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[srqseeg]

This is a heads up to those who, like me, have had performance issues since last October.  Symptoms included running hot, poor acceleration, loss of a deep sound from the pipes, dramatic decrease in gas mileage, and a coffee grinder sound coming from motor when accelerating sharply.  After hurricane Katrina the government evidently relaxed standards for gasoline and many of the additives are no longer added.  Performance issues are particularly evident on our larger motors. Johnson Performance in Sarasota suggested putting octane booster in at each fill-up (bottle is for 15 gallons so you have to make sure you only pour in 1/3 a bottle at fill-up and keep it away from your paint!).  What a difference!  Great having the SEEG performing like it use to!  Others having these issues?  If so, octane booster may just be the ticket.

[kng103]

if your bike needs octane booster to get it running right, you have a problem.
were you buying your gas from the same station?
if so, maybe they got a bad load in.
i had to run 87 on a trip one time. it was the only gas the station had.
bike ran fine. no pinging at all.
if there was a performance difference, it was hardly noticeable.

[srqseeg]

I used the same station for months prior to and after the performance issues cropped up.  Multiple fill-ups with no improvement so started going to BP with no change in performance so it does not seem to be a case of getting some "bad" gas from a single or several fill-ups.  However, my first thought was that I had gotten ahold of some bad gas.  All I know is that the problems have disappeared with the addition of the octane booster.  This experience is with only two fill-ups though.  I'm certainly open to other suggestions since the booster I'm buying adds about $3 per fill-up.  If this truly is the solution, it's a small price to pay for the outstanding performance I'm getting now.  Wonder if this problem is limited to the Southeast or if others have encountered a drop-off in performance over the last 3-4 months.

[grc]

Unless they changed the labels on the pumps, if it says 92 octane then it has to be 92 octane.  The more likely issue would be that they started shipping gasoline to your area from refineries where they have EPA mandated oxygenated fuel.  The folks in California, Chicago, and any other "non-attainment" area can tell you how great that stuff runs (not).

Jerry

[srqseeg]

grc,

The folks at Johnson Performance said the actual octane was the same (my primary station is 93 octane) but that the gas doesn't have the same additives they use to have.

[grc]

srqseeg,

The biggest difference I see with oxygenated fuel is reduced mileage (10 - 15%) and a slight reduction in power.  I haven't really noticed increased detonation or some of the other problems you described.  Since octane is the measure of resistance to detonation, you shouldn't have that problem if the fuel really is 93 octane, even if it is oxygenated.  Another possibility is that some unscrupulous middleman is adulterating the fuel before it gets to the gas stations.  Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to take advantage of a situation.  BTW, using different stations in the same area won't necessarily tell you anything.  They are probably getting their fuel from the same distributor, no matter what the brand.

Jerry

[srqseeg]

grc,

Interesting stuff.  Thanks!  After another tank or two of using the booster, I think I will go back and run without the booster and see what happens.  Could the symptoms indicate that I had a carbon build-up and this has now been cleared out?  The dealer thought that this might be the issue.  If so, the question becomes does octane booster help "burn" carbon build-up out?

[yellowsedeuce]

srqseeg,

The biggest difference I see with oxygenated fuel is reduced mileage (10 - 15%) and a slight reduction in power.

[grc]

.....After another tank or two of using the booster, I think I will go back and run without the booster and see what happens.

[srqseeg]

Thanks gang!  As always, great info here!

[BLM777]

I encountered a similar problem about six months ago and found that it was confined to the purchases made at RaceTrac stations.  Started using Sunoco and lost the problem.  In doing some checking, I learned that they use and blend from two different sources with RaceTrac playing the market on differenct distributors.  May or may not be the problem, but worked for me.

[The Mysterious Q!]

Remember when you could pull into a Sunoco station and on the side of the building was the"CAM II" 110 octane pump fuel for like $3.50 a gallon.(Remember this goes back at least 10-12 yrs ago.) You would put that chit in anything and it was like instant power. Boy those were the days. Later,Q

[HUBBARD]

Yeah, 'er 'uh, Big Daddy,
  It's $4.63 a gallon up here.  Local Distributor has it at the Plant, for the Local Dirt Track, not offered in Stations.  Torco 112, and sometimes 114 Octane, "Blue Fuel."  Later--HUBBARD

[srqseeg]

Update:

Just rode with the first fill-up without using the octane booster.  Performance issues I initially noted quickly returned.  Thought it might have been carbon buildup, but now that does not seem to be the case.

[kng103]

Update:

Just rode with the first fill-up without using the octane booster.