I got caught in southern Wisconsin needing gas last weekend. The only available gas was at a small convenience store, all they had was 87 octane. I only put in a couple of gallons, but the my fugly really ran like crap, sluggish and pinging. My question, does anyone use octane boost and does it help in this situation. I went to my local HD dealer to pick up their brand, which is in a glass bottle and was advised that the bottle will leak in my saddle bag. So I didn't buy any, what brand do you use and is it safe for the bike, again I would only use it if 91 octane wasn't available.

 

Get a bottle of seafoam and fill her up. It will be fine

 

Amsoil makes a great octane booster. Comes in a bottle sized for bikes. Sealed so it won't leak in your bags. Reasonably priced too. I've tried many different brands, and this one is the only one that I can tell makes a difference. I always keep a couple of bottles in the bike for the same reason you describe.

 

Bike shouldve ran perfectly fine with 87 octane. These motors are long stroke, low compression, overheated torque monsters. I know plenty of folks who use 87 and 89 octane in their bikes and dont have any issues. Sounds like a tuning issue to me on your bike. Do you have an aftermarket tuner or stage one download or something that is programmed to take advantage of 91 octane gas? Octane booster would help if you did however, I would most certainly check the tune first and also get into the habit of filling up each time you stop especially when you know you are going into an area with few gas pumps. Also, look into a reda gas can to keep in your saddle instead of wasting money on octane booster. The cost of one reda can will easily be made back by you not having to keep buying booster at like $10 a bottle.

 

My bike pinged on 93 octane gas so I used a booster that had the same active ingrediant as the HD stuff. It has MMT. I would buy a quart bottle for $10 at autozone and use it with about an ounce per gallon and it worked well. I have since gotten a Power vision and am currently working on getting rid of the ping. I have cut the timing back quite a bit and still ping.

 

Its not going to hurt your bike to run 87/89 in it every now and then. I run 89 in mine and it runs good. Even thought its only a 6 gallon tank 4.50 or more a gallon stings the wallet for only 250 miles of smiles. Big Red is happy with mid grade and I still get my smiles.

 

My TC88 was stage 1 and I never had a problem with lower octane fuels. My new 103 if a different story. Both before and after the stage 1 she will knock when hot and given throttle under a lower RPM load if I get poor fuel. To top it off more and more stations in my area are dropping 91 and 93 and going with pumps that have only two grades, 87 and 89. I was under the impression that MMT leaves a residue in the cylinders so I have not used it. I would love to find a GOOD and SAFE booster that is economical and easy to find.

 

The only stuff I've found that truly works is Torco Accelerator concntrate. I don't recommend using it on a regular basis, it makes a tank of gas very expensive. However, if you dump a couple ounces into a tank you will notice a difference, the stuff works. I transferred some into a (leak proof) 4oz bottle and carry it with me when I'm on the road, just in case. I don't like the idea of carrying a stinky gallon of gas in my bags, with this stuff 4oz = about 12 gallon of gas. Or if you want to race around then dump the whole 4oz into the tank and have some fun.

Your bike pings because it is burning too hot causing the fuel to ignite before the spark. A good tune will go a long way to reduce that.

 

Most of the octane booster is snake oil. Havent tried them all but most don't do much. As for their claims of raising the octane 1-2 points, that's not 87.5 to 89.5 that's 87.5 to 87.7.
If you feel a difference use it, I just never noticed any in my bike.

 

You haven't tried Torco.