Octane Booster?

[450_rider]

I use premium gas from the pump, but am wondering if octane booster from NOS or a company like that will harm my engine or carb somehow? Any info is appreciated.

[grayracer513]

It might, or it might not, but if your bike isn't pinging on pump gas now, it won't do anything for you but put a leak in your wallet.

[450_rider]

on 94 octane my piston feels like is pinging and knocking but once i ran the octane booster one time it solved it, but i was just wonding if it will do something to my carb after using for a while?

[00YZ426FMRCD]

I would stick with a good quality pump gas. 93 or higher...That is what the bike is designed for. (Unless mofified) I believe the manual says 95 but 93 and up should work fine.

[fast426]

I would stick with a good quality pump gas. 93 or higher...That is what the bike is designed for. (Unless mofified) I believe the manual says 95 but 93 and up should work fine.

Is'nt most premium pump gas 91 or 92 octane???

My manual for an '01 426 calls for a 92 octane.

It runs fine on 91, but if you let it sit for a couple weeks with the 91, it does'nt like to start. Change the fuel, and it starts fine.

Octane boost on a stock engine is a waste. It only seems like you're going faster because everyone behind you's eyes are watering from the unburnt hydrocarbons and can't see where they are going

[642MX]

I don't see any harm in it. As long as you are using it as the directions say, you'll probably be fine.

[00YZ426FMRCD]

Is'nt most premium pump gas 91 or 92 octane???

My manual for an '01 426 calls for a 92 octane.

It runs fine on 91, but if you let it sit for a couple weeks with the 91, it does'nt like to start. Change the fuel, and it starts fine.

Octane boost on a stock engine is a waste. It only seems like you're going faster because everyone behind you's eyes are watering from the unburnt hydrocarbons and can't see where they are going?

I'll double check but I think my 00 426 Manual calls for 95 Octane. I would think an 01 426 would be the same. (Maybe you have the Europe or Canadian version - 426 ) I would go with what the manuals says.

I personally wouldn't run anything less than 93 Octane in mine. I know in some parts of the country & outside the US, 93 and higher it is difficult to find. Here in Indiana, 93-94 Octane from the pump is plentiful. If you can't find 93 or higher, you may have to go with Octane Boost. Most Pump gas I have seen thru out the MidWest is 87,89 ,91 & 93

[450_rider]

Up here in Canada at the chevron its 94 octane, thanks for the info i was running my bike around 104 but since i got nothing done to the engine theres really no point.

[grayracer513]

The method used to rate the octane makes a difference. Research Octane Number (RON) methodology sometimes results in fuels that don't resist knock as well in high performance engines as those rated by the Motor Octane Method (MON). Most good racing fuels are rated by MON, and in California, they are required to be rated by an average of the two ((RON+MON)/2), which is posted on the pump, and that number is required to be a Minimum number. The 95 specified in the manual was most likely a RON number.

More on octane testing methods (click the link, "Octane numbers, what they mean", under the page header.)

[Ga426owner]

I use premium gas from the pump, but am wondering if octane booster from NOS or a company like that will harm my engine or carb somehow? Any info is appreciated.

This gets asked often - Your Stock 450 will not benefit at all from Higher octane gas...in fact several people I know have had to replace carb seals and accel diaphrams due to damage from Higher octane fuels....My advice is stay with pump 93 or like myself use VPU4 - a much higher oxygenated fuel with similar octane level to pump premium gas. U4 will add 2 hp if your bike is jetted correctly although it runs ok with stock jetting. It must be drained after each ride day!

Higher octane fuels work best in 2 stroke motors....

[snow]

I put in a octane booster at the dunes last ride mainly becasue of the nitrous but even when I was off the happy switch i noticed I slight difference when bliping the throttle but maybe my bike is not jetted just right and the booster helped cure that problem just my 2cents I would give it a try and if no gain then your out 5-7 bucks.

[o2golfpar]

The issue for me is the small town gas station near where i ride ONLY sells 87 octane. my manual calls for 91 octane.

how many ounces of octane booster are needed to hit the 91 as recommended?

Gumout and STP octane booster says add the bottle to 10-15 gallon tank, but will that bring 87 up to 91?

thanks for the help, and suggestions.

[FinchFan194]

Near my house there is an Native American fuel station that is ethanol free. My boat and truck run a heck of a lot better on it. Problem is its only 87 octane. So my question is what is ocatne booster made of? I would love to run this ethanol free and some octane booster but if octane booster is alcohol based(like ethanol) then I would be defeating the purpose right?

[grayracer513]

Typical "octane booster" gasoline additives include MTBE, ETBE, isooctane and toluene. Most of the commercially available octane boosters will only raise the octane number a few points at best (0.1) , which means if you raised it ten points, it would go from 87 to 88.

Some automotive speed shops may still sell more effective boosters. Moroso used to make a good one, but it would still not raise fuel octane an entire grade.

One solution is to use toluene, available at many hardware outlets, and mix it at up to 15% with pump gas. This is somewhat cheaper and much more effective than typical boosters, but may require richer jetting. Toluene is a fairly normal fuel component already, especially in race gas.

However, you would probably get the best results from using the premium and adding 5-10% toluene to that. Ethanol at up to 10% is just not that big a deal for most people's purposes.

[FinchFan194]

Great info Gray thanks!

[o2golfpar]

thanks GrayRacer, i have read a white paper on this site about adding toluene, I will check with the auto speed shop next time in town. Marty.

[fmfred]

I run 20% touline with 92octane pump gas, had to lean the pilot and main 1 size. touline doesn't work very well when its cold ( below 70 degrees), so I only run it in the summer. I run Hondas so I can't comment on specific jet sizes, I think yamaha carbs are jetted differently.

research touline on the internet, there is a bunch of info out there. There are formula's for jetting by determing specific gravity depending on the ratio of gasoline to touline. So if you have a baseline from jetting for pump gas, you can figure out how to jet on paper before you ride. You can buy touline in gallon jugs at a paint shop. It's way cheaper than buying the 4 oz bottles at an auto parts store.

I'm over here in the yamaha fourum looking for rider feedback on the new 2010's, those bikes are cool. I might be ridding blue next year!

[24performance]

I ran into this problem before and I did the same thing that most people do I used an octane booster. I had a friend tell me that all I was doing was wasting my money. I had asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was mixing in 100 octane unleaded racing fuel from VP called StreetBlaze 100 with his pump gas. I started doing this and have never had a problem with octane. The bike has more torque, and doesn’t lug when you put it in a low gear. As far as mixing Toluene in with pump gas I have never tried that?