Octane

[kenwen]

? MY "05" WR450 CALLS FOR 95 OCTANE FUEL, AND AS ANYONE IN CA. KNOWS THE HIGHEST OCTANE AT THE PUMP IS 91. SOMEONE TOLD ME TO MIX SOME RACING FUEL WITH THE LOW OCTANE FUEL. SO I MIXED HALF 101 OCTANE TRICK RACING FUEL WITH SOME 91 OCTANE. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE OCTANE RATING WILL BE DOING THIS? AM I WASTING MY MONEY ? DOES THIS REALLY HELP THE BIKE TO RUN OR PERFORM BETTER ?

[WheelsUp]

Don't waste your money. The formula used to determine octane is different. CA 91 is as good as (or better than) 95. Back in the 70s they changed how the calculate it. Outside of CA the numbers go even lower.

[Rip Wheeler]

I did the math and you have 96 octane if you've mixed it 50/50. That should do it! I run pump 92 and never had a problem. But the timing and compression as it is, to get the peak performance, its best to use what it calls for. I dont need all the power thing bike has, its go so much, I can give up a little anyway!?

[ovrrdrive]

Do a search on octane and you'll be completely satisfied with the overabundance of responses on this subject.

I don't recall the names of all of it, but suffice to say that there are at least two different methods of determining octane, and the one they use in the manual that says 95 is comparable to the 91 we have at our pumps.

I think it's RON in the manual and ours at the pump is like R + M/2 or something...

Do the search. The info is there.

Bottom line, pump premium gas will be fine until you up your compression.

I found this explanation...

Your bike requires a minimum research octane number (RON) of

95 octane. The fuel you buy at the gas station uses the R+M/2 octane method. 91 octane pump gas has a RON value of

96.8 which exceeds the octane requirements of your bike.