About 1 1/2 weeks ago, I got bored and wanted to do some experimenting on my own to check into the myth that I Had to use Premium in my bike. Yes, this is another gas thread but the difference is, I'm not doing what I have read or have been told to do, I am doing my own thing and questioning why do I have to. I buy my gas at Chevron and they have 3 grades, Regular, Plus and Premium. I've put on about 4-500 miles on my bike using Plus gas only. Those miles have been done on normal freeway riding and pulling an incline with long sweeping corners for about 6-7 miles and where I live there is also elevation changes starting out at around 2000' to over 5000' elevation and I can honestly say that I never saw or felt any noticeable differences in my bike using Plus gas. Cost/gallon had nothing to do with my experiment, I just wanted to find out why for myself. Keeping all my riding the same with Plus gas as I was doing while I ran Premium, for me and my bike, I can honestly say that the Myth about Having to run Premium has been Busted. Maybe if more people would try experimenting on their own instead of listening to everybody else, they might be surprised at what they learn. Have a nice day.

 

If it works for you...fine.

Keep in mind that premium gas...higher octane...has nothing to do with performance. It merely increases resistance to pre-ignition.

That is all..

Carry on...

 

What bike,what,if any mods? Do you ride on flat terrain, 2- up, what do you weigh etc.....

 

You run what the manufacture recommends.
Harley recommends 91 octane so that's what you should run.

That doesn't mean that you can't run 87 or 103 from time to time.
It just means that for optimum operation 91 is recommended.

My Dodge Ram recommends 87.
Putting 91 in is just a plain waste of money.

 

I have run mid-grade (89 octane) in my stock-compression-ratio HDs for years, even in the Louisiana summer heat, and never had a problem with pinging.
Like you, I ran premium (92) for a while, then decided to drop down to mid to see if there was a difference. I can tell no difference, but I realize that boosting compression and/or changing cams, etc may be a different story.

 

Can you really be sure of whats coming out of that nozzle after you select the octane grade of your choice?

 

Only because the Gov say it is. ��������

 

Absolutely not!

Any pump that has all three grades with a common nozzle will have some degree of "cross contamination". Most likely if you are using anything except regular, you'll be getting a good spurt of regular mixed in.

That said, I typically use premium. But mostly just in the summer months since it gets really hot here in the Central San Joaquin Valley. It just seems to run smoother and quieter than it does with our EPA mandated "summer blend regular"....whatever the hell that is. But then "running better" might be all in my head too.

 

I have a 6 gallon tank.


I usually get gas when it is down about 5 gallons.


Price difference between 87 and 91 is about .40 (average)


So, for less than one beer more, I can fill with premium, which I like.


If I am going to burn 400+ a day on the highway during a road trip, I put the cheap stuff in. But the rest of the time, the bike eats well..

 

At the elevation you listed as riding, you probably don't see any difference between Plus and Premium.
What is the octane rating of your Plus?

As elevation increases the need for higher octane to prevent pre-ignition decreases.
So, for you the Plus probably does work fine.

Manufacturers list their recommendations based on the average for all units sold in all areas.