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I usually use whatever the manual suggests. On the Ninja 250 that's "regular"... if a stock engine needs something other than the recommended, it needs a tune-up more.

As for what... whatever is cheapest... $3.27 was the best I could find last fill-up... who knows what brand....

And Ryan... make sure the fuel valve is "on" (when I picked mine up, it was set to reserve) and practice switching it now (before you need to)... the first time it ran out for me I was doing 80 on the interstate.

I have to use 91 octane and really prefer either Chevron or Mobil.

I use what the owners manual calls for.

on my CX500 its 91 octane

my wifes buell blast runs just fine on 87 octane

I've been using 91octane my self. Concidering that is the highest level offerd here in South West Texas. What's premium for the rest of you?

3.92 for premium here. (Socal)

93 in the XR200R. Seems to run a bit better than 87. Next time i get gas for it, I'll prolly get 89 just to see what it's like. Not that i run it a lot anymore, thinking of selling it...

Higher octane ratings from the same gas station don't have different additive packages. Running Shell 87 octane versus their 91 or 92 octane doesn't make your fuel system run any cleaner or dirtier. It actually hurts your bike's motor to run a higher octane rating of gas than what the owner's manual states*. The manufacturer knows best!

* - carbon building in the combustion chambers is just one of the side-effects, but it can be reduced or solved by giving the motor a good ol' Italian tuneup.

what is an "italian tuneup"? is that just running the hell out of it?

premium here is 91 octane and is selling for 2.79 a gallon. Paid 3.42 a gallon earlier today down in colorado for premium

The oil companies do their customers a serious dis-service by using labels such as "Premium" and "Hi-Grade" for their higher octane gasolines.

As everyone here knows (or should know), there's nothing "premium" about higher octane. It is required for some engines with higher compression ratios, but is in no way better than lower octane gas for engines that don't require it. In fact, lower octane gasolines have a higher specific energy content than higher octanes do. Using anything other than the lowest octane that doesn't cause pinging is a waste of money and may even perform worse.

Many uninformed customers, seeing something labeled "premium", think it must be better than the lower octane equivalents, and end up paying more than they have to. Of course, the oil companies love this and aren't likely to change their labeling practices any time soon.

XM23 wrote:The oil companies do their customers a serious dis-service by using labels such as "Premium" and "Hi-Grade" for their higher octane gasolines.

As everyone here knows (or should know), there's nothing "premium" about higher octane. It is required for some engines with higher compression ratios, but is in no way better than lower octane gas for engines that don't require it. In fact, lower octane gasolines have a higher specific energy content than higher octanes do. Using anything other than the lowest octane that doesn't cause pinging is a waste of money and may even perform worse.

Many uninformed customers, seeing something labeled "premium", think it must be better than the lower octane equivalents, and end up paying more than they have to. Of course, the oil companies love this and aren't likely to change their labeling practices any time soon.

Basically yeah. And the reason higher compression ratio cars need it is because the low grade (ie 87) has a lower flash point when atomized by the fuel injectors. Because compression makes heat and the 87 takes less heat to ignite. Not the WHOLE reason, but part of it.