93 or 87, What does your Fiz drink?

[Red Wazp]

Elevation does not make any difference other than better gas milage. I live at 3,000' and ride above 6,000 feet a lot. Fuel injection is sweet.
Even my FJR (145 hp) runs just fine on regular -thank you Yamaha ! When spending all day at or above 6,000' in Colorado my milage went from 43 to over 50mpg without the loss of power as a bike with carbs would do.
In Utah their regular is 85 octane and the FJR does not like it. Put in a tank full by mistake, the bike ran like crap at idle untill I topped off with 91.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Elevation does not make any difference other than better gas milage. I live at 3,000' and ride above 6,000 feet a lot. Fuel injection is sweet.
Even my FJR (145 hp) runs just fine on regular -thank you Yamaha ! When spending all day at or above 6,000' in Colorado my milage went from 43 to over 50mpg without the loss of power as a bike with carbs would do.
In Utah their regular is 85 octane and the FJR does not like it. Put in a tank full by mistake, the bike ran like crap at idle untill I topped off with 91.

Someone here had stats and reasons for MPG differences at different elevations.... I'm not typing the right keywords or something in search... hmmmm.....

Thanks for the info though!

 

[chunkygoat]

I'm going to sound like a fool, but I do not know the parts of the bike terribly well. What are carbs? and what does the fz6 have instead of carbs?

 

[Denver_FZ6]

Perhaps at higher elevations? Don't know...

No, actually the octane requirement drops as elevation increases.

 

[FZ1inNH]

I'm going to sound like a fool, but I do not know the parts of the bike terribly well. What are carbs? and what does the fz6 have instead of carbs?

The FZ6 has four throttle body fuel injectors. They are sort of like a carb in ways but instead of a fuel bowl with a float, a computer controls a nozzle that sprays the proper amount of fuel into the air being pulled into the cylinder to create the proper air-fuel mixture for combustion.

 

[mglowe]

...so you are losing maybe, 20-30 cents per tank.

True, but 20+ cents additional per fill is alot over time when added up. I would rather use that [added] cost for other things.

My particular bike runs OK with the 86 rating and though much better, to me there is no noticeable difference between 89 and 91. Do your own test and find out what your bike likes to "drink".

 

[wolfc70]

Someone here had stats and reasons for MPG differences at different elevations.... I'm not typing the right keywords or something in search... hmmmm.....

Thanks for the info though!

Usually as you go up in elevation, the air becomes thinner, the resulting air fuel ratio gets richer at elevation. In engines with lambda sensors the computer leans it out to reach a stoichiometric (14.7:1) ratio. So power may be reduced, but there is less (dense) air going into the engine, and less fuel, so MPG goes up. Actually all engines will run rich at elevation (and lean at sea level), fuel injection just recalibrates the A/F, with carburetors you have to manually change jet sizes.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Being a sea level FZ6, I don't have much opportunity to ride at higher elevations. I'm simply ignorant to information like that. Thanks for helping me become informed! :thumbup:

The highest my bike has been is 6k feet while on Mt. Washington this past summer. Daily, I'm WELL below 1k all the time.

 

[Scorphonic]

This thread is similir to the other threat i posted in this forum, but I felt this issue did not get resolved fully.

A handful of people tell me the FZ6 is designed to run on 87 octane fuel - and that to uitilize the full potential of higher octane fuels such as 93+, that you would need a fuel injector specifically designed with more compression.

Now the rest of the world tells me to put 93 octane in my fiz. I am told by multiple guys at the dealer, all of my buddies who race cars religiously, as well as by others on this site.

Supposedly higher octane fuels such as 93 and higher have a better storage quality, and reduce gunk build up (due to less additives in the fuel) ultimately resulting in a healthier, long lasting engine life.

I want to resolve this and assure myself I'm using the highest quality fuel to feed my baby. Does anybody have a link to a PFD of the 08 fz6 service manual and OWNERS manual? This could help as I cannot find mine - DOUGH.

Mine runs on 95 most times and 98 when I feel like a bit more of a punch! :rockon:

 

[fz6fighterboy]

Running mine on 98 plus octane booster which lifts it 2 points to 100................supposably

 

[grumpy1luvs2eat]

I try to fuel up at the same station, unless I'm travelling, with the highest octane gas that they sell. 93. However, I'm not sure of that number, the state label on the pump states that the station dispenses at least the stated octane at the pump. So the best that I can say is that I'm buying at least 93 octane. It could be more, but I'm pretty sure that BP would not be putting any extra octanes in the gas is they could get away without doing it! GRUMPY

 

[reiobard]

I always run 87 in the FZ, but i will put some high grade fuel in whenever i decide to put her away for the winter, i just have hopes that it will store better.

 

[slikfz6]

Sorry for bringing this up, but I just noticed that the sticker on the swingarm towards the chain says to use 91 ron min?? Are California bikes diferent? I've been pumping premium, I'm confused as to why some use regular.

 

[wolfc70]

Sorry for bringing this up, but I just noticed that the sticker on the swingarm towards the chain says to use 91 ron min?? Are California bikes diferent? I've been pumping premium, I'm confused as to why some use regular.

RON = Research Octane Number is tested in variable compression engines on a test bench, and is the standard octane rating in Europe.

MON = Motor Octane Number or aviation lean octane rating uses an engine under load, and is better at determining how fuel is under load. This uses a preheated mixture and higher engine speeds than the RON. Usually 8-10 points below RON.

AKI = Anti Knock Index, also known as, pump octane, uses the average of the MON & RON (R+M/2) to get the number. This is the standard for octane ratings in the USA. All pumps will display the (R+M/2) under the octane number on the sticker. AKI numbers are about 4-5 points below the RON number. That is why 87 AKI is fine to use in the FZ6, as it is about the equivalent to a 91 RON rating.

 

[Chris]

Usually fill 95, but also 98 on some occasions. Those are the standard ones in Norway. They also have 93 some places, but I've never tried it.

 

[Wolfman]

98 Everytime possible for me......just cause it's cleaner.

:thumbup:

 

[demilus]

I run 93 usually just because I think it is a higher quality fuel. I don't buy for the octane, I buy for the extra filtration it goes through. I've run it on 87, and haven't noticed any difference. Who knows though, figuring out what is in fuel is like trying to figure out what is going through politician's heads... nobody knows but them.

 

[slikfz6]

Yeah, we got cheesy 91 here in Southern California. Mexico had 93 at one point, but by the time they finish cutting it down with water it's more like 65 octane

 

[Mississippi]

I run 93 because I think it is a better quality fuel and burns cleaner.

 

[krid80]

I run premium. It is only .20 per gallon more, so 80 cents a tank, which considering I have tuned it to the lean side for fuel economy, makes cheap insurance and economy.

Plus, I do agree it lasts longer before spoiling and is cleaner.

I use BP Amoco almost exclusively because they have the cheapest premium around... only .20 higher instead of .30 like all the other stations around.

Our Jetta GLI asks for premium, so that's what she gets.