As long as the 93 is not overpriced I will use it.

 

I use 93 when it's available. Not sure if it's better but my opinion is it can't hurt!!

 

That's funny - You know all gas is the same until it arrives at it's destination, then the additives are introduced. Did you know that the pipelines that deliver fuel use water/sand to separate the different loads?

 

If you have pinging it will help, otherwise it is a waste.

 

The Octane number is not a measure of power, but a measure of resistance to ignite or detonate. This is why if you pinging, which is premature ignition, and you put in higher octane it goes away. You can also reduce pinging by retarding your timing by a couple of degrees if you are having problems as well or to be able to use lower octane gas.

 

Prsonally, I'd rather not drop the octane in mine until it pings. I usually put in the highest pump octane available...I figure it's another 50 or 75 cents a tankful - for me, it's worth it not to hear that godawful knocking...

Of course, if you're gonna be riding in cooler temps on relatively flat land, well, feel free to drop a grade or two. But summertime? I'll always ante up for a few more octane points.

 

I use the highest Octane available for both my stock '13 Limited and my '03 Classic with 10.5:1 CR

 

Listen to your engine it will tell you which gas it likes.

All my older bikes ran well with the lower octane. The one I have now needs the higher octane to keep from pinging. Now I always put in the highest I can find.


If you don't need it, its a waste of money.

 

I've got an '07 Road Glide -- 96" engine, has an air cleaner upgrade and a PowerCommander USB, but that's about it (I bought it used with this stuff already installed).

I put 89 octance into it (10% ethanol). It runs fine and the only pinging I get is if the engine is "lugged" in 4th or 5th on a hot day (actually, by not running it as one should). I attribute this to the well-executed map on the PCIII.

A short time back, I bought a new spout for my gas can, and wanted to see how it worked on the bike. The can just had "regular" (87) in it. I poured some into the Road Glide, took it for a ride, and it _still_ ran fine.

93 octane? 91 octane? Perhaps it's needed in some places, but in the northeast, 89 is fine.

 

89 in mine most of the time, no problems