This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Is Euro 95 RON gas causing misfire?

Joined Mar 2013
3K Posts | 161+
Naples, IT
So, it's very hard to find "Speciale (98 RON)" where I live in Italy. Like, I haven't seen it yet. Regardless, I have a fuel card program that limits where I can buy fuel. The "Normale" unleaded here is 95 RON; however, from what I've read, this is equivalent to around US 89 RON. Here's my reference:

"In Europe, the octane rating on the pump is simply the RON figure. America, by contrast, uses the average of the RON and the MON figures, called the AKI (anti-knock index). Thus, 97 octane "super unleaded" in Britain is roughly equivalent to 91 octane premium in the United States."

I'm getting a quick misfire under full throttle in the lower gears (1st and 2nd). Feels like the limiter kicks in for 1 second but, engine doesn't free rev and no traction/warning light. Don't think its the protection circuit. With my tuner and open intake/ exhaust setup, do you think it's a compression ratio issue? Engine runs perfect otherwise and no stumble in higher gears, though I may be noticing it runs slightly better when I use a fuel additive (Seafoam).

Just put the bike back together after a long hibernation and haven't touched the RB Evo maps since it went cold 8 months ago. I've experienced a lack of fuel pressure and it's not that. I will say that she was fed US Super for her first 4 years on this planet, about 1.5 years of that with tuner. I believe I'm running a custom map and not the Autotune, so will try that next.

Just interested any of the combustion nerds opinions.
 
Hi,

if you did not change ignition timing, european 95 octane fuel should not make any troubles.This is exactly the fuel for which it is made and what is recommended. Basically i fill european 98 or 100 octane, but mostly for the reason that there is no alcohol in 98 or 100 octane fuel in Austria. The times i used 95 (in Italy) it run exactly the same as with higher octane.

If lower octane can help create self detonation is at really high load and low revs, but not in 1st or 2nd gear, and probably not with watercooled engines.
I am 99,9% sure that your misfires have other reason than 95 octane fuel.
 
Thanks, Ferdi. Ya, the gas is never the issue. I know better but there's a lot of shady **** in this neck of the woods...google "nuclear waste found in Naples' farmer's field"

Before I tore it apart it was running really ruff. I didn't touch anything ECU related but it runs very strong now, aside from the stumble.
 
It's amount of throttle related, not RPM. If I gun it at any speed in 1st or 2nd, it hiccups right about when I'm at full twist. Maybe more often in 2nd than 1st.
 
Ok, the reason I ask is because my hyper felt like it did this. After some careful testing it was only doing it at 8,000RPM in 2nd, as a result of the 14T front sprocket. Something with the rev limiter kicking in. A few others have had this too.

Do you get a red flashing light even for a split-second when it happens?

Did you try turning off DTC and riding it again? What about a different throttle mode?

Interesting how it only happens in 1st and 2nd. That tells me it's electronics related (neutral switch, DTC, etc), not load or RPM, because otherwise you'd be able to replicate it in other gears. At least, that's what would make sense to me.
 
Maybe I'm smoking crack and it's excatly at the same point you say. Haven't had a lot of time to pinpoint. I'll get a better chance this weekend. Haven't been out of touring yet because of the new tires and rain.

I'm still running the map you gave Araitim.
 
Kuk, you're good. It may only do misfire in 2nd, and may not do it with DTC 1 or less. I had some quick runs last night resetting my gear indicator and couldn't duplicate in my Sport mode, which is DTC 1.

And the light does give one solid blink when it happens, not a flashing like when traction control or rev limiter hits.
 
Nope. Got it to happen with DTC off.

However, it seems to only happen when WOT from 1st into 2nd.
 
I know it's a hassle but try putting the 15T back on and see what happens... lol. Did you just start noticing it after that mod?

Sorry to keep pressing the issue it just makes me remember the whole "what's the last thing that changed" philosophy. It probably has something to do with whatever it was.
 
I only got about 50 miles on it after initially putting the 14T on and was very easy on it. Then it went hard down for a while.
I'm gonna mess with the Evo software. Probably put it back in autotune. Funny thing is I'm not having that bogging issue I had before I loaded your map. Can't understand why that just went away.
 
Autotune didn't help. Your map actually runs much better.

This sucks. The buck when I hammer it is consistent and annoying. I'm going to write Dimsport. I don't think it's related to the tuner but they are headquartered in Italy and specialize in tuning Ducs. Their customer service is fanstastic, too. They respond very quickly, albeit in sometimes broken English.