What octane fuel for FZ8

[kjonas75]

I am located in Australia and we have 91, 95 and 98 octane fuels.
Manual showed 91 octane but dealer said to use 95 as all Yamaha motorbikes were tuned for that.

For the first 1000KM I ran 95 octane (as told by the dealer), and today I filled it with 91 octane. Bike runs the same so I will be using 91 octane.

What octane does everyone use ?

 

[Künstler]

I use 95...

 

[lyric911]

I am located in Australia and we have 91, 95 and 98 octane fuels.
Manual showed 91 octane but dealer said to use 95 as all Yamaha motorbikes were tuned for that.

For the first 1000KM I ran 95 octane (as told by the dealer), and today I filled it with 91 octane. Bike runs the same so I will be using 91 octane.

What octane does everyone use ?

I'm not going to answer your direct question, but am going to pose my own. Who do you trust more - the company that spent millions of dollars designing and building the bike? Or the guy running the local dealership?

That out of the way - higher octane fuels do exactly one thing - prevent pre-detonation. If you aren't having pining with 91, 95 is wasting money.

 

[kjonas75]

Yes i will be using 91 in the future.

 

[MotoRick]

I use 87 Octane but I think our octane ratings are calculated in a different way, so I don't know what that would be in your country.

 

[Ben1105]

I run 91, just used to running it in my cars.

 

[sinclap2]

I started using 95 as Caltex (fuel brand in Australia and the station i frequent is Caltex) started to only supply 91 with E10 or 10% ethanol. That was a while ago, now. I am not sure if the bike is tuned for 91 E10 or not? ...and the bike's manual is all they way outside

 

[malikona]

I have been running 93 which is the highest they offer here through break in and now to 1500 miles, but I will use the lowest octane fuel that doesn't give me problems after my next oil change. I don't use 10 gasohol though, even tho I do in my car. Just being cautious.

 

[Ronzo]

I've been using 98 since new - what the hey, it's only a few cents difference and I figure every little helps
I've used 98 in my R1150RS since new, too - maybe I've just got into a bad habit!

 

[MotoRick]

I was right. Octane is calculated differently in Australia and Europe than it is in Canada and America. From Wikipedia:

Anti-Knock Index (AKI)
In most countries, including Australia and all of those in Europe, the "headline" octane rating shown on the pump is the RON, but in Canada, the United States and some other countries, like Brazil, the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI, and often written on pumps as (R+M)/2). It may also sometimes be called the Pump Octane Number (PON).

 

[lyric911]

I've been using 98 since new - what the hey, it's only a few cents difference and I figure every little helps
I've used 98 in my R1150RS since new, too - maybe I've just got into a bad habit!

It doesn't help though. It just wastes money.

 

[FZER]

I buy 87 all day long which I guess is the 91 stuff you guys are talking about. I have a Pure station right near my house and they sell ethenol free so I'll run by there and pick up usually about 9 gallons at a time for both my lawn mowers and the bike. Although I usually go through gas pretty quick in the bike and don't think I'd have any problems with ethenol gas. Really if something doesn't sit with gas in it for more than a couple months you are probably alright with the 10%. I don't know it's value or not but I have been known to throw some staybilt in my small engines too.

 

[rodhotter]

top tier gas

octane is important for sure but using a top tier gas like shell that puts more than the lowest required cleaners etc in is equally important in the long run

 

[compensation]

A guy i talked to said he went to dynojet training for his job. He learned that 87 will actually give you more hp. You will not notice it ever since it is like .025 hp, but he seen it happen. That came from a bike mechanic.

My experience with fuel is 87 is a sporadic burning fuel, and the higher the octane the more uniform it ignites.

Anyone ran 110 octane?

 

[randyka]

87. i just follow the manual.

 

[lyric911]

A guy i talked to said he went to dynojet training for his job. He learned that 87 will actually give you more hp. You will not notice it ever since it is like .025 hp, but he seen it happen. That came from a bike mechanic.

My experience with fuel is 87 is a sporadic burning fuel, and the higher the octane the more uniform it ignites.

Anyone ran 110 octane?

This is not what octane means. The higher the number, the higher the resistance to pre-detonation.

 

[compensation]

This is not what octane means. The higher the number, the higher the resistance to pre-detonation.

Is that why 87 burns sporadic? The video i watched about gasoline shows 87 burning all over the combustion chamber and when you went to say 91 it burned from the spark plug out.

 

[lyric911]

Is that why 87 burns sporadic? The video i watched about gasoline shows 87 burning all over the combustion chamber and when you went to say 91 it burned from the spark plug out.

I'm not sure what you mean by "burns sporadic." Mine does nothing that could be described as such.

Link to the video you refer to?

HowStuffWorks "What does octane mean?"

This link may help. In short, the octane number is basically a measure of how far the engine can compress the fuel air mixture before it spontaneously ignites (without the spark plug.)

 

[compensation]

Cant believe i was never told that! As for sporadic, think of the sky as a combustion chamber. Now think of the clouds as fire. From what i learned from you and doing some research, the lower octane burns that way from the initial burst pressurizing the chamber causing sporadic ignition points.

So unless it knocks, 87.

 

[chopstic]

It doesn't help though. It just wastes money.

higher octane can be your insurance against detonation. Running too high octane is perfectly fine for your motor, but running too low octane will cause detonation. octane is in effect just a method of adjusting the last phase of the engines timing.

Another important idea to keep in mind is that the recomended octane is calculated based on a bone stock motor in perfect condition. There are all kinds of other factors to influence what octane you should run. ie.. Intake mods, exhaust mods, fuel map mods, even the age and condition of your engine can influence this.