Give low octane fuel some love

[lelenb]

There is a good thread under the Hall of Wisdom about using low octane fuel in a Ducati and with the price of fuel and a richer fuel mix I think I am going to switch.

Fuel Octane and another on this section What Octane Are You Using?

I have ran low octane already because I had no choice on a few remote rides and nothing sinister happened and I was paying close attention. On a plus side there is also more energy per unit of low octane fuel.
Another thought is that with the high price of fuel people are going to use less premium and the fuel we buy, especially in remote locations, is going to be old. And if it is old are you really putting "premium" fuel in your tank. This might have already happen to me where I live. I filled up down the street at the 76 on the way home the day I changed my flywheel. After I changed my flywheel I started my bike and it was idling erratically and my first thought was that I must have messed up the timing or maybe that is just the effect of the fly wheel. I decided to go for a ride and took a 90 mile loop and filled up at the Chevron. The next time I started my bike it was fine. My assumption bad gas.
I am putting in the cam ECU so my fuel/air ratio will be richer so I think today may be my last day of "premium" fuel unless I notice a negative effect.

[yota]

don't have my manual handy, what does ducati reccomend for the hyper? I've been using premium as I have always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the quality control may be better if nothing else.

btw, you can't always know what you're getting at the pump. filled my tacoma up with unleaded last month and got a mix of unleaded and diesel (the tanker truck driver put diesel in the unleaded tank and vice versa). ended up costing me $2,416.00 in repairs which I am happy to say were promply reimbursed by the trucking company with some help from Chevron.

Also, have heard many stories of gas stations intentionally "cocktailing" regular in the premium to save a few bucks.

[GEE-BEE]

Are local Ultraimar sells:

105 Octane no lead

130 Octane Leaded race Fuel, It contains Tolulene which is a cheap way to bump the Octane

I mix 105 with 91 pump fuel to get what I want....

But Iam not on a budget and my bikes run better and cooler with the higher octane.

They used to sell purple 145 Octane at the Airport years ago...

Gee-Bee

[dukepilot]

I'm pretty sure that the cam ecu has more ignition advance compared to stock. Not saying that regular grade fuel is going to cause problems, just be sensitive to any funny knocking noises coming from your engine under hard acceleration.

Originally Posted by lelenb

There is a good thread under the Hall of Wisdom about using low octane fuel in a Ducati and with the price of fuel and a richer fuel mix I think I am going to switch.

Fuel Octane and another on this section What Octane Are You Using?

I have ran low octane already because I had no choice on a few remote rides and nothing sinister happened and I was paying close attention. On a plus side there is also more energy per unit of low octane fuel.
Another thought is that with the high price of fuel people are going to use less premium and the fuel we buy, especially in remote locations, is going to be old. And if it is old are you really putting "premium" fuel in your tank. This might have already happen to me where I live. I filled up down the street at the 76 on the way home the day I changed my flywheel. After I changed my flywheel I started my bike and it was idling erratically and my first thought was that I must have messed up the timing or maybe that is just the effect of the fly wheel. I decided to go for a ride and took a 90 mile loop and filled up at the Chevron. The next time I started my bike it was fine. My assumption bad gas.
I am putting in the cam ECU so my fuel/air ratio will be richer so I think today may be my last day of "premium" fuel unless I notice a negative effect.

[CDONA]

This cost saving idea has run thru the vrod crowd, I couldn't run reg but quite a few could. Mine rattled like castanets. The Ducati manual sez 95 octane, but there are two different measures of octane within a couple of digits of each other.

[Koop]

This is almost as much fun as an oil thread. Low octane doesn't have "more energy per unit".

Octane is merely a measure of the fuels resistance to detonation. Detonation (uncontrolled combustion) can be very damaging to your engine.

The linked thread above also contains a lot of nonsense. Automobile engines equipped with knock sensors can sense detonation (pinging) and adjust timing accordingly. This results in an immediate and noticeable reduction in power. Some people think that since high octane fuels respond to more ignition advance it must be burning slower - this is not true. Higher octane fuels can withstand greater combustion pressure without detonating, therefore you can alter the ignition curve to create greater combustion pressure and higher output. You can also utilize higher compression ratios in the engine design.

I don't know of knock sensors in use on motorcycle engines. The mapping of your engine management system is based upon using the fuel recommended. On my 848, they call for 95 octane (euro spec RON) in the US this will probably equate to 91-92 octane (RON+MON)/2. Using lower octane in a high performance motor with 12:1 compression is foolhardy. Air cooled motors are even more sensitive to detonation as they will quickly overheat.

[Koop]

Another fuel related bit - I've read many times that fuel all comes from only a few refineries and it's all the same. In this link I've posted the results of tests I conducted last summer:

http://www.mvagusta.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10139

[st2lemans]

95 RON is 90 R+M/2, not 91-92.

The only bike of mine that needs more than 95 RON is my LeMans/sidecar (which even has dual plugged heads and timing retarded to only 26 degrees at full advance). Even my 999R runs great on 95 RON.

And lower octane fuel DOES have more energy/unit, though the difference is less than 1%. It has more additives, therefore less fuel.

Tom