Should the Lifan KPV150 use 92 or 95 octane fuel?
2 Answers
Lifan KPV150 should use 95 octane fuel. Whether a motorcycle should use 92 or 95 octane fuel depends on the motorcycle's manual and the engine's compression ratio. If the engine has a high compression ratio, it is recommended to use 95 octane gasoline. If the engine has a low compression ratio, 92 octane gasoline is suggested. 95 octane fuel has better quality, which improves the engine's acceleration performance and response speed compared to 92 octane fuel. The difference between 92 and 95 octane gasoline lies in the content of isooctane; higher octane numbers indicate better anti-knock performance. For domestic motorcycles, it is advisable to use 92 octane fuel due to their lower compression ratios. For joint-venture or imported motorcycles, 95 octane fuel is recommended. Engines with a compression ratio between 8-8.9 should use 92 octane, those between 8.8-9.8 should use 95 octane, and engines with a compression ratio above 10 should use 97 octane fuel.
I've been riding this bike for almost two years and always use 92-octane fuel. The Lifan manual clearly states 'recommended 92-octane or higher unleaded gasoline', and there's a sticker on the back of the fuel tank cap too. For a 150cc displacement, 92-octane is perfectly adequate - just fill it up and it'll still hit speeds over 80 km/h. The gas station attendants always try to upsell me to 95-octane claiming better performance, but honestly the only noticeable difference is a slight boost during initial acceleration. Once you're moving, there's no perceptible difference - wouldn't you rather save that money for bubble tea? Though if you frequently ride with passengers up long slopes, occasionally using 95-octane can slightly reduce that engine knocking sound.
