Aviation gas, usually 100+ octane

 

i have heard of guys running it but i never have. I was told that if you use that stuff you need to use some kind of a top end lube in it cause it burns really dry. A buddy of mine used to use that in his racecar and i think he just mixed a little tranny fluid into it, it would make it smoke a little bit but you could hardly notice it.

 

What thetank2006 posted about the heat associated with high compression is correct. The higher the octane the more resistant to burning it is. Use diesel fuel as an example. Diesels are typicly 15-18:1 CR. Ever light diesel fuel on fire??? It burns, not explodes, because in theory diesel fuel is "high octane" & resists explosion. (I know for all you chemistry majors it's two totally seperate fuels) but it shows an example. Now for the reason some quads like the z400 & it's clones can run 89 octane with a 11:1 CR is the liquid cooling. Same reason a 400ex or some air cooled utility quads require 91+ gas is an air cooled engine runs ALOT hotter, therefore needing higher octane gas to resist detonation.

Oxygenated gas would make an engine run faster yes, know why????? Air in the fuel is making it run lean. Lean is mean,right?? Better know what the f*&k you're doing with oxygenated fuels, otherwise the results are going to be a real big bang.

As far as someone saying "my stock engine Blaster runs sooooo much better on racing fuel" is full of crap. Unless your compression ratio requires it, it's money well wasted.

 

The group of about 18 Lt 500s i ride with, burn av. My understanding is not that it has all the octane and all that, its that its clean and has some good stuff in it to help your fuel system stay cleaner. It never gets "stale". The last fuel i bought was 3.62 per gallon. It isn't that much more expensive for a better fuel. You don't have to modify anything on the bike, i guess i can only say that about 2 strokes. We cut it with Amsoil (dominator). The guy who builds our motors and rides with us swears by it. I'm really not sure if you could run this in a 4 stroke with out any changes or not, i'm sure someone on here does though. We also run NASCAR plugs. If you've never seen one, check one out, they're a little different.
I hope this creates some conversation because i know there are other curious dummies out there like me that are soaking up good information from this forum from people that know what they are talking about. I would also like to say that i am aware that this works for us and i am not suggesting it works or would work for everyone. The 500's we ride are as waspy as it gets.

 

Nascar plugs? Are you talking about side gapping?

 

I'm not sure what "side gapping" is but they are the same spark plugs used in NASCAR. The electrode is straight and is tacked to keep it from breaking off and causing havoc with the piston. I think they burn a little hotter and make the whole process a little more efficient.

 

Ahh, I see. But I would think a colder plug would be better to allow a lower octane to be used for more power but resist detonation in a higher compression engine. Atleast that's the practice I've seen in cars and trucks, so these little engines might be different beasts.

Side gapping is when the ground strap is moved to the side of the electrode instead of it being directly above it and you gap it from that angle. Some say the strap shields the spark, so by side-gapping, the spark is more exposed to the incoming full mixture. Depending on the head configuration, you'd probably want to index the plug to get the most benefit.

 

I'm learning as i go. Fortunately, the guy who builds all the zillas can tear them down and put them back together with his eyes closed. He has a great deal of knowledge and i plan on getting some of it. I hate people that talk out their a$$. I don't want to be one of those guys so i'm learning all i can about the bike. There are so many technical things to make one of these things scream.
The main point it these things run like nothing i've been on or run against, i just want to know why.

 

Yep, I hear ya... I've learned alot about my quads having owned them only a year now. But knowledge I brought from my car/truck background hasn't translated 100% to these little machines, so I've got alot to learn as well [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Cheers