I am shocked by the amount of people who use 87 octane! I was always under the assumption that higher compression = higher octane gas is needed.. 12.2:1 seems pretty high to me and in need of higher octane gas.. its only like 80 or 90 cents more to fill your tank with premium so why risk knocking to save 90 cents??
It has been stated by several other members earlier in the thread but the basics are:
Higher octanes do not "clean" an engine.
Fuel additives are mostly bunk except for Chevrons Techron
Compression is not the be all/end all to determine octane rating (Think timing advance too)
Ethanol sucks, it attracts water and can play hell on fuel pumps and carburetors.
If you can run with no engine knock on 87 than you should. Fuel quailty can be relative. That run down budget gas station might have cheap gas, but it's cheap for a reason. Just because your bike ran like hell on their 87 does not mean all 87 is junk. Don't be fooled by the hype that is "high octane" or "octane boosters". Why do all those drag racers use 110 avgas? Because they're running ridiculous high compression with extreme timing advance. Ambient temperature, timing, engine load, altitude, whether an engine has a knock management system, all can effect the kind of fuel you can use. The bottom line is that if your engine is running without knocking on 87, then that is the best fuel for you.
Of course for international members things will be different. I believe that most of Europe uses the RON system. I don't know what regulations they have for fuel additives.
87 octane. 'figured if the engineers can design a motorcycle this good, then deciding on the right fuel to run "their" bike should be a no brainer. Just a thought:Flash:
"It is normal for an engine to ping a little at full throttle because cylinder pressures are very high at full throttle...High octane gasoline burns slower than low octane gasoline. The slow burn prevents engine knock when cylinder pressures are high"...The Fuel Myths Link.
Not that I would do it on road but would it be fair to assume that higher octane make a difference when one indeed does mostly full throttle i.e., on track days, not that it"ll produce more power but reduce knock during high cylinder pressure conditions in the engine?