Fuel Octane for 883

[dmraco]

I just learned that the 883 sportsters do not require 91 octane fuel. I assume this is because of the lower compression in the motor. I have been using 92 thinking it needed it. My question is what is everyone else putting in their 883s??

[txsporty]

The Best I can Get!!! 91+ :D

[bloody_knuckles]

You are what you eat, same thing goes for your engine.

[klown]

I don't think it matters, as long as you put in the minimum required. I'm not quite clear if it will hurt your motor if you put in higher octane.

[el jeffe]

There are threads on this on the old site.

From what I gathered; octane is added to retard the burn of fuel in order to keep the engine from pre-igniting the mixture.
That is, due to high compression the fuel will actually start to burn before the spark.
Pre-ignition = bad news for your engine. You might hear it ping.

Is there any harm in using high octane fuel on lower compression engines???

I have one of the infamous but yet un-resolved knocking 04 XL883 engines. Dealers say it's normal, but I don't agree.

ride on

[willprevale]

Ever since rottenralph called me a cheapo, I use high test. It hasn't hurt anything and it does SEEM to run better.

[Willard]

You get what you pay for . . .

I have always used 93 octane in my '04 XL883.

[JaggedEdge]

Harley spec's call for 87 octane in a 883 and 91 for the 1200.
JE

[Flamin883]

Somewhere, I read that using to high octane for what your engine was designed to run on, could actualy affect preformance, the octain slows the rate of burn so the timing advance may need adjusted. When you do have pre ignition/detonation the higher level can be helpful in eliminting this harmful problem. but I doubt using 91 vs 87 would permanently hurt/damage your engine. the differance in 87-91 thats what is generaly available here is probably to little to make that big of a diff. if you really only needed 87. worst case you waste the .10-.20 gal. fwiw I have always ran the highest octaine level 91 that I could get, pre and postconversion, but on the few occasions when I was on reserve and 87 was all that was avail I added a gal. and headed to the next station to top off with 91, never had any problems, pre or post conversion.

[wolfgang]

I bought a 2002 883R used last year and thought it was pinging on regular (87) gas. I did not check the timing, just switched to high octane, and the rattle went away. I don't know what the previous owner did to the engine, but the bike likes it and the extra cost is miniscule when filling up with 2 gallons of gas or so.

As a side note, I commute daily 20 miles each way, even now (Puget Sound area - not too much snow), and get 45 to 50 mpg. I've managed 63 mpg on a trip I took last summer. I'm real happy.

Also, I'm happy with the power curve on my bike. It's got great power for my commute trips and I've driven all day at 75-80 mph with power to spare for passing.

However, during the late summer I was biking along the Columbia Gorge and tried to see how fast it would go on an empty stretch of road. 90 was all I could get out of, but I was going into a head wind. Haven't tried it again, but when the weather gets better I'll give it a go.

[bloody_knuckles]

Flamin 883 has excellent points, but also the more expensive stuff "usually" has fuel additives that are "supposed" to keep your carb and valves clean. If the big Oil companies aren't "lying" then I would invest in the better gas cause it's a drag cleaning your carb all the time. Lately I've been burning an ethanol mix with a fuel additive at the pump and my carb was very clean on inspection.

Like Willard says, "ya get what ya pay for"

[Shu]

The 883 as it comes from the factory would only require 87 octane. The 1200's are going to require 91 octane. The compression ratio plays a big role in what the engine is going to need for a good burn and not to ping. If your 883 will run on 87 octane, which mine always did prior to conversion, then go ahead and save the green and stop lining the pockets of the petoleum companies:) Seriously, if you run a slower burning (higher octane) fuel in an engine tuned for the lower octane, you are not going to gain any performance and may even lose a negligable amount. The stock 883 has, at most, 9:1 compression and most often comes with the ignition timing set to perform just fine on 87 octane. With the newer 1200's and many 883/1200 conversions with 10:1 or higher compression (and there are alot of other factors that figure actual compression than just the piston dome or dish and head combustion chamber cc's) are going to require 91 or higher octane fuels. Again depending on tuning and cam profile and many other factors, even a 10:1 compression engine (pistons) COULD be tuned to run on 87 octane.

In the end, if it runs good on 87, run that; if not run 89, or 91 or 93 etc.

[bud095]

i run 93 it seems to run better and for 3.75$ a tank full who cares! JUST MY .02$

[ed_in_az]

My '03 883 tax paid bike did ping on 87 octane. 91 worked fine. I guess some 883s like 87 and some don't.

[Shu]

i run 93 it seems to run better and for 3.75$ a tank full who cares! JUST MY .02$

$3.75 and tank full, dang it has been costing me about $6.90 to fill up my tank with premium!

Actually, my point is that a 9:1 compression engine does not need anything more than 87 octane if properly tuned and will perform equally as well on 87 octane as 93 octane.

[Shu]

My '03 883 tax paid bike did ping on 87 octane. 91 worked fine. I guess some 883s like 87 and some don't.

Check your ignition timing and set it at about 18 degrees at idle (1000 rpms) and I think you will be please with vibrations and being able to use 87 octane again.

[XLFREAK]

I run mid-grade Chevron. The Techron should keep the system clean. I would run the top grade Chevron but I am afraid of the freshness. At over 2 bucks a gallon I think the hi test is probably sitting in the tanks a whole lot longer than the regular. Why pay more for stale hi-test.

[wickedsprint]

Mine has 10:1 from the factory so I have to run 91 or higher...but as a rule there is no quality difference between the grades.

[sunkenloot]

I normally run 91 octain but, when im out at the track they sell some of the Sunoco race fuels. Would I be harming or helping anything by dumping in a "hot tank" of fuel on a irregular basis? Im still at 9:1 but will be up past 10:1 by the next time I make it to the track. I have access to sunoco in 104, 110, 112, 116 and methanol flavors.

[GOTWA]

I normally run 91 octain but, when im out at the track they sell some of the Sunoco race fuels. Would I be harming or helping anything by dumping in a "hot tank" of fuel on a irregular basis? Im still at 9:1 but will be up past 10:1 by the next time I make it to the track. I have access to sunoco in 104, 110, 112, 116 and methanol flavors.

I'm no mechanical expert but I believe this is a no, no. Without the high compression ratios needed for the ultra-high octane fuel I don't think you can burn the fuel fast enough. So I think that on the exhaust stroke you're still going to be burning fuel and that can result in top-end damage. But then again, I may not have a clue what I'm talking about.

Oh and I run 91 in my 883XL.

[01Sporty]

FWIW, (mine's a 1200) since the manual called for 87, I was using 89 thinking I was ahead of the game.
A buddy noticed I had a few knocks and pings. I went to 92, no more knocks, pings or chugging at speeds a bit low for that particular gear.

Good Luck

[cyg1862]

I normally run 91 octain but, when im out at the track they sell some of the Sunoco race fuels. Would I be harming or helping anything by dumping in a "hot tank" of fuel on a irregular basis? Im still at 9:1 but will be up past 10:1 by the next time I make it to the track. I have access to sunoco in 104, 110, 112, 116 and methanol flavors.

No! No! No! I would not use that at all! That is going into the airplane and purple fuel range. I am not a mechanic, but I have grown up with a lot of them, and a few drag racers. I knew someone that used purple fuel in their street car (106 octane and $6 a gallon in the mid 80's if i'm remembering correctly), but that car (a "sleeper" mazda spider...you would never know it would do 160mph) was specifically built for that fuel. If you use that in a stock motor, it will eat it alive.

Just my opinion, better to be safe than expensively sorry.

Cyg

[Takingabreak]

Hi All.

Since there seems to be so much misinformation in these posts, let me try and help.
First off, Gasoline is, in it's pure form, all the same, it is the additive package that changes.
The higher the octane rating, the high the "Flash point" of the fuel, so it takes more heat to ingnite it.
In most modern cars,with there full computer controls, it makes no since to run a higher octane then the manufactor calls for, and in some cases,It can cause running problems because the comupter can't handle the higher flash point.
Premium is harded to Ignite, and is harder to start when cold..to the point of a no start problem.

With this said, In my 2003 883C that requires 87, I run Chevron premium 91.
Why?
Well, I set the engine up to run on it and since these Harleys do not have a fuel control computer, there is no way for it to control timing or fuel. This means that if your motor starts pining, it has no way to retard the time or add fuel to stop it. Pining will destroy a Harley air cooled engine in short order, the only way to protect it from this is to run the higher octane.
All it can take is being stuck in traffic on a hot day, and you can be stuck with a big repair bill.

Bottom line, it's the cheapest insurance you can buy to protect your engine.