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Originally Posted by tazfl
Quote:
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Originally Posted by cactusjack
It's safe to run the lowest octane you can without pinging. I usually use 89 octane but in the colder months can get away with 87. Unless you have a pinging problem, buying premium gas only benefits the shareholders of Exxon and Chevron. 87, 89 and 91 are what is sold here.
The reason the manual recommends premium is because these bikes come so lean from the factory, they will ping like hell if you don't - under most conditions.
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but doesn't burning the higher octane gas help keep your engine cleaner (less gunk / carbon build up) due to higher octane fuel burning cleaner? |
No. The higher the octane rating, the slower the fuel burns. Unless your engine requires high octane (due to high compression, for example), you are getting no added benefit from using high octane.
In the case of our Nomads, Kawasaki engineered the fuel system to be way too lean in order to meet US EPA specs. This lean condition is conducive to pinging. If you have a fuel processor, you can "cheat the factory" and run a richer mixture, and this negates the need for higher octane because it eliminates or greatly reduces pinging.