Gasoline....low, mid or premium

[Jerrymac]

I have a 05 Nomad, 20k area on ticker... only mods are Vance n Hines Bagger Pipes and a cobra fuel processor, <<-- try to remember to put that at beginning of all crazy question threds ....
Just wondering what most of you use when you top off your tank, regular, mid grade or premium....there is a little station that sells pure premium gas, no ethanol at all, close to the house, would you run that over regular gas...i have heard that low grade gas is just as good to run in one as premium...but ya read so much it gets confusing sometimes, at least i have only tried to put diesel in it once....

[Sin City Stan]

Originally Posted by Jerrymac

I have a 05 Nomad, 20k area on ticker... only mods are Vance n Hines Bagger Pipes and a cobra fuel processor, <<-- try to remember to put that at beginning of all crazy question threds ....
Just wondering what most of you use when you top off your tank, regular, mid grade or premium....there is a little station that sells pure premium gas, no ethanol at all, close to the house, would you run that over regular gas...i have heard that low grade gas is just as good to run in one as premium...but ya read so much it gets confusing sometimes, at least i have only tried to put diesel in it once....

Most of these bikes with stock pistons and a processor can run on regular. What's just as important is where you buy the fuel. Use Top Tier stations.

[Netnorske]

As a general rule....use the lowest grade fuel you can without pinging. My '08 Nomad would ping if I did not use Premium, but my 2013 Victory XCT runs fabulous on regular fuel. Pinging is simply the premature detonation of your fuel before your piston hits TDC. Adding octane to the fuel mixture delays the timing of the detonation. Some bikes need that higher octane fuel to run without pinging and some don't. You won't know until you try. You will most often get the pinging when the bike is under a load, like climbing a long hill. Lower grade fuel will leave less deposits of bad stuff in bad places in your engine, so the lower grade you can effectively run, the better. Once you realize that concept you better understand the whole fuel thing.

[MJ07Nomad]

I have a 07 nomad 1600, with the cobra processor and k and n air filter in right side mod along with V &H pipes. With just the pipes I run premium and avg 33.8MPG. added the processor set at 1.1.0 and ran mid grade avg. 32 MPG, then added the air filter mod and ran reg (processor set at 2.3.0) and now avg is at 38.9MPG. That is the way I run the bike now. I did a lot of testing, I could run reg gas and the cobra set at 3 1/2. 5.0 and get 33.5MPG with more seat of the pants power but I like the better MPG.
You already have the pipes and processor why not add the K and N filter and cover to the right side and open up the air intake....leave the stock filter in the left side and would will be good to go.

[Vulcan Bill]

Just a heads up. Your owners manual states in several places in big bold block letters that using low octane fuel can result in engine damage.
Why take the chance to save $1 a tank up.

[alangoff]

premium with no alcohol here....will get enough better mileage over e10 to pay for it plus the higher octane sounds good....just remember high octane means resists burning/igniting so when it is in the 20 or 30s here in wisconsin my 2002 nomad is rather cold blooded on it...and i have took apart enough engines that had predetination damage that i would worry about it....

[Vulcan Bill]

There are reasons you shouldn't burn low octane fuel in an engine designed for high octane. Heres how it was explained to me. Low oct and Hi oct have different burning rates. Hi oct has a longer combustion (slower) period than low oct. The Vulcan 1600 has whats called a long stroke engine. Long stroke engines require the slower burning rate to push the piston down the cylinder. Low octane burns to fast and has a hammering effect on the piston face and connecting rod bearings.
This explaination is simplified but you get the idea.
If high octane isn't available you could run low octane to get you home but
I wouldn't feed your bike a steady diet of it.
Again I say why risk engine damage to save a few cents per fill up?

[Netnorske]

I liken this debate to that of the car tire on a motorcycle. There are those who say you should not do it because a car tire is not made for a motorcycle. Those who run car tires will nod their head while you scold them, then go put 50k on one rear tire with zero issues whatsoever. There are those who say you should not run regular fuel in your bike because the book says so. Those who do just smile, pay $0.30 less per gallon at the pump, get better MPG's...and put 75k on their bikes with no problem. My own experience is that the ONLY operational difference on my 2013 XCT between running premium and running regular is about $1.25 per fill-up. There is no difference in performance whatsoever, with the possible exception of better MPG's. This is one of those things where you have to decide what works best for you.....

[Top Cat]

I will run 89 octane in my 08 Nomad but will not put a car tire on it.
I heard car tires on bikes cause the oil to work harder so it needs to be changed every 500 miles.
There goes the money you save on tire wear

[caribou]

My HD runs great on 87-88 octane. I found two stations close by that have gas without ethanol. One is premium and the other has 87. Seems to run even better on that stuff. its a few cents more though.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by caribou

My HD runs great on 87-88 octane. I found two stations close by that have gas without ethanol. One is premium and the other has 87. Seems to run even better on that stuff. its a few cents more though.

That would be my choice - low octane, no ethanol.

[macmac]

Originally Posted by Vulcan Bill

There are reasons you shouldn't burn low octane fuel in an engine designed for high octane. Heres how it was explained to me. Low oct and Hi oct have different burning rates. Hi oct has a longer combustion (slower) period than low oct. The Vulcan 1600 has whats called a long stroke engine. Long stroke engines require the slower burning rate to push the piston down the cylinder. Low octane burns to fast and has a hammering effect on the piston face and connecting rod bearings.
This explaination is simplified but you get the idea.
If high octane isn't available you could run low octane to get you home but
I wouldn't feed your bike a steady diet of it.
Again I say why risk engine damage to save a few cents per fill up?

Except this engine is not that kind of an engine in the first place and that kind of engine will have higher compression than the Vulcan Nomad.

'IF' there is a set up cobra fuel mod or a TFI, a big air kit and aftermarket exhaust there is a big difference as to what the engine should burn.

The manual says this BS because the EPA rules to get these bike in the country require that BS, and the engines are so lean they PING on hi test, which is more BS.

If he can get real gas he should burn that. E gas is just robbery and E takes up 10% space in the gas robs 10% power and robs 10% MPG's too.

'IF' he has a TFI or other well set up fuel mod he should burn the fuel rated for 9:1 compression engine which is 87 Octane for the best bang for the buck because it is.

Burning a more evenly burning fuel is for high compression engines not Nomad that have a proper fuel mix which they don't get from the Factory.

I can prove that and have more than once.

If the bike engine is still stock you are correct sort of....... All stock engines are just overly lean from the factory period and are so starved for fuel that when you give them a 14:1 not only do you get more power you get a cooler running engine, and better moles per gallon.

I did this to my 1500 and my 1600 and other peoples assorted 15 and 16's too.

When I get get mariner fuel (no E) i get more power and go even further.

E fuels are just one thing and one thing only a RIP OFF.

Since June 06 my 06 has had no other fuel that 87 octane and i live in the mt's of NH and my bike does not ping, nor would I allow it to ping.

I am a x foreign car tech by trade. My 06 looks brand new they say

[macmac]

Originally Posted by Top Cat

I will run 89 octane in my 08 Nomad but will not put a car tire on it.
I heard car tires on bikes cause the oil to work harder so it needs to be changed every 500 miles.
There goes the money you save on tire wear

Well I have a ct on my bike with apx 19,000 on it and still going strong..... maybe next year Of course my 06 has the same battery it came with on 06 too

You can't be serious about a ct making oil work harder......

[macmac]

Originally Posted by caribou

My HD runs great on 87-88 octane. I found two stations close by that have gas without ethanol. One is premium and the other has 87. Seems to run even better on that stuff. its a few cents more though.

I hope so....... What is the compression ratio? Run the right fuel for the comp ratio....

Run real gas as often as you can find it. Think of ethanol as a filler that does nothing but maybe get out of the the way. It adds nothing but takes up 10% of the space real gas could be taking. It causes you too lose 10% power and 10% miles per gallon... And in and of it self it tends to lean out the fuel mix just because each and ever drop of gas is reduced by 10%.

This ethanol is nothing more than robbery..........

There IS more power in regular gas than there is in high test gas. So run what ever is lowest octane so long as there is no PING.

[schoeney]

I only ran premium 92 in my Nomad. No pinging no issues.

For $45 per year difference in price I figured no reason to mess w/success. Especially since I probably made that $45 up in better MPG. I never ran regular so can't really compare MPG but I was consistently around 42....on the better side of most Nomads.

I only run Premium in my ST as well. I get 40ish in town and 50ish on the road. About 44-45avg. That is doing manual calculation. The dash computer is 10% off (and the speedo is about 7% off). I thought Jap electronics were supposed to be very accurate?