What grade fuel do you folks run?

[E Double]

This is more of a curiosity thing than anything else.  I always run premium in my bike, and honestly have never tried any other grade.  Besides the V&H exhaust and requisite jetting for that and iridium plugs everything is stock.  Am I wasting money?  What do you guys use?  Cheers in advance for any info.

Dennis

[mikeholzer]

This isn't the first time this topic has come up. Like you, I used to spend the extra $$ on the premium thinking that an air cooled motor has much need for the higher octane to resist detonation. I used to run "high" compression VW motors in my youth, and they would ping horribly with anything less than 92 AKI.

Others here have pointed out that regular 87 works just fine. Being curious, I ran the cheap stuff the latter half of last year. No difference was noted by me, and August and September were really pretty hot (for Minnesota). Your results may vary, and the $.10 per gallon x 5 or so gallons is not a huge cost difference, but as far as I can tell, there is no legitimate need (on the FJ) for high octane fuel.

Please, let the flaming begin...

[racerman_27410]

no flaming here..... unless you're running a high compression engine there is no need for premium fuel.

Brutus pings on regular but runs just fine on mid grade which is what i use. I honestly could not tell any difference with the premium fuel.

On the other hand i filled up with some nice purple Sunoco race gas and there was a substantial difference in how the engine ran....... however that kind of fun is somewhat cost prohibitive now @ 25 bucks a gallon

run the cheapest gas you can that doesnt ping and it's all good!


KOokaloo!

[E Double]

Is the Sunoco race fuel different than the 100 octane fuel they have?  There is a Sunoco about 20 miles away in Point Pleasant, and they sell 100 for about $8 a gallon.

And that stuff makes the bike run very nice indeed.

[racerman_27410]

Is the Sunoco race fuel different than the 100 octane fuel they have?  There is a Sunoco about 20 miles away in Point Pleasant, and they sell 100 for about $8 a gallon.

And that stuff makes the bike run very nice indeed.

yes its' different and comes in drums.

http://www.sunocoinc.com/site/Consumer/RaceFuels/UnleadedFuels/


its 104 octane and says its light blue but the stuff i bought looked purple to me.

Kookaloo!

[RichBaker]

87 (ron+mon)/2... I used to run VP C-12 in my YZ250, if it sat for more than a week, I'd drain it and dump it in the FJ, usually with a couple gallons of 87 still in the tank.  Damn she ran good on that, and she got some extra top-end lube from the premix oil....   

[E Double]

Is the Sunoco race fuel different than the 100 octane fuel they have?  There is a Sunoco about 20 miles away in Point Pleasant, and they sell 100 for about $8 a gallon.

And that stuff makes the bike run very nice indeed.

yes its' different and comes in drums.

http://www.sunocoinc.com/site/Consumer/RaceFuels/UnleadedFuels/


its 104 octane and says its light blue but the stuff i bought looked purple to me.

Kookaloo!

Damn!  I don't know if 4 extra octane points is worth 3.5x the price of the 100. 

[Arnie]

I don't know anything about all this fancy colored race fuel you guys are discussing.
My FJ runs fine on the stuff sold in Australia as "Unleaded Regular" on all but the hottest days.  If we're having a run of hot weather, I'll mix in a bit of "Premium Unleaded" to stop the minor pinging I get.

Arnie

[1tinindian]

I use 87 octane without a problem.
I hope to find out how she runs in the mountains this summer!

[DB Cooper]

I always run plain old unleaded regular. I am however, running a completely stock bike. I've never had the bike ping yet  - knock on metal (ha ha). I did run Sunoco 94 in my 2 stroke RD400, but that was the only way to keep the pistons running nice and cool.
Kevin

[FJmonkey]

Simi_Ed a detonation moment last year while I chasing him up hill past some cars. He was backing off and I adjusted to avoid any unexpected passes, later he said he was pinging bad and felt like he had to back off. I run with 92 and was not having any issues. It was a warm day. I will let Ed chime in if he has any more details. Ed's bike seemed to be in great shape, I ran away from him once in some tight twisties but I also passed a truck that he was likely stuck behind longer than I was..... Ed runs a good pace for me, even on that old goat trail that knocked more than one filling out and some fork oil from Threegasteve's bike. Good times.

[billwest]

.............. stuff sold in Australia as "Unleaded Regular" on all but the hottest days.  If we're having a run of hot weather, I'll mix in a bit of "Premium Unleaded" to stop the minor pinging I get.

Arnie

Yep, what he said.  But, our regular unleaded is around 91 octane, our premium at 95, and at some servos (eg BP) we can get 98 octane (called "Ultimate").

[simi_ed]

Yup, this was definitely a detonation moment, not just pinging.  It was about 105 deg F out, and I was running the alleged 87 octane crap they pass off on us.  After I backed off it stopped happening.  Never happened before on the FJ and not since.  

[FJmonkey]

Yup, this was definitely a detonation moment, not just pinging.  It was about 105 deg F out, and I was running the alleged 87 octane crap they pass off on us.  After I backed off it stopped happening.  Never happened before on the FJ and not since.  

There you have it folks, Ed blamed it on the octane. No mention of the traffic blocking truck, I ran way from him..... Pull pin and toss (to the rear)......We really need a more explosive like smiley... Some TNT/plastic like stuff.......

[simi_ed]

I really don't remember Mark or a truck.  I was focused not pulling the pin on my motor.