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I know the manual says to use 87 octane. But, will power or smoothness increase with higher octane? I suspect the answer is no and 99% of you use 87 octane.
87 or 93 Octane for the Burgman 400
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I've used 87 for seven years. I see no performance enhancement in the higher octanes. I did have to replace the throttle unit at 33k though. But lord knows what caused that. So far as damaging your bike with the 93, I doubt it did, but I leave that to more learned minds than mine.
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Some vehicles will carbon up. My brother had an oxygen sensor malfunction on a car. Dealer said he had his one chance and future problems would not be covered by the warranty.
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Other people mentioned using 93 octane is WORSE than using 87 octane for Burg 400 because of carbon buildup in the engine. I'll stick with the 87 octane. If I were to upgrade my fuel I would get ethanol free standard fuel.
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I'm glad you asked this question as I was wondering the same thing. I always ran premium in all my bikes, thinking that it was the thing to do. I have run about three tanks of premium through mine, but will also switch to standard now that I have read the responses. I also saw that the manual recommended 87 octane. Sometimes, less is more!
Burgmanmaniac, we are lucky to live in a state that still sells ethanol free gas. Some people are not so blessed as we are. I get better mileage from ethanol free gas untell the winter blend comes out. I can't understand why in a state like Florida they have to shove crap like winter blend gas on us. Even ethanol free is crap in the winter and not worth the extra money. Don't waste money for ethanol free in the winter it's just not worth it.
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Yeah...87 is best for the Burgmans. The 93 Burns less violently to reduce engine knock and in doing so, in effect burns more slowly. It can lead to burned exhaust valves and seats due to the fact the exhaust gases are often hotter than that produced by the lower octane fuel. And of course, there is the carbon issue.
According to a person I know in the fuel industry, at least around here. The cost of transporting 87,89,91 octane gas means they only bring 2 : 89&91. They can't sell 87 as 89 so 89 is sold as 87. A few years ago I was helping a friend with his car on a dyno and he had 110 in the tank and it wouldn't run the numbers he expected or rev as high as it should have. We went to a nearby gas station and got 5 gallons of 87 and added it to the tank. The motor started increasing its power output and went up almost 1000 rpm. We drained out some more and added more 87. The final numbers were almost 100 hp and 80 ft lbs higher with the lower octane.
There are new motorcycles running 11:1 compression that spec 87 octane, and they pull 14,000 rpm. Bottom line, you are wasting money and most likely slowing the performance of the scooter by running too much octane.
There are new motorcycles running 11:1 compression that spec 87 octane, and they pull 14,000 rpm. Bottom line, you are wasting money and most likely slowing the performance of the scooter by running too much octane.
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No need wasting your hard earned $$ on anything more that 87. Put 46k+ on my 400 with it & have been running my 650 on the same thing. Now my son's Victory Vision pings on 87 so he uses 93.
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I believe that your country uses a different measuring system
than is used in the USA, so the numbers would not be equal.
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Wow this is interesting.
I swear I get better mileage with premium in Burgie. BUT this might be related to being conscious of having put premium in it.
Local shops sell "boat fuel" here (in lower AL) and I have been using that. But the receipt states PREMIUM.
Last tank of premium, the MPG display showed 83 across the causeway to Mobile.
And 73 mpg overall.
Hmmm I guess I'll go back to Shell or Chevron regular.
I swear I get better mileage with premium in Burgie. BUT this might be related to being conscious of having put premium in it.
Local shops sell "boat fuel" here (in lower AL) and I have been using that. But the receipt states PREMIUM.
Last tank of premium, the MPG display showed 83 across the causeway to Mobile.
And 73 mpg overall. Hmmm I guess I'll go back to Shell or Chevron regular.
Most parts of the world use the Research Octane Number (RON) to rate gasoline
Another method is the Motor Octane Number (MON).
For reference, see here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
"In most countries, the "headline" octane rating shown on the pump is the RON, but in Canada, the United States, Brazil, and some other countries, the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI)."
As you can see on the table, an 87 AKI rating (USA) is equivalent to approx. 92 RON (Chile).
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