Regular or higher octane for Harley's

Thanks guys. I always used top of the line gas, oils, etc. and it runs against the grain to do otherwise, but if that's what the manufacturer says to run...

Sportsterboy, does the manual give any reason why they recommended 87 octane for the 2003 883XLH?

Thanks hellboy,I got a bit of money in her,but I learned alot.She runs great...good for another 33 years....

No It Doesn't Say, Prob. The Way They Tune It, Prob. Doesn't Matter What You Run. The Higher Octane Prob. Is More Benificial For The Motor. The Xlh Is The Stock Sportster. The Differnce In The Parts On The Bike Make The Letters. Mine Is A Xlc . Xl Custom. Mine Came With Stock, Drag Bars, Solid Rear Rim, 21" Spoke Front, Low Profile Seat, Forward Controls, Shorter Shocks. Mine Is The Same Year As Yours, Just A Differn't Model. Back To The Gas, Everybody Always Say's Follow The Manual.

Thanks Sportsterboy, you've been a great help. I'll be looking around for the owners manual.

Most of the majors put their special additive/ detergent in the premium grade Cheveron/Texaco does put it in all 3 grades The only places I avoid is small independents which have no additives and Citgo whose home country is an enemy of the United States I use Chevron/Texaco Rremium grade mostly and the ride runs good If your bike runs good on mid or regular use that you wont hurt it.

The Owners Manual Is Pretty Basic, I Would Just Get A Service Manual , It Will Have The Same Info In It, And Be More Usefull If You Have To Fix Something. Or Do Like Me Try To Figure It Out And Ask Alot Of ?'s To The Other People On This Site. But Most Will Say That The Manual Is The Best Tool In The Box.

Thanks for that tip Ruffrider, I'll look for Texaco gas stations and try it out. Sportsterboy, no need to check around, but thanks for the offer.

Had a great ride today, ran about 40 miles up and back, the weather was fantastic for a New York February. Funny, it seems as if the bike likes certain speeds, 52, 58, 63. Just noticed I'm better at taking right hand curves than left.

My friend called Harley Davidson (NY) yesterday and their service dept. said they'd never heard of such a thing as recommending regular gas. I tried some high octane gas and the bike seemed a little rougher, but it could be my imagination. I'll keep checking until I'm certain what's up with this.

Octane

I have always run high octane in all the Harley's I have owned. I have even run the racing fuel before it got to be too outragously priced. Just doesn't seem to get the performance from "regular unleaded".

90 Octane rating or higher is requested for V-Rod engines.

German

I'm hoping to make it to a Harley Dealer next week and see if they can find out why the 2003 Sportster seems to be an exception to the rule... to be continued...

I try and put the super unleaded in whenever possible and I believe my bike runs better as a result!

Owners Manual says for me regular ('96 FLSTC). Tried it and went with midgrade stuff... Working just fine...

compression related

i've always been of the impression that higher compession engines, i.e > 9:1, will benefit from more higher octane levels. a regular old stock HD engine is i believe around 8:1 and i doubt would benefit whats so ever from anything higher than 87. sounds logical. so the question is than why i've never burned anything < 93 guess it just makes me feel better. another point which may influence things in the compression chamber of an air cooled bike would be heat. i'm thinking that could increase the octane requirement but not real sure what do you think:devil:

Interesting idea Skull2007, thanks. I'll certainly let everyone know what's up when I find out for certain.

Great looking Sporty there Gomorley, what's the year? Love that tank.

ABC News: Generic vs. Brand-Name Gas: Are They Different?

I saw something on this on TV a while back and went and found this article from Good Morning America. Apparently, generic and name brand gas are not as different as the name brand MFRs might like us to believe. The EPA now requires that all gas contain a minimum amount of detergent regardless of the brand in order to keep engines running as clean as possible. The same goes for the octane ratings. I've read some other articles that mentioned the fuel the two stations receive are sometimes not only from the same suppliers but from the very same truck.

lead

lead in fuel was usefull for getting rid of heat. i see additives for lead. any thoughts on this

From the internet: (RE: Pinging question)

Pinging sounds like rocks being thrown around inside your engine. It will never happen at idle, may happen at part throttle, but is most likely to happen at full throttle. It is usually accompanied by a small amount of smoke out of the tailpipe, but don't rely on that.

Pinging is like... taking a cutting torch to your combustion chamber. Your engine can stand anywhere from less than one second to perhaps minute of pinging before it suffers permanent and serious damage, depending on conditions.

The hotter your engine is, the more likely your engine is to ping. The farther your timing is advanced, the more likely your engine is to ping. The higher your compression ratio is, the more likely your engine is to ping. The lower the octane of gas you use, the more likely your engine is to ping.

I think this explains pinging.

Also, lead additives were intended to reduce pinging originally. At least that's what the ads on TV in the late
50's early 60's said!:gah:

08 Streetglide...but I ave always ran Hitest all my long riding years!!!!

And well you should!

Around here "regular" 87 Octane is about $2.75 per gallon. The "super" 92+/- Octane is around $3.20. That's $.45 per gallon difference, or with my little tank $1.12 difference to fill up.

I consistently get 48-50 GPM, so the extra cost is insignificant and I'm burning cleaner, fouling plugs less, never ping or have the engine run at all after turning it off (pre-ignition caused by cheap un-burned fuel) and I go plenty fast.

From what I've seen and read in these forums, most of us don't think twice about buying some extra chrome, converting an 883 to a 1200, etc., etc., so I see no reason to be penny-wise and pound foolish.

Also, not all additive packages are created equal. If you find a particular brand of gasoline that seems to work better for you stay with it. It's not just your imagination.

So that's my $1.12 on the subject.