Use of 95/96/98 fuel in scooters

[ZK-Awesome]

Hi KB
Let's discuss the use of higher-octane fuel in scooters. I have a 2006 SJ50QT (2-stroke engine), it runs well, starts first time most of the time with a bit of white smoke, all good, and I run it on 91. Dunno why, I just do. I've had it for about 3 weeks.

Just wondering though, would use of a higher-octane fuel (95/96/98) (or what about avgas!, keeping in mind avgas is leaded) be very beneficial in a scooter? In terms of top speed, acceleration, starting, fuel efficiency, emissions etc.

There was one guy in chch that told me that using higher than 91 in 50cc scooters can block stuff up in the engine, but he wasn't specific.

I'm still very knew to scootering, just throwing the idea out there.

Discuss

[johan]

Higher octane will not give you more power (more horse powers)! It will prevent pre detonation which can be a problem on high performance/high compression engines.

Unless you hear a knocking sound from that 50cc engine when riding it hard (50kph), don't waste you money.

The petrol station's pump says 'More Powerful' on the 98 RON signs, which is only marketing crap ripping you off.

[slick-kev]

i run mine on 95 and runs real good

[scootnz]

I only ever used the higher octane fuels on tuned engines. I used an avgas / 98 mix on a specially tuned, high compression 135cc vespa on a South Island trip, and it ran extremely well. But in my opinion it's wasted on a standard engine, and a waste of money as well. I only put 91 in my vintage vespa and it works fine. Putting higher octane fuel in won't make it go any faster!

[YellowDog]

I had a 50cc scooter a few years back (Malaguti I think). I had it de-retricted and was amazed that on standard fuel it could take my 95Kg to 80kph.

You want to be careful what you make those little wheels do. Instead of pushing the boundaries further than they should go (and screwing your engine), just get yourself a 250cc bike or a larger engined scooter. I went on a Gilera (180 I think) and it had incedible 0-100 accelleration.

Scooters do their own thing really well. Best not to mess about with them too much.

[EFFBEE]

I agreethat High Octane fuel is a waste of money in a standard machine.
A couple of yearsback I tried higher octane petrol and petrol/alcohol mix in Melbourne on a PMX 110 - no difference in fuel consumption, top speed or acceleration.

[Dave Lobster]

All my bikes/scooters get run on 98. If I'm stuck, and have to put 95 in, it doesn't 'feel' as nice to ride.
It's probably not worth the extra cash, but my commuter bike does about three more miles to every gallon on 98, rather than 95. I've no idea if it affects its top speed, as I don't have it flat out all that often. It put 2mph on the top end of my Thunderace that I had a few years ago, and made such a noticeable difference to the accelleration that the missus noticed.
I've always put the best fuel/oil in all my bikes. I've not had one go pop for a long time. In the big scheme of things, an extra 20c on a tank of fuel is neither here nor there.

[HungusMaximist]

All my bikes/scooters get run on 98. If I'm stuck, and have to put 95 in, it doesn't 'feel' as nice to ride.

I have a feeling that your brain is playing up tricks on you and it's what we call 'marketing hype' and you've made your brain believe that it feels nicer to ride on 98.

98 in a scooter is most certainly wasted money unless you've got the facts to prove it.

However, 95/98 inside my 929 Fireblade gives me better mileage.

[Flatcap]

98 in a scooter is most certainly wasted money unless you've got the facts to prove it.
.

Let's see.....8 litre tank x and extra 5 cents per litre = 40 cents extra

Chump change

[Dave Lobster]

I have a feeling that your brain is playing up tricks on you and it's what we call 'marketing hype' and you've made your brain believe that it feels nicer to ride on 98.

98 in a scooter is most certainly wasted money unless you've got the facts to prove it.

However, 95/98 inside my 929 Fireblade gives me better mileage.

Got any facts to prove that?

[johan]

Got any facts to prove that?

You could do some search for dyno and octane for some facts.

I'd guess atmospheric changes would increase performance more than anything else.
Play with the numbers here:
http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_hp_abs.htm

[Timber020]

I used to drive wellington to taupo almost weekly and the car gave an extra half km per litre on the higher octane. When doing contract work I used to work in a team of guys who all used the same 50 to 1 stihl 2 stroke mix, but you immediately noticed the difference if some cheapskate had fueled up a can with 89, the saw would be noticeably slower in the cut, really noticeable in the 13,500 rpm saws.

[klyong82]

Higher octane may give you extra mileage in my bike not much 5 to 10km's and the bike feels alot more responsive but I think it also depends on how you ride your bike. If you are a wacko on the throttle I think you will be wasting lots of fuel.

[motorbyclist]

I agreethat High Octane fuel is a waste of money in a standard machine.
A couple of yearsback I tried higher octane petrol and petrol/alcohol mix in Melbourne on a PMX 110 - no difference in fuel consumption, top speed or acceleration.

all my road bikes so far have had such an increase in mileage on 98 that it actually works out cheaper to run.

experiments with the yamaha yz400f and the yz426f both give markedly longer sparkplug life on 98. shell 91 was the worst.

the fxr150 seems to have more power on 98. my mate's 2L V6(?) mazda also seems to have more power on 98 (but the mileage doesn't quite pay for it)

vfr400 didn't seem to have a power increase, but the mileage increase was almost 20%, easily outweighing the 5% price premium

but of course, riding in cold conditions/at night also seems to give better performance. the yamaha yzf manual actually says you should change the fuel mix in cold conditions so it doesn't run too lean!

note ALL of those are 4 strokes, so don't really apply to the scooter

but my mate, also new to scootering but is pretty smart about it, also reckons he gets more power out of 98.

and if it's all a psychological thing? who cares? - you still get something for the extra dollar a tank

[ZK-Awesome]

Thanks for the replies. Just wondering what would happen if I put avgas in my SJ50?