regular gas

Where have I been...

I've got an 06 610 TE (carb) and have always used premium gas in it. A buddy caused me to wonder if it really needed premium...I just assumed it did because I've never had a bike that didn't. Dumb time to look now since the bike is 2+ years old and gas prices are coming down. But...looked at the manual specifically for gas requirements and it just says, "unleaded fuel"...nothing about octane ratings.

So...y'all run regular...without issue?

Doug

I have used regular a few times but that was due to no premium being available. I noticed no negitive preformace issues.

With 11 to 1 compression ratio, I would not use regular unless I had to, and then I would be easy on it until I could get some higher octane gas in it. IMHO Ken

I have to say I was wondering the same thing but the manual do say just unleaded so that’s what I’ve been using

So that’s the consensus among 610 owners, you guys are running the higher grades?
Think I read somewhere that US grades are higher then Europeans to begin with, is that a factor at all?

As pointed out, detonation is a bad thing. This is when the compression forces of the piston cycle or worse yet crud in cylinder is left burning, heats then sets off the fuel air mixture ahead of the desired timing cycle.

Octane rating in simple terms is a measure at which the fuel can be compressed before it heats by friction and detonates. If you have detonation move up a rating. Running a higher octane rating does not equal more power. It's a mater of knock. Got knock...move up. No knock, try a lower rating.

Keep in mind not all motors are created equally. Higher compression motors require a higher octane to safe guard against pre-detonation. Remember your science classes?..compression of anything results in heat. More compression equals more heat. Diesel engines rely entirely on heat during the compression cycle and have very high compression.

On the pre-injected TE's running anything less than super at 92 octane rating (USA) is going to result in some knocking. Manual specifies 98. The injected models may have a sensor to retard timing.. I don't know. Some "other brands" have selectable timing settings to allow running fuel in say 3rd world countires.

All the above also applies to your daily driver car. People who use super unleaded to baby their car "just because" are generally just wasting money.

I've always run 92 premium. I don't even put 87 in my minivan.

how bad is gas in 3rd world countries? in particular central america...

would it really screw my bike to run a gallon here and a gallon there of crappy gas? 2006 sm610.

at higher elevations it would be less harmfull. sea level, ouch!

is there anything that can be done about this? like having along some octane booster or something for when you're only option is crappy low octane fuel?

awesome whoo hoo!

i have ridden in places in central america where its bad, very bad ..kills the power in your bike noticeably plus its hard to get used to some guy hand pumping petrol from a rusty 40 gallon drum ..

but hire bikes were invented for people who want to wreck someone elses machine....

as a side note ..once i had the pads replaced somewhere ..what they did was get old car pads and cut the pad material into the shape of my front pads..bond it somehow to the metal backing and you were good to go..except obviously my hand cant generate the pressure a car brake servo can ...this i noticed on the first steep descent

so bringing spare break pads sounds like a good idea...

Where? My manual definitely is silent on the octane issue? And I promise...my glasses are on and clean!

With the gas shortage several of us added in it in our Ducatis (1098) with good results. Also, with electronic ignition it did fine on regular in an emergency...better than pushing it. Just held back on the fun lever a bit...

The manual states 98 RON, which is equivalent to about 94 Pump Octane here in the states. (RON + MON)/2 = Pump Octane Number. Typically the mix would be about 96 RON and 88 MON which yields the 92 Pump Octane. According to George (Uptite), you can help yourself a little if you run some leaded race gas (114 Sunoco) in these bikes. Raises the octane and helps with the valves. Mix 4 gal. premium to 1 gal race gas.