Hey just a question about the type of gas everyone uses. Maybe I am being crazy but i swear using Chevron gas over any other types makes my bike sound like its doing great. I put shell gas in today cuz i was running on empty and then when i accelerated it seems the bike was almost fighting making a higher pitched sound when pulling the throttle. I use 91 octane cuz that is what my local dealer recommended.

Anybody have any experiences with types of gasoline from different companies?

they should all be the same, if they are a top tier gas company.

87 octane is all you need. save your money. our manuals recommend 87.

Yea true
Im going to switch back most likely. I just kinda want to empty my tank right now ha. i just have to wait until i hit empty again.

thanks tho

Well I only use shell 87, cause I've actually noticed my pre gen running better compared to some other gases - though it had dirty carbs when I first got it.

But IIRC, I read somewhere that using higher octane gases might be bad? Something about the bike not being able to burn it all off? Any sciencey engineers?

Not a scientificey engineer, but the higher the octane the more resistance to compression detonation. It also runs a little hotter or something like that. It is all based on what compression your engine runs at. The Ninja 250's/ZZR250's/EX250's and GPX250's all run a low enough compression to run perfect on 87 octane. It is recommended so use it. Buying higher octane fuel won't help you at all in any way. On a high compression engine, you need to resist pre-detonations which can happen as the piston compresses the fuel but the spark has not ignited already. This is called 'pinging' and isn't so great for these high performance engines. Thats my understanding. It could be wrong, I'm an electrical guy...

I remember the old days, you would see Shell, Texaco (ect) tanker trucks running around. I dont even see names on the side of these truck now days, who knows where that crap is coming from :rolleyes:

Suncor, and Imperial Oil are two of the largest in North America at this time. I know 80% of the oil / petroleum based products from Canada here get shipped down to the states for refining and use.

This is a nice read:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasoline/index.html

Didnt they pass some crap so they could import gasoline from south of the border????

This is a nice read:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasoline/index.html

Didnt they pass some crap so they could import gasoline from south of the border????


Are you referring to Dos Equis and Corona? Oops, I'm sorry, they're not gasoline. :eek:

it is my belief that oil is oil...doesn't matter where it comes from. What matters is the additives that the different companies add. Since 1995 it has ben law for the gas companies to add additives to their gas to keep build up from occuring. Now we have all seen the commercials recently about who adds what and what it does. I'm sure that some companies use better additives than others but who knows which really is better. I think someone needs to do a real legit test on this.
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My pregen runs great on 87 octane. I've been wondering about it though, because all the newer bikes (including the 09 250s) at my local kawi dealership have little stickers saying "use only 90+ octane to avoid serious damage to engine". I've been wondering if that's true or if it's just a deal between kawi and the oil companies to make you spend more. Thanks for clearing that up for me guys!

new gens run 87, also.

what stickers does that dealer have that says otherwise?

I think we're talking about this in two threads! My bad. Which should we continue this in?

octane should be in the other thread which is why I started it. see you there. ;)

QT 87 Octane

10 years ago or so on the west coast, I used to notice differences in brands... Arco would make my car feel more powerful and responsive, but I'd lose a few mpg. Exxon/Mobil was the opposite - the car would feel sluggish but would get superb mileage.
Shell/Texaco/Chevron were somewhere in between, though I'd say Chevron gave me the the best blend of feel and mpg.

Responsiveness was obviously subjective (since I have no dyno), but the mileage differences were pretty apparent... This is on a '97 Acura CL back when it was new.

Now on the east coast, though, it seems like gas is gas. I see no difference in mileage and zero difference in responsiveness. I've got a Jeep and the 250, and they're both at 18 and 65 mpg, respectively... and feel like they should.

I dunno, I think everything's pretty well homogenized anymore, I would doubt there's much difference from one brand to another, though I have heard that you should switch brands (and therefore additives) every now and then. In going to the station that's cheapest on that day you're probably switching fairly often now anyway.

Ok, something I heard from a buddy who cleans gas station underground tanks part time.
"I would put gas anywhere cheaper except older independently owned gas stations. Reason? Corporate owned gas stations have a schedule to clean their underground tanks periodically, where as independently owned gas stations clean theirs whenever."

Really quick question about Chevron: Does their little additive "Techron" actually do anything or is it a marketing scheme? If it does do something, what?

Techron is a cleaner. They also sell it as a separate additive, as well, in a bottle. The car forum I used to frequent swore by that stuff (in the bottle) to keep the engine from sooting up and to help clean it out when it did carbon up. Hi performance, air cooled engines don't like to be driven slowly. :p

Techron and an Italian tune up. :thumbup:

how this applies to the Ninja and how Techron compares to other additives added into other companies gases, I have no idea.

Thanks! :thumbup:

Techron rocks. It is updated almost every year as new engines become more prominent and as chemical advances are made. There used to be different grades of it, some for what was put into all grades of Chevron gas, and the separate bottle Techron, but a few years ago that changed and now it is all the same chemistry. But, the proportions of techron are much, much higher in the separate additive. A tank treated with the recommended amounts from the bottle has at least 10 times higher concentration of Techron than that which is already included in Chevron gas at the pump. Ann works down the hall from the folks that design the stuff, if anyone has more specific questions about what's in it, what it does, and why Chevron truly believes it is superior to other company's formulations, just let me know (or PM her) and she may be able to get you some answers.

My father works for Shell Chemical Plant, and he told me to use their 91 stuff, since most other places don't care what else is in the gas when they get it. Shell does, they make sure none of that crappy stuff gets into the gas. I've used Shell my whole life and when i just happen to use another place, i feel that my car/bike doesn't perform as well as they should.

My pregen runs great on 87 octane. I've been wondering about it though, because all the newer bikes (including the 09 250s) at my local kawi dealership have little stickers saying "use only 90+ octane to avoid serious damage to engine". I've been wondering if that's true or if it's just a deal between kawi and the oil companies to make you spend more. Thanks for clearing that up for me guys!

You are ABSOLUTELY correct (even though you didn't read things quite correctly)! You should only use 91 RON (Research Octane Number)... BUT, here's the kicker: Like damn near any measurement in the U.S.A., around the world people use something else :p . Because of that the Kawi's cater to the rest of the world in that everything is metric and the octane is listed how it's listed through out Europe, in RON. In the U.S.A. though the octane rating system we use is the average of RON and another rating called MON. (Look on a gas pump and it'll say (R+M)/2 as the measurement of the octane rating.

Long story short? 91 RON is equivalent to 87 octane in the U.S.A.

Here in Maine, Exxon has recently left the state and is being replaced by Shell. Prior to this, I have been using Irving (Canada). Shell is not an E-10 gasoline--at least not here. I have noticed a marked improvement in milage and performance since switching to 87 Octane Shell. Switching to Shell Rotella-T 5W40 Synthetic Motor Oil helped as well.

Octane Facts and Myths
http://www.state.mn.us/mn/externalDocs/Commerce/Gasoline_Octane_Facts_102902052227_OctaneFacts.pdf

A fun link on the subject of which stations have better gas:
http://www.punny.org/money/is-one-gasoline-brand-better-than-another/

I can't think of a chevron or a texaco near me!