[meta355]

The thread on fuel mileage got me thinking- What do you all run for gas? The dealer said I'd be ok with 87, emmissions sticker on the bike says 92+. Is the good stuff better for mileage?

 

[Retro Rich]

The X is a low compression engine; anything higher than 87 you're just wasting $$ you could put toward something else. Now, I will say that some of the 87 out there is getting to be pretty crappy quality--so, the "cheaper" brands out there you'd want to go up to 89 maybe. Just run good quality gas (name brand) whenever you can; that's what I live/swear by.

 

[wren]

On my first X I got quite an education. I'd always run premium in my bikes. Got a brand new X, put premium in it and got lots of black gas smoke, detonation in the pipes and back thru the carb. Bike was back to the dealer 6 times in the first 200 miles. Seriously.

They'd drain the tank, tear the carb apart, trying to find the problem. Put in fresh fuel and it would run just fine. I'd leave the shop, stop and gas up and in a few miles the trouble would start again. And back to the dealer I'd go.

Finally got a Honda rep to come down to the dealer on the problem. The service manager, the Honda rep and myself sat and went thru the problem step by step. When we got to the part where I'd put Shell premium in the rep goes "you can't run premium in the 1300 VTX. Says that in the owners manual". The manager and I both holler "WRONG". I threw the owners manual on the counter and asked the Honda dude to show me that part.

He goes" Oh, its in the service manual." Service manager hollers "WRONG" and throws the sevice manual on the counter. Of course, the Honda rep can't find the BS he's spouting in the service manual, either.

The Honda rep then says "Maybe we need to post a service bulliten on this."

Duh.

 

[ibified]

Oh no....PLEASE not this thread again!!!!!!!!!!!!

This got covered extensively back in October - go here and read:

http://www.vtxcafe.com/showthread.php?t=2024&highlight=fuel+octane

 

[VTX_Joe]

I do not believe any of this about higher octane being better or worse. The higher octane fuels are only made to keep cars and bikes with very high compression ratios from detonating before the piston is at top dead center. Running too high an octane does nothing to your bike but cost you a bunch of money that you did not need to spend.

 

[DillDawg]

The thread on fuel mileage got me thinking- What do you all run for gas? The dealer said I'd be ok with 87, emmissions sticker on the bike says 92+. Is the good stuff better for mileage?

Look closely at that sticker....91 RON (Research Octane Number) or higer doesn't refer to the pump octane number we use in the states. Use plain old 87 (it's in the manual) - if you have knocking, bump it up to 89. Pretty simple. Doesn't need to be complicated.

 

[Green Ghost]

Wow CAT Fight Again

Plus 1 for everybody that said 87.
Plus 1 for ibified for having the largest cat. GG

 

[ibified]

LOL thanks GG, and yes, theres a difference between RON and (R+M)/2.

I think that got covered in the other thread, too.

 

[Onedoublel]

Also 87 here...no problems at all.

 

[Betty Boop]

Hmmmm....never put anything but amaco white..high octane....never had a problem...no blue smoak here !!!???? So I guess I'll be ok....missed the thread in october somehow.
BB

 

[Charlie D]

I use the regular 87
maybe every 20 tanks or so i will put in a higher grade.

 

[wren]

I do not believe any of this about higher octane being better or worse. The higher octane fuels are only made to keep cars and bikes with very high compression ratios from detonating before the piston is at top dead center. Running too high an octane does nothing to your bike but cost you a bunch of money that you did not need to spend.

The higher the octane the slower the burn.

High compression engines also run advanced timing. This compensates for burn time of the fuel ( along with a few other minor details,)

The situation I spoke of in my post above occurred because the fuel was still burning when the valves started opening, hence the firing thru the carb and exhaust. 87 octane eliminates the problem since the burn time is quicker and the fuel is finished burning as the valves start opening. Just basic mechanics.

 

[AZVTX'er]

My X doesn't like premium fuel. She is not a golddigger or high maintenence. That's why I keep her.

 

[country boy]

shell

I run the shell high octane when i can but have run 87 with no problems if the station you get your gas at has one hose coming out for all grades your 3.8 gals is gonna be what the last fellow got anyway.The service manager that gave me the run down on my bike just before i left said the only advantage to high test is it may be a little cleaner.

 

[Shutterbug]

Went to Daytona and got 50.95 mpg and 51.37 mpg using regular. I try to stay with the brand name stuff like Shell, Chevron, Sunoco, BP. If I use brand X gas, I switch to 89 octane (usually less water).

 

[meta355]

Thanks everyone! I lost my cable for a while so I couldn't reply. Going with 87 was my plan, based on the compression ratio, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks for the thread link ibfied!