Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

On the ZX6 I can't notice any difference with 98 vs 95 but then again I mostly fill up with 98. On my RS250 I tried 91, 95 and 98 I couldn't notice any difference either... but I was told 2 strokes don't make any abnormal noises when they detonate/ping, I can confirm that!

Ages ago I was always using 91 in my GPX250 swapped to 95 and there was a notice difference straight away. Revved smoother and pinged less...

Besides aren't there too many variables to factor in?

There's something about fuel on Wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

zx-10r wrote:

Soundwave wrote:I always run premium 95 octane petrol, usually BP but sometimes i use Shell as well. I heard that 98 oct. is supposed to be tailored towards cars than bikes and would have an adverse effect on the bikes motor.

its hard to know what is fact and what is fiction and may depend entirely on make or not, a study like that would take a long time.
Bike says minimum 95, but yeah, definately a big difference between the two (vortex 95 and vortex 98)



In regard to consumption, its again hard to tell what is true, but in theory (yes theory haha ) if you o have a higher octane petrol, you are going to get more enegry from 1 litre than 1 litre of lower octane, so theortically you should use less litres to get you from A to B. Doing a test on your odo would probably be fairly inaccurate due to acceleration,wind, road surface etc those things being pretty hard to keep the same.

strika, you should try the high octane stuff, it will make a difference you can feel

Cough...cough....bullshit! Here's the deal, your engine, bike or car, will develop more power and use less fuel, on the octane which it is "Tuned" closest for! Mine is obviously tuned for something in the middle and it doesn't make a scrap of difference what fuel I run, my arse dyno can't tell the difference!

Strika wrote:

zx-10r wrote:

Soundwave wrote:I always run premium 95 octane petrol, usually BP but sometimes i use Shell as well. I heard that 98 oct. is supposed to be tailored towards cars than bikes and would have an adverse effect on the bikes motor.

its hard to know what is fact and what is fiction and may depend entirely on make or not, a study like that would take a long time.
Bike says minimum 95, but yeah, definately a big difference between the two (vortex 95 and vortex 98)



In regard to consumption, its again hard to tell what is true, but in theory (yes theory haha ) if you o have a higher octane petrol, you are going to get more enegry from 1 litre than 1 litre of lower octane, so theortically you should use less litres to get you from A to B. Doing a test on your odo would probably be fairly inaccurate due to acceleration,wind, road surface etc those things being pretty hard to keep the same.

strika, you should try the high octane stuff, it will make a difference you can feel

Cough...cough....bullshit! Here's the deal, your engine, bike or car, will develop more power and use less fuel, on the octane which it is "Tuned" closest for! Mine is obviously tuned for something in the middle and it doesn't make a scrap of difference what fuel I run, my arse dyno can't tell the difference!

If your arse dyno is bigger is it more accurate ? Your ass dyno has shrunk considerably lately - perhaps its not as accurate as it used to be .

And what altitude was it tuned for 91 octane @

Phil wrote:
Cough...cough....bullshit! Here's the deal, your engine, bike or car, will develop more power and use less fuel, on the octane which it is "Tuned" closest for! Mine is obviously tuned for something in the middle and it doesn't make a scrap of difference what fuel I run, my arse dyno can't tell the difference!

If your arse dyno is bigger is it more accurate ? Your ass dyno has shrunk considerably lately - perhaps its not as accurate as it used to be .

And what altitude was it tuned for 91 octane @ [/quote]

Nah mate...been eating like ten men since you saw me last and my arse now resembles a small inner suburb! So it's now tuned perfectly to recieve accurate torque and power figures. It doesn't even need to be adjust for altitude. However, the fuel used can alter the emissions greatly! Also, if you get up it...so to speak...consumption goes through the roof!

As an aside....the EPA have slapped a ban on Gos using his arse Dyno as it caused over a 30% increase in Australia's carbon footprint!!!

The only way i EVER could tell a difference was aside from slightly smoother transitions i got 2 km/l more with 95 than with 91, there was a fleas dick difference in economy between 95 and 98, something like less than 500m/litre difference.

i accidently used normal petrol (not the premium stuff) in my bmw car and i noticed a huuuuge difference!!!

The age of the fuel is also relevant. If the fuel is not fresh it loses its octane rating and starts to go off.
Some servos that sell heaps of 91 but only a small percentage of 95 may find the 95 rating drop to be almost the same as the 91.

ZXR750 wrote:The age of the fuel is also relevant. If the fuel is not fresh it loses its octane rating and starts to go off.
Some servos that sell heaps of 91 but only a small percentage of 95 may find the 95 rating drop to be almost the same as the 91.

i agree, i try to avoid small servos on the backstreets for exactly that reason

I run the Eco friendly 95 from the local servo, I have noticed a 0% power increase/decrease.

I think the only way that 98 octane is going to help you go faster is by making your wallet lighter.

Having said that, perhaps if you have a programmable ECU you might be able to get better performance out of a higher octane fuel...

Stereo wrote:I run the Eco friendly 95 from the local servo, I have noticed a 0% power increase/decrease.

I think the only way that 98 octane is going to help you go faster is by making your wallet lighter.

Having said that, perhaps if you have a programmable ECU you might be able to get better performance out of a higher octane fuel...

i dunno, i filled up with 98 again and it felt better. Accelerates a little faster down low and feels like it has a little morre power at 3000rmp~

Overall the feeling is it is running better

Strika wrote:I always run mine on that really good stuff...91! It don't fucking matter what fuel I run...I'm still slow!

in what parrallel universe are u slow???!!!

i call BS

zx-10r wrote:

Stereo wrote:I run the Eco friendly 95 from the local servo, I have noticed a 0% power increase/decrease.

I think the only way that 98 octane is going to help you go faster is by making your wallet lighter.

Having said that, perhaps if you have a programmable ECU you might be able to get better performance out of a higher octane fuel...

i dunno, i filled up with 98 again and it felt better. Accelerates a little faster down low and feels like it has a little morre power at 3000rmp~

Overall the feeling is it is running better

I am running the bike standard other than a yoshi exhaust, still have the catalytic converter and the the yoshi can is not "open" as in it is still very quiet. Perhaps to get the advantage of a higher octane fuel you need better airflow, which if your bike is "loud" probably has....

Hey Just out of curiosity has anyone tried "E10" 95 octane fuel in their bike for an extended period of time ? has it cause you any problems at all ?eg (fuel lines or engine)
I know that Kawasaki Australia do not endorse the fuel , However in the USA nearly all petrol pumps are eco friendly and Kawasaki America have stated that it works fine with no adverse effects.... What gives on this ??? I think that in any case the 95 would be much better than the 91, one thing to note is that our bike engines run higher compressions than car engines so the octane theoredically should play a part in performance. eg higher comp the higher the octane needed.

zx-10r wrote:

Stereo wrote:I run the Eco friendly 95 from the local servo, I have noticed a 0% power increase/decrease.

I think the only way that 98 octane is going to help you go faster is by making your wallet lighter.

Having said that, perhaps if you have a programmable ECU you might be able to get better performance out of a higher octane fuel...

i dunno, i filled up with 98 again and it felt better. Accelerates a little faster down low and feels like it has a little morre power at 3000rmp~

Overall the feeling is it is running better

For this to be a valid comparison we need to know when your Bum Dyno was last calibrated....











........and have you ever heard of the placebo effect?

tuffer wrote:Hey Just out of curiosity has anyone tried "E10" 95 octane fuel in their bike for an extended period of time ? has it cause you any problems at all ?eg (fuel lines or engine)
I know that Kawasaki Australia do not endorse the fuel , However in the USA nearly all petrol pumps are eco friendly and Kawasaki America have stated that it works fine with no adverse effects.... What gives on this ??? I think that in any case the 95 would be much better than the 91, one thing to note is that our bike engines run higher compressions than car engines so the octane theoredically should play a part in performance. eg higher comp the higher the octane needed.

Yes, I use PLUS ULP from United every single time and have been for at least 2 years... I have noticed no adverse effects and in fact the engine seems to run a bit quieter than if I use 98.