[deanm3]

I've head many different opinions as to what grade gasoline to should be fed to the monster 750. Anyone have a solid/firm knowledge of what is the correct grade? Thanks in advance.

 

[MonsterHooligan]

I think that's all you are going to get is opinions.
Here's a REALLY long thread on the subject with some useful info on the subject (and some fighting thrown in for good measure :)
http://www.ducatimonster.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=tech;action=display;num=1056211544
We have a 01 M900Sie and a 97 M750 in the garage, and both run happy with 89.

 

[Ducatz]

Jeff:

Why did you have to go & point us into that direction. I had to sit & read that entire thread. I couldn't get up, I was mesmorized by it. Man that was some entertaining reading, and some good info to boot.
Just kidding about the why, I appreciated the enlightenment. I'm going to stop using the Amoco Ultimate now & go to the Regular.

I do have another question on a similar topic. I hope this one is easy enough to answer. Do any of the readily available gasolines that have cleaning agents work? Are they worth it? IE Chevron with Techron or the Amoco Ultimate? (Does all Amoco gas have the same cleaning agents as the Ultimate?)

Thanx in advance.

Thanx

 

[test-reg]

back in the '80s, some fuel injected cars were having major surging and/or injector clogging problems. BMW owned up to this, and came out with several remedies. one was Techron as an additive. another was decarbonizing with nut shells, instead of a valve and carbon job. still another was BMW gasoline standards.

at this point in time, all gasoline sold in the U.S. allegedly exceeds these standards regardless of grade, therefore, allegedly no additional additives should be needed. many owner's manuals say do not use fuel additives.

there is a danger of overdoing the additives and harming rubber and plastic parts. overuse of these additives also contaminates engine oil. motorcycles, having small tanks, would be even more subject to this.

my opinion is el cheapo 87 with no additives should be just fine in your 750.

 

[S4OZ]

Australia here.
Standard ULP (Un-leaded Petrol) sold here is crap.
Mobil, BP, Shell and Caltex have their high octane ULP for sale (say, high grade and addictivated kind of stuff), sells for about 10% more and claims are 98RON for it.
Now, despite what THAT thread said, here many, if not most people believe that a higher RON fuel burns better, reduces pre-combustion issues, the addives help clean the injection system, and some (manufacturers included) will claim a slight improvement in Kw.

 

[dswerno]

you're only putting in 3 or 4 gallons to get about 150 miles out of the bike, why not just use premium? That's what I use and I know it's getting good gas and I get 35-40mpg.

Plus, for $6 to fill the tank with premium who cares.

If you use standard grade at say $.20 per gallon cheaper than premium you save less than $1 on a fill up. You choose

 

[boplicity]

When i brought my 01 M900Sie in for 6K service at BCM I asked what grade of gasoline I should use. All agreed that there was no need to use anything but regular. I recall hearing that for cars, ht ehighest grade isn't nec the best one to use. Perhaps the same holds true for MCs as well.

 

[barbarabee]

Okay, next tank I'm going to at least try the one down from Premium. I've used premium all along, and I know that the extra octane doesn't do anything more for your engine, the key is to have NO PINGING. So...I'll give it a try. Although I agree that saving a dollar a tank isn't worth the risk, it's more that I'm just wasting the extra octane.

 

[MarkV]

you're only putting in 3 or 4 gallons to get about 150 miles out of the bike, why not just use premium?

 

[test-reg]

back in the 80's, here in the U.S., premium fuel sometimes had different additive packages in their premium grades. today, this is no longer true. the only difference is octane. Australia is a different story.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I can't add much to MarkV's post. Ever since someone clarified this during my first year of ownership, I've been putting in the 87 octane "regular" and my M900 runs just great on it. Unless you have high compression pistons, use the lowest octane you can find and your Monster will be happy.

 

[dswerno]

2002 monster 620 compression: 10.7:1

As far as I'm concerned that's high compression. Considering my car has a 10.5:1 compression motor and if I don't use at least 91 octane it pings like a bitch.

2002 monster 750 compression: 9.1 which I suppose isn't so high really, you could probably use lower octane if you wish. My previos post was in relation to what I use on my bike.

MarkV, you're right, the 750 motor does have relatively low compression, I didn't realize it was any different than my 620. Take it easy next time

 

[S4OZ]

As far as I can tell the manual for the S4 is the same in USA and Australia. Required gasoline according to said manual is 95-98RON.
Refer my previous post for good reasons to use high octane.
About other Monster engines I don't know, but the S4 requirement is laid out clear as day in the manual.

 

[niuginisbk]

Before i freigted my bike to Paua New Guinea i rode it from Melbourne, (where i baught it) to Brisbane, some 2,200klm.

I skirted around most of the towns & only really hit traffic when i got to Sydney. Just before i hit Sydney i filled up with Shell Optimax (Hi Octane Unleadded) & once i got into the Stop Start traffic of Sydney my 95 900M S#it itself.

I didn't know what the hell was wrong with it. I rang the Sydney Ducati Dealer & he wasn't able to come & pick me up for at least an hour.

I finally got it to run & limped the couple of K's down the road to the dealer, no power, backfiring & Spluttering.

The First thing he asked me was, "What Fuel did you last fill up with" when i told hime Shell Optimax, he said "that's your Problem". He said it's OK on the open road, but not around town in traffic. The cure as he Instructed me, Was to get down behind the shop & give it a couple of Full Noise runs!! If this doesent work, he said i would have to change the plugs.

He said he makes about A$60 a week picking up Duc's around town that got a tank of Optimax.

I still don't really know why! But it Doesen't agree with the Bike & that's from a real experience.

 

[wwumonster]

My thought is this... I'm only putting 3 gallons in, might as well use premium. Does it make a difference, who cares.

 

[S4OZ]

I use Optimax 90% of the time with no adverse result. I have heard about it not agreeing with Dukes, but was only anecdotal so far. I use the bike 80% for hill/country fanging.

I have also used the Mobil 98RON brew and found a somewhat more progressive less snatchy engine, but with only limited experience with it, I am not prepared to say it was the fuel that made the difference.

 

[arecarless]

might as well use premium. Does it make a difference, who cares.

...It might. While the octane/power question rages on, one thing beyond debate is that higher octanes contain nastier chemicals. And I don't mean lead, which has of course been gone for decades now. Premium (and to a lesser extent, mid-grade) gets its octane from aromatics and alkenes, which are much more reactive. This means more smog regionally, more carcinogens locally.

BTW, even if you don't care about pollution, you get a good dose just being on the bike. MCs aren't as tightly-controlled as cages, and create more fumes. One time I rested my helmet on the gas tank for a minute, right-side-up, over the fuel filler. When I started 'er up and put on the helmet, I felt like a human bong. The helmet had trapped a head's worth of organic chemicals.
Rene Carlos

 

[Monster Andy]

I always use BP premium, it is the best i have found. Reason for using BP Premium is that bike was hard starting on normal unleaded, but on premium she is fine...straigth away.... anyway i have a figety sensitive car and it only drinks BP, everything else it hates, therefore I conclude bp to be the best.