What octane fuel does my bike actually need?

TwistedKestrel

TwistedKestrel

King of GTAM
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This is not another thread about using Shell 94 giving your bike another 50 horsepressure. I'm a bit confused about what Kawasaki is actually specifying for my bike.

Exhibit A: Spec sheet from Kawasaki.com for the 2011 Ninja 1000. It shows 90 RON/87 AKI.
http://www.kawasaki.com/site/Kawasaki/Techpubs/English/spec_id/2011/sp_ZX1000GBF.pdf

Exhibit B: Owner's manual from Kawasaki.com. If you go to page 38, there you can see it specifies 90 AKI.
http://www.kawasaki-techinfo.net/show_pdf.php?manual=OM&pdf_name=99987-1665_EN_2_05.pdf

Sooo... what are they trying to tell me? Where's the translation error?
 
I'd take the owners manual info over a general spec sheet. Looks like it calls for premium fuel.
 
DJM said:
I'd take the owners manual info over a general spec sheet. Looks like it calls for premium fuel.
Click to expand...

The more I look at this, the more I wonder how I ever came to the conclusion that it was okay to use regular. Wishful thinking I suppose. Good thing I don't ride it very hard on the street.
 
Octane in North America is specified as (RON+MON)/2 and it calls for minimum 90. This is what your owner's manual states and this is how octane numbers printed on the pump are given in North America. That pretty much means premium fuel only.

Other parts of the world use either RON or MON (I've forgotten which) and it's a bigger number for the same fuel.

Late model high performance Kawasaki engines have normally specified 90 octane minimum.

In a pinch (out in the middle of nowhere) with no premium fuel available, I've filled up my ZX10R with 87 octane regular, and rode carefully to avoid the conditions that favor detonation: avoid full throttle high engine load, and keep the revs up to avoid bogging or lugging down. Worked fine for getting me to a place where I could get premium fuel. Just don't run the engine under heavy load like this.
 
Right, sorry. I should clarify: AKI = Average knock index = (RON+MON)/2.
 
I always thought RON #s were significantly higher than our Octanes. I.e. 95 RON = 91 at the pump
 
Macs said:
I always thought RON #s were significantly higher than our Octanes. I.e. 95 RON = 91 at the pump
Click to expand...

Pretty much ... adding 4-5 to an AKI number (the North American standard) is roughly equivalent to RON.
 
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