silly question

[Keiran]

But I can't find the answer anywhere!

What octane fuel shoudl I put into my hawk? everything in the engine and exhaust and carbs is stock to my knowledge

[NT696]

Octane

The only silly questions are the ones not asked....
I normally run 91, because that is the highest they have at the local gas station. I have sometimes used 94, but have not noticed any difference. Standard "highway gas" - 87 also runs ok, but does not seem to have as much pep to it when I get on the throttle. Maybe it is just in my head though. Others out there with more chemical know-how may be able to shed some more light on the subject. Ethanol (up to 10%) is used around here to boost octane.
-Just my 0.02

[kennie]

octane ratings really have to do with predetonation. High compression engines need higher octane because of its better resistance to igniting under high compression. You can safely use as low of an octane you can get before pinging. I now use the middle grade on all my bikes, but I can't remember if I've ever gotten any pinging problems with the lowest grade gas.

[Tusk]

87 octane and it runs fine (with pods, factory 3.0 jets and supertrapp). I used to use mid grade and have tried high, but ((shrug)) really haven't detected much difference on MY butt dyno. So, cheap is good!

Try the lowest and if it doesn't knock, you should be ok.

[Soul]

I also run 87..in the Hawk and in the 900rr...I think the hawk manual says stock it should run on 85 or 87? I cant remember off the top of my head now.

[ekubota]

I don't have the owner's manual but I think it (strangely) indicated that 91+ should be used. In my area, that's premium (93), as the only other options are 87 and 89. This is kind of odd since it's not a very high-strung design, but it did run better with 93.

My CBR, on the other hand, is happy with 87.

[brewsy]

Not that I have had a lot of experience with my little bike, only filled the tank twice so far!!!, but this last time I put in 91 and it did make a noticeable difference. The bike is totally stock but starting was a bit faster and it responded that little bit faster on the throttle, nothing really major but noticeable none the less.

Marc