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thoughts on octane booster?

dorkburger

dorkburger

Forum Guru
Past Site Supporter
On one of my recent thinking sessions (dog walk), I recalled a recent thread here on regular fuel vs premium.
My 1150 falls in the needs premium group, especially in hot weather. Also mentioned in that thread was the fact that with todays multi grade pumps, one is likely to only get a small amount of premium by the time its sucked from the ground and it gets to the gas tank since bikes only take a small amount of fuel in relation to a car.

This started me wondering if i should use regular with a shot of octane booster instead.

Last I used booster was back in the 90s in a Honda ATC 250r (2 stroke). It was flogged heavily every single time it was ridden, and using the booster kept it from pinging, which it did when booster was not used. Nothing but good results.

Does "modern" octane booster suck like todays gas does?
Would there be any concerns with using it that I should look out for?
..... or should i just wait until im nearly out of gas before filling up?

Thanks.
 
Pull in to buy gas behind an expensive high performance car, they will probably have filled the hose with Primo for you.
 
Unless you are actually getting knock, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Reminds me of when I had a high compression Corvette. Absolute R_P_I_T_A having to carry a bottle of octane booster, and remember to buy a new can every week. :fatigue:
So I put some lower compression heads in there, and just bought 91 octane.
How you gonna carry a can of octane booster on a bike? :confused:
 
Only thing octane booster does is slow down the burn rate of gas, unless you have any engine knocking under load, then don't worry about it. If you do, step up one grade on the gas. At 86 my bike would knock a little at this heat, altitude and higher under a load. I went to 88/89 and it stopped.
 
It only pings under a load in hot weather - nothing that dropping a gear doesn't fix. I do ocassional forget and just open the throttle and get that lovely rattle.
Truth be told, it tweaks me a bit knowing that I'm paying for a tank of premium, and getting... some....maybe.

This is mainly a curiosity, and something I would do when riding locally. I wouldn't pack a bunch up for a trip. I may experiment when it gets hot out.

I almost always run 93 octane (N J - sea level)
 
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As long as you are adding it for knock prevention and not some mistaken belief that it adds power.
 
Pull in to buy gas behind an expensive high performance car, they will probably have filled the hose with Primo for you.​


Tom, you have to much free time.
 
Thought i read in a manual the recommended rating is 90 for our GSs. I run the 87 and havent heard any engine pining.
 
I get less ping in hot weather with 87 octane ethanol than with 89 octane regular. Ethanol helps, not hinders. It's why my son uses alcohol in his super modified pulling tractors, way more compression ratio than he gets with gas. I use 91 octane whenever I can, but a lot of stations here don't carry it.
 
wymple said:
I get less ping in hot weather with 87 octane ethanol than with 89 octane regular. Ethanol helps, not hinders. It's why my son uses alcohol in his super modified pulling tractors, way more compression ratio than he gets with gas. I use 91 octane whenever I can, but a lot of stations here don't carry it.
Click to expand...

Depends on the amount of ethanol used. 85% would be a cold dense fuel charge which equal to higher horse power ratings though less mileage.
 
wymple said:
I get less ping in hot weather with 87 octane ethanol than with 89 octane regular. Ethanol helps, not hinders. It's why my son uses alcohol in his super modified pulling tractors, way more compression ratio than he gets with gas. I use 91 octane whenever I can, but a lot of stations here don't carry it.
Click to expand...
There are 3 things never to argue about. Politics, religion and ethanol with a resident from Iowa. I will not dispute your reply, as I have no evidence to dispute it. On the other hand, All bikes from the 80's were jetted to run on non-oxygenated fuel. They were lean from the factory to meet emission standards. I was in the biz for 20 years and seen the dyno runs. Alcohol takes the place of fuel which makes them run even leaner. You can jet around this and get the bike back to "normal" which is better than the original factory settings. Doing nothing? Sure it runs, and it may run fine to most people, but they can run much better. Its getting easier to find non oxy fuel in my area due to the influence of hot rods, classic cars and boats. I have a close friend who is a boat Mech. He makes a LOT of $$$ off of people who use oxy fuel in there boats.
 
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