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I am planning a trip this July to Nova Scotia. We are going with another couple that has been there and done that. He said that he experienced limited availablity of 91 and higher octane gas the last time he was up there. I know that we can get away with using what ever is available in a pinch, but my question is this:
Is there an octane booster available that we can carry with us for just such a situation?
Nova Scotia is no different then other states/provinces as far
as availablity of higher octane fuel. In the remote areas
you are likely to have a hard time finding it.
87 rating of fuel won't hurt your bike for the short term.
You could get an octane booster, but why bother. Your HD will run fine.
you could try toluene. i've used it in a chiped car that required higher octane than i could find when tracking in portland. a 10% toluene mix will raise your octane by about 2 points. toluene is already present in gas and wont harm anything as long as you stay below 30% from what i've read. you do not want to spill it on your tank tho.... pills and drops are snake oil, don't waste your money. don't know for sure in nova scotia but anywhere else i've been in canada 94 octane is easy to find.
my motor is a mild build with 9.8 comp and i've been stuck on trips when i could only get 87 octane. like someone said just don't wack the throttle open, be aware of pinging and add some higher octane fuel as soon as you find it and you shouldn't have any problem.
I was in Redwoods National Forest in Northern Calif. last summer and the town there only had regular gas. I used a whole tank of it and couldn't tell the difference. Riding two up with luggage. It was cool there, probably like Nova Scotia, and that probably helped. In Central America or Arizona in August it might be a different matter.
I had to deal with only being able 87-89 octane gas on my trip to San diego last year throughout the Texas panhandle, New Mexico and Arizona. Stopped at the dealer in Amarillo and purchased Rocket Fuel booster. Great stuff, raised the octane enough to eliminate the pinging and regained power. It comes in 1 oz. clear tubes for about 1.00 each. Almost every dealer I've been to sells it at the parts counter.
Here is their link: http://www.cal-products.com/rocketfuel.html
I forget the formula right now but those octane boosters will not bring up the octane like you think. if you read on the bottle where they will bring it up 5 points that is not from 87 to 92 it is from 87 to 87.5 they are not worth the money they do nothing. I am running a high comp motore cams no head work done, I do not always run high test and only under extreme heat do i every hear pinging and that was in the parade into port dover last july. I wasn't sure what one was worse my bike or the OL's sporty next to me.
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