Canadian octane

[007]

I’ve been running premium (no ethanol) with a bit of Seafoam in my 81 Goldwing for the past 7 years.
What is the suggested fuel I should be using in my 2021 NC750x?
Thanks
007

 

[670cc]

I’ve been running premium (no ethanol) with a bit of Seafoam in my 81 Goldwing for the past 7 years.
What is the suggested fuel I should be using in my 2021 NC750x?
Thanks
007

Above all, read your bike’s owner’s manual and follow the recommendation. I see in Canada, 87 AKI would be considered regular, so if that meets the owner’s manual spec, it should be fine. In the USA, I have used nothing but regular 87 (R+M/2) with 10% ethanol for 11 years with no issues. Buying a higher grade would just be a waste of money.

Canada’s octane rating system, per Wikipedia:


(Moderator moved thread from Forza 750 to NC750 forum. )

 

[potter0o]

been running 87 since 2015 with no issues

 

[007]

Good to hear.
I love the fuel economy I get with my 750, and using 87 will be a real bonus.
Thanks
007

 

[Colin_in_Ottawa]

87 here as well. I will run empty and fill with premium before winter storage and add some fuel stabilizer.

 

[ewen]

We don't have anything less than E10 in Ireland. That is 95 octane with 10% ethanol. 10% ethanol is the max advisable for my 700.

 

[670cc]

We don't have anything less than E10 in Ireland. That is 95 octane with 10% ethanol. 10% ethanol is the max advisable for my 700.

Just a note that Ireland apparently uses the RON method, so their 95 octane RON is likely standard unleaded which would be close to the 87 AKI in Canada, and the 87 in the USA, sometimes referred to as PON or AKI. Countries use different rating methods. The octane number alone means nothing without specifying the rating method.

 

[ewen]

That is interesting. So Canada and the US use a different unit of measurement to almost the rest of the world but it is basically the same.

 

[MZ5]

Arguably, N. America uses a more complete quantification than most other countries. Europe and other areas use the Research Octane Number (RON). Another measurement of knock resistance is the Motor Octane Number (MON). N. America uses the arithmetic mean (average) of those two numbers for our pump gasoline. Many, many other places around the world never switched over to use the mean of the two, they just stuck with the RON alone.

It is (or was a very long time ago) sometimes argued that RON is more suitable to typical passenger car operation, whereas MON is more suitable to higher or more sustained load operation. Curiously, though, European gasoline engines are nearly always far lower displacement, lower output engines than N. American ones. And, they're put into cars that are very frequently much more highly loaded, such as with MUCH heavier trailers compared to tow vehicle weight than N. America sees. All these things mean that European automotive use might actually be better served by MON than RON for an anti-knock rating.

However, at this point it's all rather academic. All we need to remember is that the numbers are emphatically NOT the same on the different continents. In fact, even the common equivalencies we see on the internet (and I share them sometimes, too) are not reliable. Since N. American AKI is the arithmetic mean of RON and MON, a particular fuel with an AKI of 87 _might_ have a RON of 93, or it might have a RON of 98, or anything in between. And in fact it happens rather regularly that various 87 octane fuels test different from one another on RON and MON.

 

[670cc]

Good information you provided, MZ5. So along with that, it is important to use the motorcycle owner’s manual, and it‘s octane recommendation, that is appropriate for your country. If someone just went online and downloaded a manual without knowing the market the manual is intended for, the person may think they need a different octane than they really do.

 

[670cc]

That is interesting. So Canada and the US use a different unit of measurement to almost the rest of the world but it is basically the same.

This article has a section on regional variations for octane ratings throughout the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Regional_variations

 

[INTHEWIND]

88 non corn.

 

[MasDixDragon]

US 87 up to 10% ethanol with stabilgas every time...I never know when I might leave it sitting for a while so I just use stabilizer every time...overkill I know but never have to worry about it going bad either

 

[mzflorida]

Arguably, N. America uses a more complete quantification than most other countries. Europe and other areas use the Research Octane Number (RON). Another measurement of knock resistance is the Motor Octane Number (MON). N. America uses the arithmetic mean (average) of those two numbers for our pump gasoline. Many, many other places around the world never switched over to use the mean of the two, they just stuck with the RON alone.

It is (or was a very long time ago) sometimes argued that RON is more suitable to typical passenger car operation, whereas MON is more suitable to higher or more sustained load operation. Curiously, though, European gasoline engines are nearly always far lower displacement, lower output engines than N. American ones. And, they're put into cars that are very frequently much more highly loaded, such as with MUCH heavier trailers compared to tow vehicle weight than N. America sees. All these things mean that European automotive use might actually be better served by MON than RON for an anti-knock rating.

However, at this point it's all rather academic. All we need to remember is that the numbers are emphatically NOT the same on the different continents. In fact, even the common equivalencies we see on the internet (and I share them sometimes, too) are not reliable. Since N. American AKI is the arithmetic mean of RON and MON, a particular fuel with an AKI of 87 _might_ have a RON of 93, or it might have a RON of 98, or anything in between. And in fact it happens rather regularly that various 87 octane fuels test different from one another on RON and MON.

This is an excellent post and I learned a few things I was unaware of before. Thanks!