The manual says anything 87 and over. Also I believe 10% or less of ethanol. I’ve been using 87 and it’s running fine. But are there any benefits for burning a higher octane or just wasted cash? Bike is stock and other than a slip on in the future I plan to keep it that way.
What octane are you using?
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I don't own a Ninja 400 as yet but a friend of mine has been using 87 and seems to be happy with it.
From what I realized with cars is that a higher octane rating of fuel if not required won't make any difference with performance, I bet bikes are the same.
From what I realized with cars is that a higher octane rating of fuel if not required won't make any difference with performance, I bet bikes are the same.
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Using higher octane than 87 (USA rated) is a waste of money, on this machine, imo. In fact, you may lose power with higher octane fuel. I base this on plenty of dyno and track experience with larger, higher hp, higher compression engines. Now, if it gives you peace of mind, certainly, go for it! But for me, 87 it is. :smile:
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In the US they use a different fuel rating system (AKI I think) so their 87 is equivalent to our 91 RON. No point in using higher than this. The engine has been designed for the flame burn of this octane rating.
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I had similar thinking as emudshit from the get go, so have been using 95 Ron as well. Am interested in peoples thoughts on this topic.,
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Yeah I've noticed on other forums fuel octane threads just go in circles with folk pushing their own theory's with little interest in considering others.Me personally? I run 91, the MPG already is high enough so it's not like its going to burn a hole in my pocket. Later, I will be doing E85, because of its higher compression. Please don't turn this into an E85 debate, just what I want to do
From a performance point of view I did some testing (with an open mind) on my CBR300 and detected no difference between 91, 95 and 98 octane, the three we have available here in NZ. Because the bike wasn't showing any signs of pre-ignition which is a symptom of too little octane (as you probably know) I thought I might as well save my money and run the bike on 91. So I did and still do with the N400.
But dont worry, loads of biker friends told me I should be running higher octane fuel!
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How are you planning to tune for it?
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They say 91 or higher..so literally any fuel
Yea, same here. I actually don't mind talking about it, but there's so much misinformation still on the topic and with actual studies disproving many of the myths, it starts to feel like you're talking to a wall.Yeah I've noticed on other forums fuel octane threads just go in circles with folk pushing their own theory's with little interest in considering others.
From a performance point of view I did some testing (with an open mind) on my CBR300 and detected no difference between 91, 95 and 98 octane, the three we have available here in NZ. Because the bike wasn't showing any signs of pre-ignition which is a symptom of too little octane (as you probably know) I thought I might as well save my money and run the bike on 91. So I did and still do with the N400.
But dont worry, loads of biker friends told me I should be running higher octane fuel!
I'm really interested with the 11.5:1 CR to see how flat I can get the torque curve, and with it's cooler burn, how much higher we can get the rev limiter.
I'll be going with Woolich Racing's Log Box.
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I was told because the Ethanol here to go with 93. Ive had several harley guys even mention the non ethanol fuel making a huge difference in mileage and to combat that with 93 which is the highest here.
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You're talking about avoiding Ethanol blends by using higher octane gasoline that doesn't use it. Totally different.
These guys are talking about running E85 (~85% Alcohol...Hopefully anyway) to tune for more power.
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oh ok gotcha
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E85 uses 30-40% more fuel volume. So, one would consider the 3.7 gallon tank to be around a 2.4 gallon tank, in comparison to stock. With corresponding range.
As far as power, it will make about 4-5 more hp on a 200 hp, 1400cc, higher compression engine. So, figure a 1-1.5 hp gain on a 400, best case. This is assuming that the stock fuel system can supply enough volume.
Now, it may do better or worse, so I guess we will just have to see how well it responds...for me, traditional pump gas, for the street. :smile:
As far as power, it will make about 4-5 more hp on a 200 hp, 1400cc, higher compression engine. So, figure a 1-1.5 hp gain on a 400, best case. This is assuming that the stock fuel system can supply enough volume.
Now, it may do better or worse, so I guess we will just have to see how well it responds...for me, traditional pump gas, for the street. :smile:
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