Gas Price, Scooter, Weather Hurry and Change!

[Syl]

We own a Truck and use Regular Gas and the Scooter requires 91 octane or better! Already over 4 bucks a gallon for regular, the High Octane is out of site.
Hopefully this winter goes by the waste side quickly in order to use the scooter (68 mpg) when possible. From the looks and sounds of the world condition, fuel price is just going to get worse and stay there for awhile. Good thing I ordered a fairly large box to carry grocery's. The center fold out hook on the DT will be usefull too as long as one can get a bag that will fit over the center hump. Maybe these are off beat post's on the scooter's but they are a part of our everyday life the way it look's. Am glad to have the scooter now!

[Goodrich]

If all goes as planned I'll pay for mine on 3/13 and should be riding close to the end of the month.  I didn't know the DT requires 91 octane, that kinda sucks with all the 87 I got in the garage. Stop raining on my parade  .   

[jprestonian]

The Downtown likely doesn't require 91 octane -- the ratings in the owner's manual are using the RON rating, whereas in the U.S., we use the AKI.

Higher-rated fuels are really only well-suited for higher-compression engines, of which none of our scooters qualify.
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[Syl]

Just going with the manual, "Use nonleaded gasoline with a research octane number of 91 or higher to prevent from spark plug and exhaust component damage". With the unit still under warranty, I hate to differ from that. I know that's what was about what was required in the S200. I'm in question now as to finding out more about this..

[spr0k3t]

"research octane number" = RON.  You can use 87 AKI without any problems.  I tend to use 89 in the winter months.

[jprestonian]

Just going with the manual, "Use nonleaded gasoline with a research octane number of 91 or higher to prevent from spark plug and exhaust component damage".

Right -- "research octane number," or RON (maybe you didn't read what I wrote?). The U.S. doesn't rate gasoline octane using RON -- it rates using AKI, which is a lower number to the equivalent RON number that they use in Taiwan.

So, 91 RON = 87 AKI (which the link I provided would have explained, had you used it).  ;)
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[Syl]

jprestonian! if you understand all that about RON AND AKI you are quite intelligent!. That is not a smart remark by the way. I tried to read and understand some of that and I kept going in circles! So I commend you being you say you understand all that. I was looking for a layman's line in there and couldn't find one! At this point still not understanding all that even though you say so! I stand dumb about fuel rating's! thanks anyway!

[NewKymcoFan]

I went to the link and it seemed to explain it pretty good to me.  I didn't understand everything by any means but enough to explain that 91 RON is the same as 87 AKI.  Its says "United States is 4 to 5 points lower than the rating shown elsewhere in the world." Also has a table below that lists a conversion showing "regular" gasoline in RON (91-92) MON (82-83) and AKI (87).  Thanks for the link jprestionian

[Whisper]

  JP just saved me even MORE money!!!  Thank you so much - I have been paying out the nose for premium!!!

  I am so glad I bought when I did.  All the dealers said once gas climbed to near 4USD, they sold out of a ton of scoots!  I wouldn't have gotten as great a deal if I had waited.

  I have yet to run under 70mpg on the DT300 - Gonna save a lot of cash this summer.  And the insurance is sooooooooo cheap!

[hexnut]

I under stand octane ratings...but I have been involved with automotives for 53 years. I rebuilt my 1st scoot in 1958. A 1955 sears Allstate cruisaire, (Vespa).

I rode motorcycles, Hondas, Harleys for years, then got away from it. And restored British Roadsters (Triumphs) for a number of years. I retired two years ago from manufacturing management and wanted to get back into a scooter for fun and recreation. And now to save gas. I got a really good deal on a new Kymco People 150 a couple of weeks ago. I guess I just got in under the wire on good deals.

have a good one

[jprestonian]

The U.S. uses measurements that most of the rest of the world left behind decades ago (if indeed they ever used them), so really it shouldn't be any big surprise that products from Taiwan give specs and measures in other-than-U.S. units.

You want a real laugh?  Go look up what your tire pressure is supposed to be in the user's manual.

Now, I'm not telling you that it's not the same as pounds PSI, but... it's not the same as pounds PSI, so that number isn't gonna do you a lot of good until you convert it to pounds PSI.  :)
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[jprestonian]

I went to the link and it seemed to explain it pretty good to me.  I didn't understand everything by any means but enough to explain that 91 RON is the same as 87 AKI.  Its says "United States is 4 to 5 points lower than the rating shown elsewhere in the world." Also has a table below that lists a conversion showing "regular" gasoline in RON (91-92) MON (82-83) and AKI (87).  Thanks for the link jprestionian

Happy to help where I can. I don't understand the whole testing process, but one needn't be an engineer to parse from that Wiki article that there are three octane measurement standards in wide use around the world: RON, MON and AKI. And in fact, that AKI is derived from the other two  -- that's the (R + M)/2 that you've seen a million times on the octane stickers at the pump here in the U.S. Further, that all three numbers are different from one another when referring to the same sample of gasoline, but that one can be converted to one of the others (that's where the chart helps us non-engineers).  ;)
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[jprestonian]

Actually looking into the whole octane business, one will learn how and why we have different grades of fuel for different engines. Turns out higher octane fuels were needed as engine efficiency improved. Lower-octane fuels will combust at a lower pressure without a spark being applied, so in a high-compression engine, a low-octane fuel will ignite in the cylinder before the piston hits TDC, which is not good for the engine at all, and it's lousy at providing power to the crank, as well (as long as the engine holds together, that is).
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[hexnut]

All gasoline, regardless of its’ octane rating, have pretty much the same amount of energy per gallon.
Octane is NOT a measure of power but of the fuels’ resistance to ignition from heat and high compression. A higher-octane fuel, under identical combustion chamber conditions, will burn slower.

[ts1]

All gasoline, regardless of its’ octane rating, have pretty much the same amount of energy per gallon.

But not ethanol fuel (less than 2/3 energy)!