This is my last question.....

For today

What fuel grade do you guys put in your xj's?

I used premium but my buddy told me that premium and low grade are designed to burn rather hot (due to emissions burn off for the additives) while middle grade doesn't have the added high temp and will keep the bike cooler and is closer to what Yamaha designed the bike to run on?

Opinions thoughts?

 

Take the body side cover off of your bike and read what the label says on it.

dave f

 

Are you referring to the smaller triangular ones behind the seat? Those were "misplaced" :roll: by the dealership during an oil change they spent 3 hours looking and couldn't find them. I actually just ordered some online to replace them.

 

My XJ runs perfectly fine on regular unleaded.

I have put premium in it before but it made no real difference so I stay with good old regular. Almost $4.00 per gal.
Pretty soon we wont even be able to ride our bikes for the high cost!!!

I think it is a conspiricy to keep us under their thumb and control us more...

 

The PO was using 91 unleaded or higher and would add

"Star Tron enzyme fuel treatment" to every fill up.

Is there some way the bike would benefit or was it just overkill?

 

I've been experimenting myself with fuel. I am testing premium currently, measuring fuel efficiency, perceived get-up-and-go, approximate time for the bike to heat up from cold in the morning, idle stability, etc. Next I will do mid-grade, then regular. Keeping it all from the same station and doing a transition tank between fuel grades, so I will try to remember to post up results in a few weeks when I come to a conclusion.

My main concerns are staying away from ethanol and keeping the engine cool. Power is always a nice plus too!

 

That is an experiment that I am HIGHLY interested in the results of. Please keep us posted!

I'm currently running premium as well.

 

Ryan, Google "Top Tier" fuels. I've found that for bikes that can safely run on regular, like my vstrom 1000, that makes a bigger difference then octane. I was amazed at the crap around my valves in my Vee after 6 months of Exxon goo.....at least the Shell goo doesn't leave so much crap behind and it actually cleaned up the crap left by the junk fuels.

FWIW- Premium Top tier (Shell) is all that goes in the turbo and all my triples(2 strokes). My Honda 350 is quite happy with Shell Regular.

jeff

 

Only reason to use "Premium" is to prevent detonation with the higher octane rating. Only the Turbos should need it, unless you've done some REALLY fancy mods to increase compression.

Ethanol is a seperate issue. You can have a 87 octane gas with or without ethanol, depending on the local regulations. IIRC ethanol actually increases the octane rating, so I'm sure the whole blend is adjusted when it is mixed in.

If you really want your experiment to be scientific, you need to do it "double blind" so you don't know WHICH fuel is going in, before you take the reading from your "butt dyno."

Also consider the seasonal difference in formulas of gasoline, which are changed to affect vapor pressure.

 

Wow, that was useful information guys. I appreciate the input.

Some additional info on my experiment parameters: my testing is being done under normal circumstances. Back and forth to work each day. Same distance, same time of day, same traffic. Fuel is from BP. I hate to give them money after their recent spill, but their fuel has high quality cleaners in it.

Main measurements are fuel efficiency and idle rpms. No bike adjustments made between tanks or fuel grades.

I personally don't know what is going to give the best result, and I am not sure what I want to find.

 

Jeff, so just use regular probably at any one of the "approved places"? Quiktrip is all over my area and super convenient.