences. The real issue is the compression ratio of the engine you're putting it in. If you have a Gen I, use 87. If you have a Gen II, use 91. Neither is inherently better than the other and 91 is NOT "the good stuff." If you use the 87 in an engine that calls for 91 you're wasting money. And vice-versa. Calling 91 octane, "premium," is a misnomer because there is nothing "premium" about it. It just functions differently and is intended for a different purpose. Additives and cleaners are a whole 'nother discussion altogether! :D --Wag--

busa-saga

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i was using 87 now i am playing around with 91 and 93. i also stopped pumping at cumberland and gulf. only pump at shell and mobil.

ldryder

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Around here, the choices are 87, 89 or 93. I've used both 89 and 93 but I get the best mileage with 89.

Since there's no way that I can feel any performance difference between the 89 and 93.... I mainly use 89.

Dallas Busa

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Around here, the choices are 87, 89 or 93. I've used both 89 and 93 but I get the best mileage with 89.

Since there's no way that I can feel any performance difference between the 89 and 93.... I mainly use 89.
Because, of course, you know better than the engineers at Suzuki. All those years of education and experience are meaningless when compared to your "feel of performance difference."

LOL...just kidding with ya...of COURSE I am ignoring their recommendations and going with the 89 octane you suggest. All those blokes are idiots and, anyway, it'll save me 5 cents a gallon!

jellyrug

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I run 91.765 Octane in my K9, most of the time.

donco

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It deserves to be readdressed that the reason for octane differences. The real issue is the compression ratio of the engine you're putting it in. If you have a Gen I, use 87. If you have a Gen II, use 91. Neither is inherently better than the other and 91 is NOT "the good stuff." If you use the 87 in an engine that calls for 91 you're wasting money. And vice-versa. Calling 91 octane, "premium," is a misnomer because there is nothing "premium" about it. It just functions differently and is intended for a different purpose. Additives and cleaners are a whole 'nother discussion altogether! :D --Wag--
I was wondering if we'de need bigger secondaries to run that E85 tho?

Dennis

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I was wondering if we'de need bigger secondaries to run that E85 tho?

Stock motor Gen-2 can run E85 with stock injectors. They are close to the limit but it works. Be prepared to change the fuel pump shortly after the fuel change though as it is common to have it go bad.

caspernz

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Here in NZ, we can get BP Ultimate at 98 octane, Mobil the same. The sticker on the tank of my 2013 Busa says 95 octane or better. We can get 91, 95 or 98 in NZ and I don't even use the 91 crap in my lawnmower...funny what 15 years of hauling fuel does for ones' knowledge of what goes into the lowest grade of fuel haha...
I find using 98, even though it's the most expensive per litre, gives the lowest cents/km in terms of fuel cost. Soooo, I use 98 whenever I can. Nice crisp performance too...

BiggDaddyBusa08

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Never had a problem running 87 in my 08 here in New Jersey when I had the bike on the street. Now that its a drag race only bike I still run only 87 in it. Was getting 45mpg on the street with 87 and I got only 40mpg with the 91,whats that tell ya...Had it on the dyno earlier this year and my dyno guy even told me to use 87.

007MI6

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Here in NZ, we can get BP Ultimate at 98 octane, Mobil the same. The sticker on the tank of my 2013 Busa says 95 octane or better. We can get 91, 95 or 98 in NZ and I don't even use the 91 crap in my lawnmower...funny what 15 years of hauling fuel does for ones' knowledge of what goes into the lowest grade of fuel haha...
I find using 98, even though it's the most expensive per litre, gives the lowest cents/km in terms of fuel cost. Soooo, I use 98 whenever I can. Nice crisp performance too...

Wow! 91, 95 & 98! I wish. We get 87, 89, & 93. I don't know why New Zealand gets such high octanes, but it would be nice to have that option here...Maybe...lol...depends on how much more per gallon they would charge. ;)

caspernz

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Wow! 91, 95 & 98! I wish. We get 87, 89, & 93. I don't know why New Zealand gets such high octanes, but it would be nice to have that option here...Maybe...lol...depends on how much more per gallon they would charge. ;)

Misleading as our octane rating is RON, whereas US is MON if I recall correctly, so not the same.

mynewride

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we cant get any higher than 91 here. so I cannot vote as there is no option for 91.

busabeast

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my gen 1 LOVES 87 with no ethanol- really expensive (about 4.81 a gallon)- but man what a difference from regular 10% ethanol 87...

dadofthree

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my gen 1 LOVES 87 with no ethanol- really expensive (about 4.81 a gallon)- but man what a difference from regular 10% ethanol 87...
and you get more miles per gallon. That's a little more than I pay 93 no alcohol
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