- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Messages
- 415
- Reaction score
- 160
- Location
- Centurion, Pretoria
- Bike
- KTM 1290 Adventure R
I am a newbie to adventure riding as well as this forum. I have the following question please about fuel for my 2011 KTM 990 Adventure Dakar Edition:
The owner's manual says that only 95 RON octane fuel must be used, but on a recent trip I struggled to find 95 octane fuel in a small town where I had planned a fuel stop. Only 93 was available at all petrol stations I tried (they were not just out of 95 fuel, they did not sell it at all), so I had to continue to the next town for fuel. Afterwards, I checked the owner's manual again and it says that 93 fuel can be used but then the ignition curve adjuster connector beneath the seat must be disconnected, and then that 93 fuel can only be used for "one tank full". However, speaking to another KTM rider recently (2009 LC8 990 Adventure) he told me that he just ignores this and regularly uses 93 fuel for his bike and does not use the disconnector when using 93. This was interesting to me since I understood that the LC8 does not have a knock sensor and so cannot compensate if pinging occurs with too low octane fuel.
So, my questions are:
* Can I ignore the manual's instruction to only use 95 and higher octane fuel, or must I heed this to prevent damage to my engine, and if so must I use the under-seat disconnector whenever using 93 octane fuel?
* If using 93 octane fuel, what does the manual mean by "one tank full" only? Does this mean that 93 must only be used for one tank during the bike's entire lifetime, or only for max one tank's quantity (20 litres) before again using 95? And, if 93 fuel has been used, can 95 be added to this, or must the tank be drained totally of 93 before 95 is added again?
Thanks for your answers to these questions, apologies if the questions are maybe too obvious but like I said I am very new to this!
The owner's manual says that only 95 RON octane fuel must be used, but on a recent trip I struggled to find 95 octane fuel in a small town where I had planned a fuel stop. Only 93 was available at all petrol stations I tried (they were not just out of 95 fuel, they did not sell it at all), so I had to continue to the next town for fuel. Afterwards, I checked the owner's manual again and it says that 93 fuel can be used but then the ignition curve adjuster connector beneath the seat must be disconnected, and then that 93 fuel can only be used for "one tank full". However, speaking to another KTM rider recently (2009 LC8 990 Adventure) he told me that he just ignores this and regularly uses 93 fuel for his bike and does not use the disconnector when using 93. This was interesting to me since I understood that the LC8 does not have a knock sensor and so cannot compensate if pinging occurs with too low octane fuel.
So, my questions are:
* Can I ignore the manual's instruction to only use 95 and higher octane fuel, or must I heed this to prevent damage to my engine, and if so must I use the under-seat disconnector whenever using 93 octane fuel?
* If using 93 octane fuel, what does the manual mean by "one tank full" only? Does this mean that 93 must only be used for one tank during the bike's entire lifetime, or only for max one tank's quantity (20 litres) before again using 95? And, if 93 fuel has been used, can 95 be added to this, or must the tank be drained totally of 93 before 95 is added again?
Thanks for your answers to these questions, apologies if the questions are maybe too obvious but like I said I am very new to this!
