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What octane fuel are u using on your VFR?


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Since I got my 2007 RWB VFR i have been using 91 Octane along with full synthetic. She loves both.

Is everyone using 91 or as the manual says 87 is good enough

 

I must say after taking bike out of storage and even with stabilizer  after I went through that tank of gas and

put in fresh 91 the bike ran even better and it was noticeable.

 

Chime in and ride safe.

 

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3. Will road cars perform better with high octane fuel?

The simple answer is: yes, if they are designed to. If a car recommends regular (or low) octane fuel, it is highly unlikely (read: it won’t help) that there will be any performance gain from using a higher octane fuel. (from www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-high-vs-low-octane-petrol/)

 

When I first owned my '01, because it was fuel injected, I assumed it had an ignition advance, so I bought 91 octane. When I learned the was no ignition advance, I went to 87 octane and there was absolutely no difference in engine performance. For the next 1750,000 miles I can only imagine how much money I would have wasted. The difference in price between the two is frequently significant. 

 

Hope this helps.

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On 9 May 2018 at 3:20 AM, VFR80025th said:

Since I got my 2007 RWB VFR i have been using 91 Octane along with full synthetic. She loves both.

Is everyone using 91 or as the manual says 87 is good enough

 

I must say after taking bike out of storage and even with stabilizer  after I went through that tank of gas and

put in fresh 91 the bike ran even better and it was noticeable.

 

Chime in and ride safe.

 

 

Hi VFR80025th.

Agree with MaxSwell.

Love this subject! Your bike is designed to run on your 87 octane (in Australia it's the equivalent of our Standard 91ron I believe). VFR's do NOT have an anti-knock sensor so it can't take advantage of higher octane fuels by advancing the ignition timing. You will not see any improvement in performance or fuel economy using higher than recommended octane fuels. They also have virtually the same calorific value (energy content).

 

Some may argue that the higher octane fuels have better cleaning agents, but I tend to believe this is just advertising Bullsh@t. Fuel companies would love you to purchase their higher profit making premium fuels, wether you need them or not! If Standard Fuel was as bad as some people believe, there would be thousands of cars and motorcycles stranded on the side of the road - not the situation at all.

 

I find it amazing the number of VFR riders I've ridden with that swear they need to use Premium Fuel, not so I tell them, go read your Owner's Manual.

I've ran my three 6gen's and my current 8gen on Standard fuels and never had any issues. I do go for the big name brands and have NEVER used Ethanol added E10 fuel.

 

Also due to the turnover volume of Standard Fuel you could be guaranteed of getting fresher fuel at the pump.

 

I've experimented with Premium Fuels and achieved nothing, except to burn a greater hole in my wallet!!! My best fuel economy runs have all been on Standard Fuel. SO SAVE YOUR MONEY.

 

Enjoy your 2007 RWB (was my favourite VFR and miss it) I'm sure it will love a diet of your 87 non ethanol of course.

Cheers:beer:

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4 hours ago, MaxSwell said:

3. Will road cars perform better with high octane fuel?

The simple answer is: yes, if they are designed to. If a car recommends regular (or low) octane fuel, it is highly unlikely (read: it won’t help) that there will be any performance gain from using a higher octane fuel. (from www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-high-vs-low-octane-petrol/)

 

When I first owned my '01, because it was fuel injected, I assumed it had an ignition advance, so I bought 91 octane. When I learned the was no ignition advance, I went to 87 octane and there was absolutely no difference in engine performance. For the next 1750,000 miles I can only imagine how much money I would have wasted. The difference in price between the two is frequently significant. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Perfect

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Spend money saved in the difference in price from the 87 to 91 and get non ethanol fuel if possible.  Running Non ethanol fuel provided the only advantage that I have ever seen in performance and fuel mileage on the VFRs, from my '00 to my '07. 

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7 minutes ago, deltaboxii said:

Spend money saved in the difference in price from the 87 to 91 and get non ethanol fuel if possible.  Running Non ethanol fuel provided the only advantage that I have ever seen in performance and fuel mileage on the VFRs, from my '00 to my '07. 

 

I second this statement. Around VT, the non-ethanol happens to be 91 octane most of the time, so that is what I run. If there was 87 non-ethanol I'd happily save a little money and use that instead. Ethanol fuel is shit, I've seen it cause issues in too many boats, equipment, older engines, small engines, you name it. I avoid it if at all possible.

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The old PC2 had the ability for you to program in some additional ignition advance (I think max +4 deg).  Even doing that with a custom map was not worth the justification in extra fuel cost.  Was only worth a couple extra HP up top and barely noticeable on the street.

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I run mostly 87 non-ethanol. It's generally available in the Cornhusker State. (go figure...)  I'll use 10% ethanol 87-89 if non-ethanol gas is not available. 

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11 hours ago, adkfinn said:

 

 Ethanol fuel is shit, I've seen it cause issues in too many boats, equipment, older engines, small engines, you name it. I avoid it if at all possible.

 

Brace yourselves folks - here comes E15 gas year 'round.  I use the pure-gas website and buy non-ethanol as well when possible.  I've talked to people that have used E85 in their cars / trucks and they piss and moan about the short range on a full tank.  Uh - yeah . . . !  Higher ethanol content really hurts those of us that ride long distance in remote areas - range can be a concern and E15 is not going to help that.  

 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/05/08/senators-trump-wants-year-round-sales-high-ethanol-gas/592182002/

 

 

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11 hours ago, Cogswell said:

 

Brace yourselves folks - here comes E15 gas year 'round.  I use the pure-gas website and buy non-ethanol as well when possible.  I've talked to people that have used E85 in their cars / trucks and they piss and moan about the short range on a full tank.  Uh - yeah . . . !  Higher ethanol content really hurts those of us that ride long distance in remote areas - range can be a concern and E15 is not going to help that.  

 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/05/08/senators-trump-wants-year-round-sales-high-ethanol-gas/592182002/

 

 

 

I can't say this surprises me, just more garbage on the market so we can continue to subsidize big agriculture coming and going. 

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Regular non-ethanol and I found it at local Walmart for $0.16/gal more than regular $2.75 vs $2.59, so I'm gonna use it in my truck too.

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15 hours ago, Cogswell said:

 

Brace yourselves folks - here comes E15 gas year 'round.  I use the pure-gas website and buy non-ethanol as well when possible.  I've talked to people that have used E85 in their cars / trucks and they piss and moan about the short range on a full tank.  Uh - yeah . . . !  Higher ethanol content really hurts those of us that ride long distance in remote areas - range can be a concern and E15 is not going to help that.  

 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/05/08/senators-trump-wants-year-round-sales-high-ethanol-gas/592182002/

 

 

Maybe not. https://cqrcengage.com/amacycle/app/write-a-letter?3&engagementId=450933 At least we get to support an alternative to this bad answer.

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Good info on this thread - I hadn’t considered that finding enthanol-free gasoline would be easy. Just googled ‘where to buy ethanol free gas near me’ and got six hits, from a Mobil just down the block, to a 76 a few miles away.

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2 hours ago, sfdownhill said:

Good info on this thread - I hadn’t considered that finding enthanol-free gasoline would be easy. Just googled ‘where to buy ethanol free gas near me’ and got six hits, from a Mobil just down the block, to a 76 a few miles away.

 

If you aren't aware: https://www.pure-gas.org/

They have maps and also an app even. It is a useful tool when you are on the road. 

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9 hours ago, Africord said:

Maybe not. https://cqrcengage.com/amacycle/app/write-a-letter?3&engagementId=450933 At least we get to support an alternative to this bad answer.

 

Good intel.  I got my fingers crossed on this one!

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Reading the Owners Manual for a fifth gen I find the engine is designed for 87 octane with 10% ethanol. However that gas is only good for 1 to 3 months. I use this routinely and have experienced only a couple of occasions of problematic engine operation. They went away when fresh fuel was added.

 

I do not worry about this at all. In nearly 200,000 miles of riding it has been a non-issue.  

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