What Octane Do You Use?

[Calothrix]

I am particularly interested in the Agility 125, but would like to here about other Kymco Scooters also.  Does your scooter run OK on 87 octane gasoline or gasoline with 10% ethanol, or do you find you need to use a mid- or premium grade gasoline?  Thanks!

[olbull]

premuim..I  know  all  the  stories  about how its  a waste of  $$$ ..Its  like  this..... putting an  avg  of  1.5 gals  at  each  fill ...I  can  swing the extra  30 cents... I  spoil  my grandkids...and  my  scoot  gets  all  the  spoilin  I can  give her..

OlBull

[Travis]

Let me put it this way.  These bikes are covered by a warranty so the manufacturer wants to make sure that you don't have any problems (its in their best interest).  I follow the owners manual to the letter with the exception of synthetic oil.  The dealer told me that its perfectly alright to burn 89 (midgrade) in it however they are in the business of selling motorcycles.  They also told me that the service intervals are excessive and I only have to do about 1/2 the maintenance that they specify.  Personally I believe very little of what a salesman tells me and I  have followed or exceeded all manufacturer recommendations.   

As OlBull said the extra 20 cents (or so) makes it a moot point.  The money you save simply wouldn't be worth any kind of risk.

There is a reason for the high octane fuel.  These air cooled engines have a pretty high compression ratio and run hot the higher octane fuel helps to prevent detonation.  Detonation will cause severe damage to the engine.  This occurs when the fuel burns before the piston hits top dead center.  It can blow holes in pistons and cause other catastrophic failures.  While I'm sure the scooter will run on 89 octane (or even regular) I wouldn't do it for any extended periods and would add octane boost as soon as I possibly could as well as driving 15-20mph to prevent the engine from heating up.

[frankt3095]

Howdy

PS250; use regular 87 octane [10% ethanol year round in AZ].  Gets 80+ mpg.  Plenty quick, with Dr. Pulley slider/rollers and Leo Vince 4Scoot performance exhaust system.  Dealer said to use premium; all the motorcycle and scoot boards say premium only if engine is high compression.  After 1000 mi, I went to mid-grade for two tanks, then to regular ever since [now 3500 mi.]. Love it.

Scoot safe and happy,
f

[geezerbob]

The US (and Canada?) uses a different octane rating than the rest of the world.  Our 87 octane is roughly equivalent to 92 octane in their system.  I've used 87 in my P250 for 20,000 km with no ill effects and haven't noticed any difference in performance or mileage with the 10% ethanol that may be in the gas.  The signs on the pumps in this area state that it MAY contain 10% ethanol, not that it does.

[Calothrix]

Spoke with a service technician at my local Kymco dealership and he said that 87 octane is fine but to stay away from ethanol.

[walkguru]

i run 87 octane here in a people 150. runs fine.

[Tubacscooter]

I have no trouble with 87 or even 85 octane in my GV259. just went over red mountain pass in CO at 11,000 feet with two people and had no problem.  Remember that the 91-93 octane recommended in the manual us a European measurement and is equal to our 87 octane.  Running a higher octane is just wasting your money. Also in the West most of our gas is 10% ethanol.
Mike

[Branndon]

my Agility 125's owners manual says the compression is 13:1 so I use premium.

[yajblackburn]

The manual for my 99 People 50 says to use 91 octane.  Here premium is 93....close enogh.

[automattic]

I use 87.

[mitchedwards]

I use 93 octain, and stay away from ethanol.

[geezerbob]

I recently noticed that Shell stations in this area are sporting permanent signs stating that their gas contains no ethanol.  Just thought I'd pass it on.

[kawzak]

Well I need to throw in my 2-cents. The difference in cost between regular, mid-grade and premium is not only due to octane related chemicals, but that is the first one I will address. The premium grade fuel actuall burns slower in the cylinder than regular fuel-so it will actually give a little better milage, and power (this may or may not be very noticable). This is more predominate in a fuel injected vechicle, if the system has an oxygen sensor/feed back system. Lets say that you used premium fuel-then switched to regular and noticed for a short time that on light throttle or load you hear that infamos small rattle/pre-ignition noise for a while. The fuel injection management system will retard the timing and richen the mixture to eliminate this condition. ---so fuel milage and power will be less. That is why most fuel injected engines of the same displacement will usually be quicker/faster than a carburated engine. Carburated engines have to be kind-of in the middle so this condition doesn't destroy the engine_ HOWEVER there is a second benefit. The premiun grade fuel usually has slightly better detergent package. I have overhualed enough carburators to tell. Again this is definate plus for the fuel injected systems. It's like this- pay now (at the pump)- or pay later add carb/injector cleaner- or worse. And no I don't work for a petrochemical company. I do , and have worked on too many engines to count for the last 35 years. So I will only use premium or at worst mid-grade.

[bongoman]

Mine is an '07 X500 and she definitely runs better on premium. I tried regular at first, then switched and noticed the difference. Engine is smoother from idle to hiway speed. Acceleration is about the same, or ever so slightly better. Mileage is better from about 5mpg.

Overall, my Puff, named after the magic dragon, runs better, smoother, and happier on premium. Haven't tried mid grade yet. That's U.S. premium. The extra few cents are worth it to make Puff happy doing what she loves to do most, roll down the hiways and byways.