Fuel Octane

Anything to do with the 1200 'strada' series
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Bondo
Posts: 16
Joined: 20 Feb 2010 23:08

Fuel Octane

Post by Bondo »

I've been running 91 Octane in my 91/2 with no issues, the book says use 95, other fuel octane available here is 96.

Has anyone noticed any differences when using the different octanes?

Thanks,
Bondo
morini_tom
Posts: 919
Joined: 05 May 2006 13:47
Location: Northampton

Re: Fuel Octane

Post by morini_tom »

First question- where in the world are you? In Europe octane number us quoted in RON. This is what Morini will have specified when they quoted 95. In the US the quoted octane number is normally lower- this isn't because the fuel has a lower knock resistance but because the octane number is quoted as RON+MON/2 which is normally a few points lower than RON.

If your 91 is RON+MON/2 then its probably not far off the 95 RON Morini specify.

If your 91 is RON then I would use 96. Using a fuel with too low an octane rating could result in knocking which will damage your engine. I haven't noticed any knock sensors or Ionization controllers on the 1200s so assume that it doesn't have active knock control (which will retard the ignition timing when knock is detected)

If you're not sure I'd use 96 over 91 unless the extra cost is prohibitive- a few pence per tankful is much less than new pistons. Too high an octane rating won't do any harm (contrary to popular belief it probably won't give you any benefits either unless the knock control is able to advance the spark)

If you've got 91 in it now then listen out for knock (crackling or ringing noise) it's most likely to happen when the engine and air temp are stinking hot and you have a high load on.
Bondo
Posts: 16
Joined: 20 Feb 2010 23:08

Re: Fuel Octane

Post by Bondo »

Tom,
Thanks for your reply. I'm in New Zealand, the fuels here are RON 91 and RON 95. When I bought the bike, I was told to "just use regular" which is 91. I'm still running it in, so have not put it under much of a load yet. It runs well, no issues so far, but on reading the Manual they suggest 95.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Veloces/Corsaros run higher compressions than the 91/2 so it may be more applicable to them. What happened is, I refueled with 95 by mistake, so I'd thought to ask here if anyone had had any issues, but in light of what you are saying, it should run better.

Will report back if there's any noticable difference
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