How much octane?

[Panda]

How do you know if you have to much or not enough octane?

[wilkin250r]

Do a search, there have been MANY thread on octane, enough to put you to sleep.

Octane is just resistance to detonation, so there really is no such thing as "too much". Having too much octane won't hurt anything but your wallet.

As for not enough, you will hear a loud ping or knock in the engine, and a decrease in power. Detonation issues are pretty hard to miss.

[Mr.Offroad]

The rule of thumb here is, if it's stock, run regular (87 octane) that is what the motor is built to run on. The only time you need higher octane is if you bump your compression up. Too high of octane will leave deposits in a stock motor. But if you hear much predetonation (pinging) , that's even worse, as it can crack pistons eventually. A stock motor will actually produce MORE horsepower on regular gas because the flashpoint is right where it needs to be.

[cals400ex]

400ex's are suppose to run on premium.

[Mr.Offroad]

Originally posted by cals400ex
400ex's are suppose to run on premium. Not according to MY owners manual.:confused:

[Matt102]

Stock motors do run better on 87 octane. We were testing snowmobiles for the drag season, and we got better times with the lower octane on the stock motor.

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by Mr.Offroad
Not according to MY owners manual.:confused:


i swore my manual said run off 91 or 92 octane, but i could be wrong. maybe i should check on that. :confused:

[HondaRacing23]

my manual says 91 octane

[mustang]

Ive been running 89 :eek: guess I need to get some octane boost soon

[cals400ex]

i wouldn't get octane boost. i hear that it can do more damage than it can help. your bike should run just fine on regular fuel. several of my friends ran regular in their bikes and they seemed to run just as good as mine. i always use premium though.