Cavi Mike
Serious Thumper
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Thumper n00b
Posts: 1005
Rochester, NY
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The higher the octane, the less tendency it has to detonate. Detonation is when a fuel will auto-ignite - that means it will ignite from heat and compression alone, without spark. This only happens on higher-compression engines. If your engine doesn't have a high enough compression ratio, higher octane gas will not make your bike run better. In fact, it's possible your bike will have less power because engines typically run with a small bit of detonation which creates multiple flame fronts - this means the fuel ignited in multiple spots, not just from the spark.
In short, no, you can not damage an engine with high octane gas. High octane gas doesn't burn hotter, it doesn't contain more energy, it doesn't burn cleaner; it just resists detonation. That's it.
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