CBRWorld.net

I just bought a 1989 CBR600 and I was wondering what type of fuel I should be using in it or if it really matters.  The person that I bought it off of said I should use the best at the pump.  Is this really necessary or am I just wasting money?

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1989 CBR600 Hurricane
"So Much Fun!"

I've got the owners manual for my CBR 600F (Hurricane) right here in front of me and it says use a pump octane number of  86 or higher, thats also what my manual says for my CBR 600F-2. I have ran 87 octane in both of my CBR's without any problems and even with ignition advancers of +5 degrees. both bikes have over 100,000 miles without any engine work.

 Hope that helps!

-Daryl

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87 CBR600F-1 Hurricane
94 CBR600F-2
89 Ninja 250

I always use the 91 octane or better. I have a 2006 F4I and my owners manual also says to use 86 octane or higher. If you really think about it, if you use 86 octane instead of 91 or higher, you're any saving yourself $1 if you fill the tank all the way up. Why not spend that $1 and get the "good stuff".

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2006 F4I Blue/Black
Leo Vince slip-on
Hotbodies Racing Flushmount Blinkers (front/rear)

Yeah that is what I thought.  Was curious to what everyone else was doing though :)

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1989 CBR600 Hurricane
"So Much Fun!"

blue06f4i:

Why not spend that $1 and get the "good stuff".

You're implying that higher octane gasoline will provide better performance or is some way better than a lower octane gasoline.  That is so NOT the case.

http://cbrworld.net/forums/thread/50053.aspx

If you don't need the extra octane, you're only wasting money.

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badfish '05 600RR Purple/Black

blue06f4i:

I always use the 91 octane or better. I have a 2006 F4I and my owners manual also says to use 86 octane or higher. If you really think about it, if you use 86 octane instead of 91 or higher, you're any saving yourself $1 if you fill the tank all the way up. Why not spend that $1 and get the "good stuff".

Because you may be throwing away money, and you may inadvertently be doing damage to your engine.  Octane is simply a measure of the point at which the fuel mixture spontaneously combusts, with regards to temperature and pressure.  The higher the octane rating, the less likely you are to have pre-detonation.  If your bike runs fine on 87 octane (i.e. no knocking or pinging), and that's what the owner's manual calls for, then that's what you should probably use.

cilck for more info

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"I'm sorry our president is an idiot. I didn't vote for him."

B/Y 04 F4i - CW fender eliminator, Clear Alternatives signal integrator, Watsen Design LED front signals, Vortex frame sliders, LP dark smoke windscreen, Micron high mount CF exhaust, DG8 gear indicator, GPR stabilizer, Galfer SS brake lines, Öhlins PRCLS rear, PCIIIr, Custom map, Pazzo adjustable levers.

So you are saying then that I should just use regular because (as they said above) the manual says 87 OR higher?

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1989 CBR600 Hurricane
"So Much Fun!"

Sort of, start with 86 or 87 and on a hot day start at lower rpm's in 3rd a little under the power band and twist the throttlewide open. If by the time the bike is half way through the power band you havent herd any spark knocking (sounds a tin baby rattle) and the bike still pulls hard then your fine.  If you DO HEAR spark knocking then take it easy and on the next tank go up a grade, till you dont hear it any more. Helps to do this on a hot day with a warmed up engine, heat will be the largest factor in noticing if your using the right grade. The manual says my bike will run on 87, and it will..... But on a hot day I get a lot of spark knock on harder acceleration, esp. if ive sat at a light or just come out of town and the engine is hot enough for the fan to be on. If I run high test it doesnt happen. It may just take some expaimentation to figure it out but it's not hard, and the bike will perform best on the lowest grade it can run with out spark knock.

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CBR929-jardine race can, down 1, polished frame and swing arm,wheels polished, HELI bars, Sargent seat, Puig racing screen

commuting on a VLX600 shadow for now, 60MPG!!! I punched out the baffles, so it has that V-twin snap and crackle that made H/D so infamous. Except this little scute is rice powered!!lol

and once in a while a 98 gold wing, its a scarey fast 2 wheeled yacht!!

The higher the octane the better i say as it says above it ignites quicker I.E quicker throttle responce more miles to the gallon and a cleaner burn leaving less carbon build up on your valves and exhaust.

some people think it adds bhp but it dont really it just improves throttle responce giving the scence of more power.But even with this i would advise you try out different  petrol stations as some are better than others.

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loopy by name loopy by nature!!!

not exactly.... more octane than is needed will give you less performance and less power. It will not be as easy to notice as to little octane.............thats why you need to work your way up from the bottom, not just jump to the top. If it were that simple there would just be one grade of gas, since more octane in your way of thinking is better.

Octane in needed in relation to compresion, ignition timing, oxygen saturation and temp. Perfect performance means getting each in the right ratio to the other.to little or to much octane throws the combustion process out of its perfect ratio. It's not exactly rocket science though, so there are only 3 basic grades of octane at the pump. you need just enough to stop detonation. any more is......well.....less.

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CBR929-jardine race can, down 1, polished frame and swing arm,wheels polished, HELI bars, Sargent seat, Puig racing screen

commuting on a VLX600 shadow for now, 60MPG!!! I punched out the baffles, so it has that V-twin snap and crackle that made H/D so infamous. Except this little scute is rice powered!!lol

and once in a while a 98 gold wing, its a scarey fast 2 wheeled yacht!!

I have never heard it put like that before and my bike does run alot better and it does more miles to the gallon.With higher octane i mean.

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loopy by name loopy by nature!!!

yeah, like I said. It 's not rocket science. The effects of too little octane are serios and noticable, the effects of to much octane are much harder to notice. Seat of the pants o meter probably wont notice, it would take lots of record keeping on gas milage and multiple dyno runs to see the peek power of "the right" octane. and peek milage because of "proper" burn. The difference between runing 87 in a bike that calls for 87. And 92 in a bike that calls for 87 may only be 1-2hp an 2-4mpg at most.  But chances are the better #'s will be in the bike actualy runing 87. Where as to little octane will net you like a 8-10 hp drop and lots of rattling( spark knock). That is why lots of people are under the impression that higher octane gas can magicaly make more power.The truth is it must be a proper match... just like any other performance part. You cant just throw any  set of parts together , cam must match intake and exhaust parts and so on. same with gas, for peak it has to match.

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CBR929-jardine race can, down 1, polished frame and swing arm,wheels polished, HELI bars, Sargent seat, Puig racing screen

commuting on a VLX600 shadow for now, 60MPG!!! I punched out the baffles, so it has that V-twin snap and crackle that made H/D so infamous. Except this little scute is rice powered!!lol

and once in a while a 98 gold wing, its a scarey fast 2 wheeled yacht!!