K... so i'm confused. A lot of people are telling me my 06' gixxer 600 requires gas of an octane rating of 91, but the owner's manual say 87. I'm pretty sure it isn't some typo or anything, but why do people keep saying 91 then?

Also, i haven't really been able to ride my bike due to 2 weeks of rain here in CA, so i haven't been able to test the gas mileage. What is everyone averaging on there 600?

any help is much oblidged! thanks!

all you need is 87 oct. unless you build your motor with higher compression you wont need any higher :)

no shit thanx MPD u just saved me some loot

Hmm the sticker on the tank of my 750 says min 90. Dunno about the 600. Generally the lowest octane that does not produce knock is fine. I run premium.

87? :wtf

We have to use 95 over here in the UK

what method do they use to get that rating in the uk? I bet it's different, and it's probably equal to 87 here in the states. the 750 and 1k use 91 octane and the 600 uses 87.

there are several ways to test the octane rating of gasoline, in the UK your pump is labeled with the RON value, in the US our pumps are labeled with the average between the RON and MON measurement

the MON rating is more precise (about 8-10 points lower than the RON) so that would make US octane ratings about 5 points lower than UK octane values.

in other words. using 95 in the UK is like using 90-91 in the US. so most americans who run 87 in the states would run around 91 (if that exists) in the UK.

hope that clears things up. and all these calculations are rough values, used for example only.

edit, wolph kinda beat me to it, but i put some facts behind his speculations :)

I used to use Sunoco 94 in all of my bikes, but they don't make it anymore. They are only producing 93. I always use a higher octane because it is a cleaner fuel. For a stock motor, I wouldn't go any higher than 93 or 94, but I do know of people that run race fuel at the track. To me, race fuel is not good for a stock bike because the stock motors are built to run on "pump" gas. I would rather spend a couple of more bucks and run a cleaner fuel through my engine than skimp a few cents and run a less refined fuel. By the way, 4 bikes later with 93-94 octane (from Ducati's to Japanes bikes 1000's and 600's )and no problems whatsoever.

I used to use Sunoco 94 in all of my bikes, but they don't make it anymore. They are only producing 93. I always use a higher octane because it is a cleaner fuel. For a stock motor, I wouldn't go any higher than 93 or 94, but I do know of people that run race fuel at the track. To me, race fuel is not good for a stock bike because the stock motors are built to run on "pump" gas. I would rather spend a couple of more bucks and run a cleaner fuel through my engine than skimp a few cents and run a less refined fuel. By the way, 4 bikes later with 93-94 octane (from Ducati's to Japanes bikes 1000's and 600's )and no problems whatsoever.

octane ratings doesnt mean how clean it is, it is how fast the fuel will burn

87 octane burns faster than 93 octane

most race gas is higher in oxygen which is what produces the extra power you get from them

actually the extra power comes from carbon (from the hydrocarbons)

premium fuel just isnt higher octane, it's better quality fuel in general, or technically is supposed to be.

i mean look at gasohol (ethanol blend, available in some states) mixing gas with ethanol will boost the octane rating, but actually puts out less power in an engine, because carbon bonds net more power than hydrogen bonds.

and to whoever said use the lowest fuel possible that doesnt cause knock, thats not really a true statement because most engines and ecu's (not sure about bikes) have knock sensors and automatically retard the timing to prevent knock. so while yes you can use a lower octane rated fuel, you wont extract the same amount of power out of the bike.

and as for using high octane being a waste. it may be a waste if your ecu isnt mapped for it, with increased timing since the engine has doesnt have to worry about knock (since the fuel lowers/eliminates that)

octane is the rating on how well the fuel RESISTS igniting. ie water has the highest octane rating. if you run too high of an octane rating you are basically just burning money and also will get more left over carbon. if you use too low of an octane rating the fuel might ignite during the compression instead of when the plug actually fires. this will produce "knocking" and slowly (possibly quickly) destroy your engine.

The BEST octane rating to use is the lowest octane you can that doesn't give knocking. That's the most hp you're going to get. You run higher octane you will have the possiblity of losing hp.

run what your manual says unless you change the engine around then you need to dyno it and find out what octane you can get away with...

Funny, the only gas I put in my bike goes in the tires. You must mean fuel.

By "gas" we mean Gasoline, petrol, benzin, etc. The word has commonly been shortened in colloquial usage to "gas" since 1905. So, after more than 100 years of use of the term "gas" i think it will suffice for the sake of conversation.

i thought geeks were smart?

I have always used 76/sunoco 91++ in e-v-e-r-y-th-i-n-g. My 04 600 said to use premium 91 and Im doing the same thing with this bike. So what if it costs me .30 extra for 91. Id rather keep my fuel injecotrs clean and avoid knock than save a few cents each fill up. My friend who uses ARCO 87 on his gixxer had to replace the injectors twice in one summer due to contaiminants and unfiltered crap in the fuel.

Higher octane burns *slooower*. Not so much to where you're going to save the money you spent back on higher grade fuel, but it will prevent early detonation at higher rpms and engine temps.

So the bottom line here (judging by all the posts) is use highest octane fuel, it will ensure a long engine/machine life? I would rather lose a few horses (as if the bikes aren't fast enough already) but prolong the life of the motor, than use crap gasoline and ruin the motor earlier.

Here on the east coast of Canada, I have always put 91 octane premium fuel in my bikes. I have had a range of bikes and the manual has always called for 91 octane fuel. If I was you I would pay the extra couple cents per litre and put in the higher octane fuel....thats my .02 cents....

First off, no one answered your second question, what kind of gas mileage do you get, i have over 600 miles on mine and average about 50 mpg, and that's beating the living fuck out of it, 14,000-16,500 RPM's all the time (got the 3 year E.S.P) and all i'll put in it is 93, octane rating is just how vaulitle the fuel is under pressure, the higher the octane rating, the higher the pressure it can withstand before detonating, that's why turbo and supercarged cars, as well as high compression motors run 93 or race gas, and since the 06 gixxers have a 12.5/1 compression ratio, i would say to run 93, or at least 89, to eliminate knocking, caused by detonation, which is the fuel ignighting before the piston reaches T.D.C.

higher octane will not save your engine because do you really think the dealerships set the octane rating at the lowest possible? what they recommend is a VERY safe thing to use. on a dyno on EVERY car I have ever test we ran 87 when it says to use premium and no knocking. same with bikes. the dealerships won't risk a ton of warranty issues just to say "run 87 octane".

They won't tell you to use it if it will cause knocking. if you get knocking on your engine using 87 then you have other problems and 91 octane won't help you. you can run whatever the dealership runs safely, if that's 89 use 89 if it's 87 use 87.

so running higher octane than what you need does a few things. clogs injectors, leaves more carbon, gives less hp, and costs LOTS more.

anyone here think a dealership would say run 87 when it knocks on 87 is wrong. for one would you buy a bike from a company that is that stupid? give suzuki some c redit guys...they tell you to run this becaue it's safe on that. anymore octane than that and you're just tossing money away.

if you adjust your timing or something, that's diff...but a stock engine should be FINE on what they state to run...anymore is worse for your engine moreso than you're helping it

higher octane will not save your engine because do you really think the dealerships set the octane rating at the lowest possible? what they recommend is a VERY safe thing to use. on a dyno on EVERY car I have ever test we ran 87 when it says to use premium and no knocking. same with bikes. the dealerships won't risk a ton of warranty issues just to say "run 87 octane".

They won't tell you to use it if it will cause knocking. if you get knocking on your engine using 87 then you have other problems and 91 octane won't help you. you can run whatever the dealership runs safely, if that's 89 use 89 if it's 87 use 87.

so running higher octane than what you need does a few things. clogs injectors, leaves more carbon, gives less hp, and costs LOTS more.

anyone here think a dealership would say run 87 when it knocks on 87 is wrong. for one would you buy a bike from a company that is that stupid? give suzuki some c redit guys...they tell you to run this becaue it's safe on that. anymore octane than that and you're just tossing money away.

if you adjust your timing or something, that's diff...but a stock engine should be FINE on what they state to run...anymore is worse for your engine moreso than you're helping it


Very well put. So what if you have a TRE, would that constitute going to premium?

i honestly don't know about the tre. i would call ivan at ivansperformance and ask him. he would know if alters the engine enough to warrant changing the octane. i would assume if you don't need to dyno it at all then you should be okay. normally when people play w/ the timing, compression, nitrous, turbo, headgasket thickness, etc they are told to dyno it. they are told to dyno it because most mechanics know when you play w/ those you need to make sure it's tuned properly for the octane, compression, etc...

the dealership nicely did this for you guys when you buy it. now if you alter something that would affect that, dyno it or play it safe.

call ivan up on that one or whoever makes it. I believe ivan. if i understood it better than i would know. i know enough to say "i don't know" and admit it though :)

It would be nice to get the PCIIIr (ignition/timing control built in), but all I can find for the 06 600 is the PCIIIusb which is about 300, plus another 300 for the ignition control to adjust timing.

the octane rating for any given motor gets determined by the chape of the combustion chamber and by running on higher octane you shorten the life cycle of your engine unless you running elevations below sea level and hot humid conditions theres no reason to use higher octane

When I was getting my 600 there was another person who was picking up his 750. The sales guy said to us both that the 750 needed premium gas and the 600 was just regular 87 octane.

Why spend more money on gas? Ill stick with my 87 octane its already fast.

my k4 750 and k6 1000 both said use 91 or better so I'm always running supreme.

When I was getting my 600 there was another person who was picking up his 750. The sales guy said to us both that the 750 needed premium gas and the 600 was just regular 87 octane.

Why spend more money on gas? Ill stick with my 87 octane its already fast.


Sales guy? He should just stick to selling bikes instead of giving out mechanical information that he thought of on his own. Both bikes are very similar indeed with minor compression differences, so why would it matter that much on what octane was being run. I have run 93-94 octane in every bike I have ever had, from carburated 600's to fuel injected 1000's and 600's, to Ducati V-twins. I have never had a problem with any of the bikes.

I have a 05 GSXR 600 my manual says use the regular 87 pump. But since gas is up anyway. I just spend the extra money on the higher gas. Not sure if it makes it better on HP. But thats me.

This is a really mixed up thread now......There is really nothing bad that is going to happen if you run a higher octane than recommended, thats why it says AT LEAST 87 octane rating. Does noone have a car that says something similar?? Like a turbo eclipse has to run premium because of the higher compression that boosting creates. The higher octane prevents knocking. Now getting into race fuels and other stuff, there are different oxygen levels that make more power, (has anyone else seen what happened to Ricky Carmichael, they tested his gas and it had too much oxygen in it) but for most of your daily street purposes oxygen levels and other stuff do not matter. Now in my opinion there are some places that get crap gas that seems to make my car run like crap. Stick to your BP, Shell, and other good gas stations. Places like the Meijers gas station might be cheap but its prolly not the best gas in town. So, higher octane than what is recommened will not hurt your 600/750. Crappy gasoline will hurt any engine.

P.S. I still do not understand why they recommend 87 min octane for the 600 when it has just as high of compression as the 750 and 1000.

By "gas" we mean Gasoline, petrol, benzin, etc. The word has commonly been shortened in colloquial usage to "gas" since 1905. So, after more than 100 years of use of the term "gas" i think it will suffice for the sake of conversation.

i thought geeks were smart?

We are, that's why I corrected him. Well, scratch that. I just making fun of all the damn fuel threads when Suzuki puts it in the manual in the most simple of terms. Come on... even the most hilljack sport on the planet (NASCAR) says fuel. Gas is a state of matter, not a liquid you put in your tank.

P.S. I still do not understand why they recommend 87 min octane for the 600 when it has just as high of compression as the 750 and 1000.

PV=nrT. That's the ideal gas law. Pressure and volume equal the number of moles, universal gas constant, and Temperature. Now instead of doing a bunch of math to prove a point, I'll just explain it. The smaller volume of the 600 when compressed does not generate as much heat as the 1000 does when it's pistons compress the fuel air mix. Higher octane fuel is harder to ignite. The 1000cc engine exceeds the critical temperature for the mix and causes pre-ignition. This is bad. To stop it from happening, it requires a higher octane fuel.

One possibility for the clogged injectors with "regular" is that the station sells alot more of it, necessitating refilling from tanker trucks much more often, which stirs up all the crap that has settled in the underground tank, which then ends up in your bike. Additionally, no matter what the sign says on the station, that particular vendor may be getting fuel from many different sources. Including small batches of fuel bought at a discount that has been pulled out of the tanks of stations that're going out of business. Discount fuel stations buy lots of little drabs of fuel from wherever they can get it cheapest, which makes the "stirred up crap in the tanks" problem all the worse.

By the way, all bikes light the mixture before top dead center. Normal burning of the mixture is relatively slow - a few hundred feet per second. Detonation is where the flame front creates an extreme high pressure wave that builds on itself until it becomes explosive, and explosions travel at or above the local speed of sound - well over 1000 fps. It's over very quickly, but it has all happened while the piston was still very near TDC, so the extreme pressure and temperature have nowhere to go except out through a soon-to-be-formed hole in your piston. Higher octane is simply a measure of a fuel's resistance to all this.

And Ricky Carmichael's fuel had too much lead in it, not too much oxygen. Tetra-ethyl lead is an additive used to boost octane and detonation resistance. The fact that his fuel had less lead in it than the dust on your bookshelf initially didn't phase AMA Racing, so grown-ups had to 'splain it all to them

Shoot, i forgot it was lead not oxygen....

The manual says to use 87 Octane unless knock is heard, then run a higher octane. The Factory is in the business of making money, not losing it. If it were not safe to run 87 it would tell you to use a different octane. MotoMummy is dead on! (no pun intended) :cheers

i run 89 octane. have for all the dyno runs posted here and all trackdays. no knocking ever. run the lowest octane your bike runs cleanly on. experiment with 1/4 of a tank of 87 and see what happens. if it's going to knock it will do it under a heavy throttle load and lower rpms. like if you went to pass a car and did not click down a gear or some loser on an R6 comes up on your blind side in 4th at 70 on the hwy and tries to run away. he got about 20 yds before i grabbed 1 down and left him. :nono

1,200 track miles on the motor with the cheapest, dirtiest 89 octane I could find has yielded a strong motor and some podium finishes.

87? :wtf

We have to use 95 over here in the UK

How much is your gas a gallon?

Seriously though if you pump 87 and not premium, your only asving what 30 cents? I just pump premium just for the peace of mind, giving my baby what she deserves lol.

Seriously though if you pump 87 and not premium, your only asving what 30 cents? I just pump premium just for the peace of mind, giving my baby what she deserves lol.
does she deserve increased valve wear? i think not. we have a station here that sells everything from 87 up to 97 octane fuel. i used to think i was doing my bike a favor and splurged on the 97 octane in my Duc M944 all the time. we tore it down to port/polish the heads and found that the valves and top of the piston were coated
in this nasty black shalack looking stuff. the wrench asked if i was running race gas? no but 97 octane. he said 89 would be fine for it. even on that heavily built motor (nearly 100RWHP from an air cooled, 2 valve, carbed, 944CC twin) it ran fine.
read this article. it explains it pretty well. Bill at MC Perf in Madison, WI knows his shiznit. he builds Ed Keys championship winning SV's.
http://www.motorcycleperf.com/tectip.htm

does she deserve increased valve wear? i think not. we have a station here that sells everything from 87 up to 97 octane fuel. i used to think i was doing my bike a favor and splurged on the 97 octane in my Duc M944 all the time. we tore it down to port/polish the heads and found that the valves and top of the piston were coated
in this nasty black shalack looking stuff. the wrench asked if i was running race gas? no but 97 octane. he said 89 would be fine for it. even on that heavily built motor (nearly 100RWHP from an air cooled, 2 valve, carbed, 944CC twin) it ran fine.
read this article. it explains it pretty well. Bill at MC Perf in Madison, WI knows his shiznit. he builds Ed Keys championship winning SV's.
http://www.motorcycleperf.com/tectip.htm

+1 on the article, im not even going to argue it. Too high of an octane means your motor will not ignite it in time. Dont fight with your motor... Premium isnt the quality of the gas. The quality comes from the Company... Chevron, Shell, 76 and so on. Think of it as oil. You buy the name brand oils with a reputation of quality and a proven history. The weight of the oils you choose depends on your situation, temp, and or dino/syn. Gas should be purchased from a quality gas station and the octane depends on your motor's situation. A 600 will run GREAT on 87, 89, but 91-97 is bad. If your motor's situation is a drag motor pushing retardedly high compression such as 15,16:1, then you need higher octane. So stop thinking that the fuels used by race bikes is needed for you STOCK motor. You dont really think you bike has the same motor in it as Mladins do you? All in All street bike, stock motor = regular gas.:flipoff

Lot of misleading information. Your 600 will run fine on 87-92.

Running very high octane, or even race gas, isn't exactly smart though unless your motor is tuned for it/motor can take advantage of it. I laugh at people who put race gas in their bike (or car) when they go to the track thinking it's going to either 1) help them or 2) prevent their engine from blowing up.

If I'm not mistaken, the CR on the 600 is 12:5:1. I wouldn't run anything less than 91/92 at that C/R. Read your plugs though. If you see any pre-ignition or signs of detonation at 87, definitely use something higher.

While we're on this topic -- do bikes have knock sensors? If so, are they any good? I know on most cars they're worthless in upper RPMs (too much engine noise).