what octane to use for motorcycles?

Answer 1

The only use for higher octane is to reduce "Ping". That sound some engines get when excelerating. No ping, no use for higher octane.

Answer 2

The compression of the engine matters but so does that altitude that you are riding at. At higher altitudes you can use a lower octane because you need less energy in the gas to react with the lower amount of oxygen. That is why here in colorado, the highest octane is 91 and the lowest is 85.
But I have an FZR600 and it calls for premium, I use midgrade for 3 tanks and then use premium on the 4th. This seems to work, also, sence the motorcycle tank is small, you can get a large can of 108 octane booster and add that to low grade. You can get about 5 tanks on it... Works for me

Answer 3

You should use a higher octane in high-compression engines, regardless of what the engine is on (motorcycle or car). If the compression ratio is 10.0 to 1 or higher, use premium (93 octane). If it is lower use either regular or the mid grade.

A higher octane gas is not "better" for an engine that doesn't need it. Higher octane fuels do not detonate from compression as easily as lower octane fuels. Pre-detonation is VERY bad for an engine. Just make sure you use the octane the manufacturer recommends. If you buy a higher octane than that you are just wasting your money.

Answer 4

For street bikes I think at least 91 octane is usually recommended. The higher the octane, the better the performance. Plus it's better for the engine.

Answer 5

What Curious said. It depends on the engine compression.

If lower octane gas is causing pre-detonation, your plugs will show it (get a repair manual for the bike - it'll probably have a page of color pictures showing what the plugs look like under all sorts of engine 'problems'... and detonation is pretty obvious).

If you don't need to spend $$ for higher octane, don't. It's not 'better' gas.

Answer 6

with very few exceptions, all street bikes since 1970's have been designed to run on 87 octane. Since at least 1977 they have been designed to run unleaded.
Most off road/competition bikes use minimum of 93oct.
If you dont have a handbook search e-bay or get one from main dealer, it will tell you what to use.
Higher octane doesnt give more power, its actually slower burning in unmodified engines which means you can loose power.

Answer 7

Engines run cooler on high octane, but some with electronic fuel injection are set to run on regual pump gas, mine only runs on regular gas, starts missing on high octane gas.

Answer 8

Any octane will work, but premium is always the best choice.

Answer 9

I get about 50 MPG on my bike so i always use middle grade and only use shell or chevron (preferably chevron). The high prices don't hurt the wallet much, even with my tight budget...
If i made a little more I'd move up to high grade. Just one more way to take care of my baby...

Answer 10

USE 91 OCTANE FOR DIRT BIKES AND I THINK YOU HAVE TO USE 91 FOR STREET BIKES ALSO ACCORDDIND TO THE MANUALS. BUT IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MATTER AS MUCH FOR STREET BIKES AS LONG AS YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO RACE.