'81 gs850g

[Guest]

What grade of gasoline do we use? nad Are sintered pads OK?


thanks

[nisom512]

What grade of gasoline do we use? nad Are sintered pads OK?


thanks

I hear for better starting lower grade but most people are gunna tell you to put in higher octain always. here.

Jake

[C.V.]

Regular gas, 87 octane. These engines don't need premium gas. Premium gas burns slower and needs more compression, you will noticably lose power with 92 octane.

Sintered pads last longer but are harder on your rotors.

[Larry D]

What grade of gasoline do we use? nad Are sintered pads OK?


thanks

Now ya did it.......here comes the gas arguments.....

There's some amazing threads on this subject. Actually, all joking aside, they are very interesting reading. Just do a search or two.

[C.V.]

Now ya did it.......here comes the gas arguments.....

There's some amazing threads on this subject. Actually, all joking aside, they are very interesting reading. Just do a search or two.

Absolutely correct, lots of good reading on the subject here. I base my opinion on my own experience. After reading all the info here, I ran 92 for a month, and had a noticeable loss of oomph, went back to 87, and she is now running with full oomphage.

[Larry D]

...... running with full oomphage.

Is that some kind of technical motorcycle term ?!?!

I bet it means FAAAAAASSSST !!!!!!!

[Nessism]

Absolutely correct, lots of good reading on the subject here. I base my opinion on my own experience. After reading all the info here, I ran 92 for a month, and had a noticeable loss of oomph, went back to 87, and she is now running with full oomphage.

Not trying to discredit your experience but I don't think it works like that. Using too low a grade of gas can cause detonation (knock), but using too high basically don't cause any problems other than some people claim their bike is harder to start by a small margin and others claim there are more combustion deposits with premium (unsubstantiated claims).

Regarding sintered brake pads, I don't think the rotors are hard enough and will get torn up pretty quickly. I think you would be better off using regular organic type pads.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

My votes:

I use Regular gas (87 octane). I've used the higher grades and decided there was no benefit, other than making the oil companies richer. If your (low compression) motor doesn't knock, there's no need to use the higher grades. Higher grades may be necessary if your motor has a 10:1 compression ratio or higher.

Sintered pads have more metal in them. They may stop better and wear longer, but they will also eat your rotors sooner. The composite pads are great and work very well as long as the rest of your brake system is in order. You could try the kevlar pads. I think they stop a little better but are not as hard on your rotors as sintered pads.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[SqDancerLynn1]

The cheap stuf works just fine on stock bike.

[Suzuki_Don]

Don't use sintered pads.

[flyingace]

Not trying to discredit your experience but I don't think it works like that. Using too low a grade of gas can cause detonation (knock), but using too high basically don't cause any problems other than some people claim their bike is harder to start by a small margin and others claim there are more combustion deposits with premium (unsubstantiated claims).

Regarding sintered brake pads, I don't think the rotors are hard enough and will get torn up pretty quickly. I think you would be better off using regular organic type pads.

I think grade of gas is a decision dependent on your bike and experience. My stock 850 runs a little lean, so I like to use 89 Octane to prevent detonation, especially when the weather is hot. It has detonated slightly on 87 in the past - not with 89. I see no point in going any higher - just a waste of money. Agree also with Nessism on the brake pads.

[C.V.]

Not trying to discredit your experience but I don't think it works like that. Using too low a grade of gas can cause detonation (knock), but using too high basically don't cause any problems other than some people claim their bike is harder to start by a small margin and others claim there are more combustion deposits with premium (unsubstantiated claims).

Regarding sintered brake pads, I don't think the rotors are hard enough and will get torn up pretty quickly. I think you would be better off using regular organic type pads.

No discredit, just different experience. I can honestly say I definitely noticed the difference (were not talking insane amounts of power here, just felt the difference). I'm sure it depends alot on the quirks of the bike involved. FWIW, I culled this from the 'ol web...

Higher octane fuel takes higher temperatures to burn completely. The higher the octane, the less combustible the fuel, and consequently, will make slightly less power in an engine not designed for that fuel.
Higher octane fuels burn at higher temperatures. Therefore, in an engine designed to use low octane fuel, your engine will not burn the fuel/air mixture as completely during non-load conditions (idling, partial throttle, decelerating, etc.).
Less efficient burn = less power. This means you will need to feed your engine more fuel/air to compensate. More fuel = lower MPG.

It was in relation to a car question, but it sums it up pretty well, IMHO. Without enough compression, high octane fuels don't burn efficiently, which MAY result in some power loss, as it did in my case.

[Steve]

I think grade of gas is a decision dependent on your bike and experience. My stock 850 runs a little lean, so I like to use 89 Octane to prevent detonation, especially when the weather is hot.

Why not save yourself a BUNCH of money?

If you know it's running lean, you should also know that it's not doing the engine any good to run lean. Richen it up a bit and stick with the regular gas it was designed for. If you fill the tank twice a week with four gallons, you would save 80 cents every week, not counting the better gas mileage you would be getting. New main jets (a set of four) are less than $10, so it would only take about 12 weeks of riding to recuperate the cost of the jets. Actually, you can probably richen up the mix enough by cranking the mixture adjust screws out another turn or raising the floats about 1 mm ... for FREE.

Another benefit of using regular gas ... fresher gas. I have a friend that drives a gas tanker. He has told be that he delivers to a station just down the street from me, and that station typically gets six trucks a day of regular gas, but only about one a week of mid-grade and 'premium'. I have never noticed all the traffic at the station, but he said yes, six trucks a day, at 9,000 gallons each.

.

[nisom512]

six trucks a day, at 9,000 gallons each.

.

i thought most tanker trucks were 10k gallons?.....no?

[Steve]

i thought most tanker trucks were 10k gallons?.....no?

Well, they might hold 10, but 9,000 gallons at 6.24 pounds per gallon (if I remember correctly) is 56,160 pounds, leaving only 23,840 pounds for the empty truck, to keep it legal at 80,000 pounds. That's cutting it pretty close.

.