BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

New to BMW...using this forum extensively to gain knowledge.
Owner's manual requires high octane gas...like 95? The best I get around here is 93 (no ethanol). Should I ever use a "performance" gas additive or octane booster? Bike runs great...no pinging...46.3 mpg.

Mine runs fine on mid-grade 89 octane. I'd stay away from additives and haven't found them necessary. 93 octane would be a steak dinner for my bike. It gets along great on hamburger.

I share the same experience with beemerphile, however all the gasolines are not alike across the US and all the riders don't ride the same way, so be cognizant of that too.

95 sounds high to me. 89-92 should be sufficient. most guys put a squirt of a injector cleaner type additive every couple thousand miles to keep the carbon from building up.

if the motor is not knocking and pinging it is doing fine. i have run the range from 87-93, some being ethanol, some not. generally i run higher octane when it outside temps are high. i have had no problems at all.

I typically run mine on 'super' which around these parts means anywhere from 91 to 93 octane and have not had any issues at all. Now, I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but can the bike run with ethanol???

RForestR wrote:... but can the bike run with ethanol???

Not straight ethanol, but there are oxygenated fuels in some areas which contain up to 10% ethanol. I have run 10% ethanol with no issues, but it always makes me nervous when I see ethanol on the pump.

Typically I can run mid grade (89 octane) when the ambient temps are under 50f. Over that the bike will ping so I go with super unleaded. The fuel in my area is oxygenated but I never noticed a difference.

As far as fuel varying throughout the country, I've heard that from other motorcycle boards. Some people from large cities (like L.A.) seem to get noticeably better fuel mileage when they travel away from the city. I have noticed that in a way, but I attributed it to not as much stop-and-go traffic, and not as much stopping in general.

There are two ways to get the octane rating of gasoline. One is called the "research" octane number (RON), the other the"motor" octane number (MON). RON is used in Europe and is about 10 numbers higher than MON. In the USA the numers used are (RON+MON)/2, so a european suggestion of 95 is about a US 90. Most BMW bikes have a sticker that recommends 89 octane or mid-range gas.

Thank you for that explanation, Paul.

Mine pings on everything I have tried. I have also added octane booster, SeaFoam, Techron, Lucas, etc. I have tried all brands of gas. So...
I'm gonna ride it this way until it explodes.

bearfolks......

I see that you live in Stockton.....there is a fellow there, former owner of a R1150R, his name Pat, yes, our very own Patrick. I'm sure that if you contact him he will be able to show you how to get all those little tihngs out of your bike.

Run the daylights out of it and burn all the carbon that has accumulated, your other option is to do what CYCLEROB did and that is to decarbonise the cylinders.

I would give Pat's solution a try first it's easier and cheaper.....

Guys and Gals...

I have run her completely on 93. I know its more expensive, then again I am only putting 4.5 to 5 gallons of gas in her, so I go to 93.

Since moving here from South Carolina, where gas is the cheapest in the nation to Illinois where gas is not even considered gas to my baby, I ALWAYS PUT IN STP GAS TREATMENT. I had filled up once here in Illinois without it and she hated it. Now I go and spend 3.19 a gallon and always pay for the gas treatment. But here is the kicker... I fill up one time and its STP, then the next time its OCTANE booster, I do this every other time.

God Bless the farmers, Grand Pa was a farmer.... I have come to the conclusion that if I eat corn and sometimes it still comes out as corn, thats not something I want to go in my tank...My Toyota sure, not my baby. I wish they would offer us here in Illinois a choice, either get ethanol or the good stuff.

The sad part is...with ethanol....how come its more expensive? I can go and eat a bushel a corn a day and not run out here...why is it more expensive? Why, why why I wonder....

Safe Riding....

Improvised. Adapted. Overcame.

Has anyone besides me noticed that modern gas dosent' seem to be as good as it once was? It craps up engines faster, stores much shorter, and gets fewer mpg.
I suspect that Chevron made it's gas nastier so they could sell Techron, which is probably the good stuff they took out of their gas to make it crappy.
Or am I just paranoid?