FTR London
Well-known member
Great post. Thank you for the insight.So - I've been doing some experimentation with fuels here in Aus.
Our fuels are rated at 91, 95 and 98 with 98 being premium.
Aussie fuel is measured by RON.
The manual for the FTR states: For best performance, use only unleaded gasoline with a 91 pump octane minimum (R+M/2 Method) or 95 RON minimum. In the event that the recommended premium unleaded gasoline is not available and low octane fuel must be used, fill the fuel tank only partially with unleaded regular gasoline, then fill the tank fully with premium unleaded gasoline as soon as possible.'
I have been putting 98 in my bike since I bought it. When I got it tuned, Ryan told me to use 98.
However recently I found out that one person in Aus was been told by Ryan to use 95 and Fuel Moto even told some people to use 91.
So - the last couple of tanks I put in were 95. And my FTR ran like an absolute PIG.
Far more sputtering and surging, just felt shit when accelerating.
And worst of all - by tank number two, I only got 141kms of travel before I was out. My low fuel light had been on for ages and I was literally rolling in to the petrol station.
I've never had fuel economy that terrible on the FTR before.
The petrol station I pulled up to didn't offer 98 - only more 95 or 91.
So just for shits and giggles I put a small amount of 91 in to get home. Nope, didn't improve at all.
I'll be putting 98 back in when I head out on my next ride.
In the UK, as I'm sure you do in Oz, we now have E10 fuels, so called because they contain 10% bioethanol. The former fuels now collectively termed E5 (yes, 5%), are only available at 98 octane (previously branded as 'super' or 'premium' unleaded). If you run an engine on a higher octane fuel than the minimum recommended, you will get either better economy or more performance (depending on how you drive). But in practice, the improvement is tiny, and the price premium of the higher octane fuel often eclipses the economy benefit from running it. E10 petrol is actually a slighter higher octane (94) than regular 91 and that can mean your engine performs better. However, ethanol lowers the energy level of the blend by 30%, which means you may possibly experience a slight loss in fuel economy.
Update - Several weeks ago I reverted to a map that was written for me for free last June by the people at Dynojet. I rejected it at the time, because it seem to exacerbate the cold start problem. However, since re-flashing the bike and having subsequently put over 600 miles on it, I can now report that in sport mode, track mode engaged, so all the rider aids disabled (which is my preference anyway), the bike has not cut out and in spite of the occasional blip, the surging has stopped. It's not as snatchy as the other map, which was slightly more feisty, but this is crisper. less lumpy and far smoother. If I do change the pipe (reluctant to lose the insane sound of the S&S - although I far prefer the look of the low mount Toce), I will of course order the Lloydz custom bench tune to match.