[Kreylyn]

my dad says that i should only put regular or mid grade in because he says premium will burn the valves out on my 2003 katana 600. What fuel octane does everyone use?

13 years of using premium on my 93 Kat 750... no problems, no issues. It won't damage your bike.

now, i have run 91 octane from shell for the last 2 years, i have read on here how like everyone has said so far all it does is burn cash faster... i just this morning switched to regular from shell. now the bike is acting like it doest like it, just like it did several months ago when i was running a little low on $$$ and put regular in it. everyone has said there is no difference. but i notice a difference every time i try to put regular in. it could be due to the mods on my bike but idk it just seems much smoother and responsive with premium

Your bike was modified and then tuned for the higher octane... of course you can't just switch back to regular. You would need to tune the carbs to provide the right amount of fuel. They are currently set a bit lean for regular fuel... so higher octane gas offsets that by retarding the detonation some.

My stock Kat that I have owned since new will ping lightly on accel using 87 octane. Pinging wastes energy and makes me uneasy about possible damage to engine parts so I use higher octane fuel.

My Kat will ping and run less responsive on 87, so I use 93. But then it does run a little lean and there are some mods, so I feel the higher octane is needed and it wont break the bank on fill up.

If your bike is pinging on regular, your carbs need to be cleaned/tuned. New fuel mixes (ethanol and newer additives) have leaned things out from when these bikes were designed. If they have not been serviced to counter this, then yes... running a higher octane will counter the symptoms so that it doesn't seem to be a problem.... but you are not fixing the issue, and your bike has lost power.

For an engine with the same compression, designed to use regular gas... going up in octane will decrease the power output of the motor. A properly tuned Kat carbs/motor will provide you the best power and operation on regular gas.

Krey

[islandsjake]

I don't really notice any difference between 87-93 octane....I absolutely notice when I run that ethanol garbage gas in my bike.I ONLY use non ethanol in my bike. I can feel the difference and it helps (very little) with mileage. It says right in the suzuki manual that its acceptable but not perferred.

[loudnlow7484]

I don't really notice any difference between 87-93 octane....I absolutely notice when I run that ethanol garbage gas in my bike.I ONLY use non ethanol in my bike. I can feel the difference and it helps (very little) with mileage. It says right in the suzuki manual that its acceptable but not perferred.

Read Krey's post above. Fuel with ethanol will run a little leaner than fuel without. Stoichiometric for gasoline is around 14.7:1 I believe, and somewhere around 9-10:1 for ethanol. If you were to richen up to compensate you could run the ethanol blended fuels without any problem at all.

I've long wanted to build an engine with 14:1 compression or so and run it strictly on E85 just so people would STFU about how bad ethanol is as a fuel. As far as making power, alcohol is an incredible fuel. And since there are only, what?..... Maybe 3-4 O-rings per carburetor that would have to be replaced with something ethanol resistant, it's not like setting it up would be all that difficult.

[katanakevin]

honestly when you are only putting about 3 gallons of gas in your tank, it's worth the extra cash to shell out for premium. I know a katana 600 isn't exactly a ducati 1098, but any bike deserves a nice sip of patrone instead of watered down bud light....

[scottynoface]

Way to drag up a 6 month old post...

And 93 octane is the same gas as the 87, just has more ethanol to boost the octane rating and keep the fuel system cleaner.

For the record, my bike runs just fine on 89 and I have a higher compression ratio.

[chemomche]

God bless America!

you are still using leaden gasoline,aren`t you?
here in Europe use unleaden/unloaded(not sure how u call it) gasoline and it starts from 95 to 99, even 100, but it isn`t as strong as yours.I remember my 50cc bike runing ot 89 loaded gas was much better than the 95.

[STULER]

I only use 91+ octane. As a few others have said on here, I had to once use low grade 87 octane cause they were out of premium. I was like oh well the manual says 87 is ok. the bike lost power (not just my imagination) I could actually notice it and it was like pinging in the engine. My bike didnt like the low grade. so i only put in premium like hemi said, what does it cost an extra $20 a year to put in premium?

[scottynoface]

I only use 91+ octane. As a few others have said on here, I had to once use low grade 87 octane cause they were out of premium. I was like oh well the manual says 87 is ok. the bike lost power (not just my imagination) I could actually notice it and it was like pinging in the engine. My bike didnt like the low grade. so i only put in premium like hemi said, what does it cost an extra $20 a year to put in premium?

Sorry Seth, if your bike was pinging on 87 then it was running bad.

There is no reason for a higher octane than 87 to be necessary in a Katana unless you have raised the CR or done some good engine work.

[foxox]

God bless America!

you are still using leaden gasoline,aren`t you?
here in Europe use unleaden/unloaded(not sure how u call it) gasoline and it starts from 95 to 99, even 100, but it isn`t as strong as yours.I remember my 50cc bike runing ot 89 loaded gas was much better than the 95.

Nah it's unleaded in the US too. Leaded gasoline (or diesel) would be nice though... it makes it easy to get the octane rating up over 100 (avgas) and higher compression ratio engines (which need higher octane fuel) are more efficient, so if we could still have lead added, the country could use something like 15-30% less fuel. Unleaded fuel supposedly saves the children from lead poisoning though, eh, and I guess the US has enough people with mental problems already lol

Anyway yeah the octane ratings are done differently here, which is why your numbers are higher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_...en_RON_and_AKI

[hardlydangerous]

now, i have run 91 octane from shell for the last 2 years, i have read on here how like everyone has said so far all it does is burn cash faster... i just this morning switched to regular from shell. now the bike is acting like it doest like it, just like it did several months ago when i was running a little low on $$$ and put regular in it. everyone has said there is no difference. but i notice a difference every time i try to put regular in. it could be due to the mods on my bike but idk it just seems much smoother and responsive with premium

your bike is too lean if it runs better on a higher octane.
Higher octane has a higher flash point and free radicals and additives in the fuels can alter the flame speeds of the fuel. This does not allow the engine as complete combustion resulting in a slightly richer running engine.
The down side to this on a stock enegine that is not lean is.. you will have a fair amount of carbon build up, and lack some HP.
get yourself a jet kit

[DClark]

I run 91 (that's what's considered "premium" in my area) in the summer because if it gets real hot (over 100 degrees) and if I ride the bike hard, I can get a little pinging. I don't think it is the jetting as I got a FP in it, I think it is caused by the combo of my CA spec ignition box and my 5 degree advancer= too much advance down below.In most situations, I don't get it.

I run 91 in the winter because although I still ride, weeks can go by (like a a few passing snow storms) where I can't ride the bike. E10 gas goes bad pretty quickly and the first thing that goes is octane- by the time I ride it, that 91 oct stuff could be 87 or less.

Last year, we go hammered by a series of storms that left 5' of snow and unlike places back east, our roads were covered with snow/ice for weeks. When that crap finally melted, we had another 5-6 weeks of streets covered with so much sand/grit, that I dared not take the big kitty out. Two months of sitting in a gas tank does not do this california blended E10 gas any good.And yes, I did my best to remember to add a little Stabil to the fuel (now using Starton).

[JayBell]

here in SE PA its really hard to find non-ethanol fuel.
I was running 87 in the bike, but, with the ethanol fuel, after I put the ignition advancer in i noticed a little occasional pinging.

I switched to 89, no more pinging, bike runs normal.

I also use a little isopropyl in the tank, or Berrymans Chemtool b12 to alleviate the water collection issue that ethanol has.

so far, so good.

[outlaw]

honestly when you are only putting about 3 gallons of gas in your tank, it's worth the extra cash to shell out for premium. I know a katana 600 isn't exactly a ducati 1098, but any bike deserves a nice sip of patrone instead of watered down bud light....

Nicely said bro

[Devinjordan]

higher grade fuels are used in higher compression engines to prevent pre-detionation. that being said the only reason needed to run a high octane fuel in a katana is if it is highly moded engine which most kats are not.

if u want to use higher grade fuels go ahead it won't hurt but it is NOT needed

[cintidude04]

bringing back a thread over 6 months old that was answered in post #2 lol