[Stan21]

I am not sure if i have an 2004 or 2005 model fireblade.

The 2004 fireblade manual says to use 95 unleaded fuel Only.

The 2005 (labeled 2006) manual says 91+ unleaded.

Will it cause problems to run 93 if 95 is required as per the manual ?

Also
On cars someone in my country did research on fuel at altitude if it spplies to our bikes who knows ? :

As Johannesburg, for example, is roughly 1 700 metres above sea level, the atmospheric pressure is generally 17% lower than at the coast, explaining the drop in engine performance. This fact lowers the tendency of the engine to knock, allowing a lower-octane fuel to be used with no loss in performance compared with a higher-octane fuel because the additional benefit cannot be realised.
This was confirmed in a study by Professor Andy Yates, who conducted actual WOT performance testing on a fleet of 18 vehicles in Gauteng using varying octane-rated petrol.

93 vs. 95 unleaded: Do you really need higher-octane petrol? - CAR Magazine

We investigate the differences between 93- and 95-octane unleaded so you can make an informed decision at the forecourt... The petrol price is at an all-time high and consumers are cash-strapped. You’d therefore assume most motorists are foregoing 95-octane unleaded fuel in favour of...

www.carmag.co.za

 

[markrrv]

No it won’t cause a problem, however if you can get 95 or above use that, the better grade fuels tend to have better additives, detergents etc, the extra cost to a tank of fuel isn’t huge, but if you are doing big mileage’s then maybe the extra cost becomes more of a factor I suppose.

 

[Stan21]

Ok thanks, my question then. Your answer sounds fine its just i have heard someone saying that one would'nt know if your bike is pre detonating using lower octane fuels they talk about burned valves/pistons/ holes in the pistons etc...

So my plan is from now on to put in 95 only.
But until then i have to burn off the 93 first. (Or can i mix the 93 with 95 to make 94) so i dont have to burn off the reserve as well.

Can one avoid pre detonation by keeping the revs below 7000 rpms ?

 

[markrrv]

You can definitely mix fuel grades, I think you would notice if the bike was pinking, you would hear it, also engine damage would happen over time and not occur instantly, Honda have to take into account fuel grades across the globe when they design an engine, that’s why bikes usually have slightly retarded timing to cope with poor fuel, there’s a market in selling advancer plates to adjust timing to its optimum, I fitted a 4 degree advancer plate to my XJR1300 and it definitely improved its running, however there is absolutely no need to do this on a Fireblade, the timing is fine as per standard set up, if you want to keep the revs down until you have refilled with 95 for peace of mind then do so but there’s no need, btw the reserve setting uses the same tank as the main supply , so when you refill you replace all of the fuel at the same time, there’s no seperate tank for reserve.

 

[Stan21]

Alright that eases my concerns thank you.

 

[markrrv]

This is quite informative 👍