Octane?

[KYtrailfan]

I have a "fleet" of various small engines and will go through 20-25 gallons a month. I fill the cans with 93 and a healthy dose of Stabil. Never have any carb or water issues in my stuff. As I ride mostly off-road and backroads, I fill the Trail out of small engine cache. I noticed a little early detonation while idling down my steep driveway, is 93 too much octane?

 

[Backwoods]

I have a "fleet" of various small engines and will go through 20-25 gallons a month. I fill the cans with 93 and a healthy dose of Stabil. Never have any carb or water issues in my stuff. As I ride mostly off-road and backroads, I fill the Trail out of small engine cache. I noticed a little early detonation while idling down my steep driveway, is 93 too much octane?

I use the regular, same as for the mower. If timing is off, that will cause premature detonation. I don’t see how 93 octane can cause that.

 

[DJ427]

Avoid anything with ethanol, the dealer warned me. I keep a big jug of 'gasoline' for my things

 

[SneakyDingo]

The manual has a note on Ethanol, not much else other than keeping it above 86 PON. Is this while the bike is warmed up, or did you just roll down the driveway cold?

 

[m in sc]

I find all the weirdness on fuel threads entertaining. myths, bad info and superstitious actions. lol. its the gift that keeps giving.

 

[BaldRider]

Ethanol is not good. That's not really a myth. It is political, though.

You only need to use the octane rating that the manufacturer says to use. Only one of my vehicles requires 91 and, surprisingly, it is the Ural.

 

[dmonkey]

93 octane is overkill, but not going to cause detonation. Maybe a slow burn that isn't as clean. Any mods to your bike, aftermarket exhaust? Is the engine cold when you hear this and are you basically engine braking down your steep driveway? If so you might be hearing decel pop which is normal to hear when engine braking down steep grades. The stock bike runs lean at idle which likely contributes to this, and the higher octane fuel wouldn't help.

 

[m in sc]

no one said its good, but its not as bad as people say. owning a BUNCH of 50+ year old vehicles I use regularly, and never have an issue with it, tells me all i need to know. On the modern stuff, it's designed for it, like the trail, etc, so, again, zero issues w it. I've personally seen WAY more issues with additives consumers put in than what comes out of the pump unless theres a tank leak at the station and groundwater is introduced. adding a bunch of stabile or whatever will probably lower the octane rating. I never use that stuff, but sure have removed it from fuel systems of peoples bikes ive worked on.

 

[SneakyDingo]

We'd save a lot of time if people used the search box more, but diminish @m in sc 's entertainment. Oh, the dilemma.

 

[m in sc]

don' worry about me... plenty of other forums have been hashing this out for well over a decade. Im going to go take my 66 ford out now to run some errands. Maybe get some fuel.

 

[KYtrailfan]

93 octane is overkill, but not going to cause detonation. Maybe a slow burn that isn't as clean. Any mods to your bike, aftermarket exhaust? Is the engine cold when you hear this and are you basically engine braking down your steep driveway? If so you might be hearing decel pop which is normal to hear when engine braking down steep grades. The stock bike runs lean at idle which likely contributes to this, and the higher octane fuel wouldn't help.

Bike is cold and engine braking at idle. It's a steep gravel driveway. So sounds like decel then. I will get 87 next time and see if I tell any difference after a couple fill ups.

 

[Tiger]

Ethanol is not good. That's not really a myth. It is political, though.

You only need to use the octane rating that the manufacturer says to use. Only one of my vehicles requires 91 and, surprisingly, it is the Ural.

It's not surprisingly) They decided, the expencive bike have to consume expencive fuel)))

 

[AZ7000']

Was gassing up the CT-90 and 125 at the closest station to my house. The owners came over and we spoke for a good long while... He's on the highway heading to the woods, the grand canyon and some OHV camping areas. I mentioned and asked if he thought about getting an ethanol free tank and pump but he said there isn't a Marathon product so he couldn't sell it under the canopy. We spoke about the other 2 stations in town, he says he uses the one at the Speedway station vs the Chevron because he just sold his fuel trucking company and they filled the Speedway and the other company fills the Chevron. The reason he uses ethanol free was one I had never heard of.... he said the ethanol evaporates and after 60-90 days you are left running 82-83 octane as the ethanol boosts it but then once gone you have the easier detonating fuel.

Fuel, oil, politics, taste in women are not easy to change, folks dig in pretty hard! Just sharing what i was told by a dude with 30+ years in the biz...

 

[m in sc]

well if you leave it in an open container it will evaporate, and it will evaporate faster, that's true.. I've stored it for over a year in a 5 gallon race can, it doesnt go anywhere (nor did it go bad).