Octane, Money and You??? What do you run in your 250 and why?

[headshrink]

I use bio-fuel when I haven't shaved and feel unkempt, and kerosene when I want to fly.

[silentIm]

If I have money.. RON 91.. If not.. a little RON 95 mixed woth RON 88(subsidized fuel), + abit of crack..

[Heffdan]

Originally Posted by ninja250r81

you do know 100 at united stations its e85 with 98

98 with 10% ethanol?

[Panda]

I used to run 91 until I figured out 91RON != 91 octane in the states. Now I run 87.

[maxamilus]

2009 250. The owner's manual says to use a minimum of 87 octane. I think the label under the passenger seat says 91. What do you use?

[xSean13]

87, non-ethanol since it's only like 10cents more right down the road (7 cents with my 3c off card)

[alex.s]

there is no benefit using a higher octane fuel if you dont need it (there in fact are very small reasons you dont want to use higher octane gas if you dont have to)

use regular 87.

[maxamilus]

Ah, it was a misunderstanding on my part. Apparently the seat says 91 RON, which is 87 octane.

[cuz]

Originally Posted by maxamilus

Ah, it was a misunderstanding on my part. Apparently the seat says 91 RON, which is 87 octane.

Happens to the best of us

[edxmon]

in CA gas is hovering $4+ a gallon, im cheap so I use 87, glad it's what im supposed to use :P

[csmith12]

word!

[edxmon]

Originally Posted by csmith12

word!

postwhoring in isle 2!

[broilmebk]

There's a whole thread about this issue.

[Aggrotech]

ive got almost 400miles on my 250 and ive only used 87. Havent had a single problem so far.

[Alex]

/threads merged

[Jiggles]

Ever heard of this? When I picked up the ninja 1k the dealer told me it takes 90+ octane but if I wasn't going to ride it that hard I could get away with 87 or 89 As if after just paying 12k for a new bike I'd be turned off by the fact that its going to cost an entire $0.80 more to fill the tank.

I'm happy to put in 91 but has anyone else ever heard of such a thing? "Well I won't be going over 100mph on this tank so I guess I'll just stick to 87 this time around"

[Alex]

@Jiggles - according to this service spec on kawasaki's site, the Ninja 1000 has the same octane requirements as the Ninja 250R. 91 Research, or 87 Average. Unless they changed something for 2012, you're fine filling it up with 87 every day of the year.

EDIT: Here's the 2012 link, nothing has changed.

[loz944]

I run mine on Gasahol 91 mostly as thats what is recommended here which is 10% ethanol.
It runs fine but at some gas stations I can on get regular 91 .

the only difference is when I run gasahole it runs a little hotter

[Joshorilla]

The FI European Ninja I've got recomends 95 RON which is the lowest you can get here, thus cheaper, which works out fine when petrol is the equivilant of $7.2 a gallon, 98 RON being the premium at $8+ a gallon eqv !!

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Alex

@Jiggles - according to this service spec on kawasaki's site, the Ninja 1000 has the same octane requirements as the Ninja 250R. 91 Research, or 87 Average. Unless they changed something for 2012, you're fine filling it up with 87 every day of the year.

EDIT: Here's the 2012 link, nothing has changed.

Your links are broken but I'll take your word for it I just peeled the sticker off today and I remember it saying 90+ RON, can't remember if we are RON or PON but I'm guessing we are PON right? whose equivalent would be 86?

I also just found a guy who did a dyno on his ninja 1k with 93 octane no ethanol vs 87 octane 10% ethanol and the results were impressive

93 octane: 112.62 hp and torque was 67.16

87 octane: 117.53 hp & 71.20 torque

It's less than a 5% difference but I wonder if results are similar on the 250?

Anyway back to 87 on the N1K for me, thanks Alex

[ForceofWill]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Your links are broken but I'll take your word for it I just peeled the sticker off today and I remember it saying 90+ RON, can't remember if we are RON or PON but I'm guessing we are PON right? whose equivalent would be 86?

I also just found a guy who did a dyno on his ninja 1k with 93 octane no ethanol vs 87 octane 10% ethanol and the results were impressive

93 octane: 112.62 hp and torque was 67.16

87 octane: 117.53 hp & 71.20 torque

It's less than a 5% difference but I wonder if results are similar on the 250?

Anyway back to 87 on the N1K for me, thanks Alex

^^ For some reason people don't understand octane. 93 is harder to burn, if you don't need it due to compression/boost etc don't use it. Using the lowest octane you can get away with is what you should be doing. Which in the 250 would be 87. Even with my full exhaust, pod K&N, bigger jets, I use 87.

[skucera]

The guy who sold me my bike said he only put in "clear Premium" from his local airport, with no ethanol. The owner's manual for my '92 says not to use gasoline with ethanol in it "frequently," but says that if you use gasoline with methanol in it that you must use an anti-corrosive additive. It seems like that sort of anti-corrosive additive might not be a bad thing since 95% of the gas in Oregon is "gasohol" these days. I'm thinking I'll have to look into that more.

The only gas station around selling clear gasoline requires a commercial account. I see lots of folks here running gasohol without apparent difficulty, but my Ninja is older than almost all of those (despite its low miles) so I'm wondering if it would be worth the trouble to set up a commercial account just so I can run clear gas.?..

Scott

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by skucera

The guy who sold me my bike said he only put in "clear Premium" from his local airport, with no ethanol. The owner's manual for my '92 says not to use gasoline with ethanol in it "frequently," but says that if you use gasoline with methanol in it that you must use an anti-corrosive additive. It seems like that sort of anti-corrosive additive might not be a bad thing since 95% of the gas in Oregon is "gasohol" these days. I'm thinking I'll have to look into that more.

The only gas station around selling clear gasoline requires a commercial account. I see lots of folks here running gasohol without apparent difficulty, but my Ninja is older than almost all of those (despite its low miles) so I'm wondering if it would be worth the trouble to set up a commercial account just so I can run clear gas.?..

Scott

you're fine. My 99 puts around just fine on 87. She's got 17,500+ miles on the stuff and she runs better than ever

[2smkelvr]

FYI in Taiwan its sold in 92, 95, 98 I run 95 in my nsr 150
along with repsol fully synthetic 2 stroke oil

I suppose the very small amount of ninja 250 riders here in Taiwan must choose 92 or higher

also the ninja 250 only appeared in Taiwan with the 2008 and up model

its sold by the liter 92 is about 1usd a liter 95 maybe 1.15 and 98 maybe 1.25

[n4mwd]

I was at the Kawi dealer a few days ago and all the supersports now require 90+ octane. The sport bikes 250 and 650 still run on regular 87 octane.

Most car gas these days has 5-10% ethanol which is bad for the bike. In addition to cutting the mileage, it helps ruin the rubber parts in the petcock and carburetor. Certain dealers have ethanol free gas, but its a lot more expensive.

[subxero]

just picked up my 2012 ninja250 and i asked the dealer and he said 90 and up.

I said huh, i was reading that the 90+ isn't necessarily good for the ninja 250. We looked at sticker under passenger seat and it says 87 min

well what the hell does that mean?

Can it run on 87 perfect, or will it run on 89 and up better?, It can't possibly be good to run any one of them, either the 87 and 89 is not good for it, or the 92 and 93 + is not good for it. so which is it?

I have a subaru WRX that runs strictly on 93 cuz it is tuned, and a Civic Si that can run on 90 +, i put 93 in it and it runs great, but under no circumstances will i ever put 87 in either of these cars, nor would i put 93 in a normal car, why can't kawasaki just narrow the gap and give a definitive answer on a stock engine? 87 min?, i don't think i can even find less than that around where i live. Does this mean i can put premium race fuel in it? it says 87 min so technically i would be following instructions

end rant


Oh yeah, one more thing, the dealer mentioned putting a fuel additive in my fuel all the time, can't remember exactly what he recommended at this point but do any of you add something to every tank? or just before storage ect...

Thanks in advance

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by subxero

just picked up my 2012 ninja250 and i asked the dealer and he said 90 and up.

I said huh, i was reading that the 90+ isn't necessarily good for the ninja 250. We looked at sticker under passenger seat and it says 87 min

well what the hell does that mean?

It means your dealer is confused. All Ninja sport bikes (Ninja 250, Ninja 650, Ninja 1000) run on 87 octane. The supersports (ZX-something) do require 90+. That means in those bikes you need to run high test or alcohol free gas which is 90.

But in your ninjette, just use regular 87. If you use premium in your ninjette, you are simply paying more money for LESS horsepower.

Alcohol free gas will give you more HP and more MPG, but its not required for the ninjette and is, at least around here, cost prohibitive. The MPG gains don't make up for the extra cost.

[Jiggles]

If I had alcohol free gas available I'd buy that no matter the octane.

[Miles_Prower]

Id buy it..if I owned a Lamborghini..
But on a $5k bike, I could care less lol.

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

If I had alcohol free gas available I'd buy that no matter the octane.

They have it in these cities, but I guess you are too far away....
Corning, Eureka, Fortuna, Garberville, Redding

Originally Posted by Miles_Prower

Id buy it..if I owned a Lamborghini..
But on a $5k bike, I could care less lol.

Alcohol is bad for your liver and rubber parts. It can dislodge laquer and clog your carbs. If 0.08% is too much for the rider, then it ought to be too much for the bike.

[DaveTheCanuck]

In Canada, Shell V-Power (91 octane) is one of the few fuels that is 100% ethanol free, so that's one reason to fill up with 91 here.

[Alex]

Bump for an octane refresher.

[corralhollowkid]

Hello last time I was at the pump I was about completely out of fuel, and broke (as usual) so I dropped $2 worth of fuel in and accidentally hit the 87 button. Almost immediately I noticed my ninjette didn't seem quite as peppy as before.

Today I fueled up with 91 and ... Is it my imagination, or is there a definite difference when you put 91 vs 87 in the tank?

I apologize if that has been hashed out here before

CHK
Posted via Mobile Device

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by corralhollowkid

Hello last time I was at the pump I was about completely out of fuel, and broke (as usual) so I dropped $2 worth of fuel in and accidentally hit the 87 button. Almost immediately I noticed my ninjette didn't seem quite as peppy as before.

Today I fueled up with 91 and ... Is it my imagination, or is there a definite difference when you put 91 vs 87 in the tank?

I apologize if that has been hashed out here before

CHK
Posted via Mobile Device

Wait, people put 91 in the tank on the ninjette? Why....?

[dfox]

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15904

bottom line, your engine will perform best on the octane it was tuned for. For us, that's 87. Running higher octane may result in incomplete combustion. That'll result in increased emissions, decreased fuel economy, and decreased performance.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by corralhollowkid

... Is it my imagination, or is there a definite difference when you put 91 vs 87 in the tank?

There is a slight difference.
Read these.
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showp...2&postcount=20
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showp...2&postcount=88

[BlueRaven]

I was told by my mechanic that is no problem to use 87 if you ride your bike on a regular basis but to put 91 if the bike is gonna be sitting for extended length of time. Makes sense cause 87 has ethanol or corn crap as i call it at the majority of the gas stations in Canada. I only use 91 in all of my vehicles.

[Dano]

i always use 87 why pay more for gas than you need to????

[Driddle]

When I bought my bike (not too long ago) the guy was running 91 (n00b). I have only filled it up twice, but I've used 91 since cause I havent run dry.
Is there a way I can switch it to 87? I figured I cant just mix the two fuels.
Do i have to drain the carbs and what not?

[BlueRaven]

No need to drain fuel there just more octane in one. Oil is different.