Hello all,

Just looking for advice as to which grade and type fuel should be used in a Paso 906. Is 88 ok or should I go with higher octane, like 91? I am in the U.S. Since we only have unleaded fuel, I need advice from owners.

Thanks in advance.

Very strange, that You usa guys have very low octane :confused: Here in EU area we use NORMALLY 95 and if want "little better", then we choose 98.

Finn Paso is onto it, 95 minimum, got a 907 myself but have seen other sites saying for these motors run Premium [95] (as it is branded here in Oz) Even my 900 bevel likes the higher octane better , (9.5 comp ratio) ,comparable to the 904 motor, You won't hurt it by trying , give it a go and post results. [All care taken but no responsibility accepted,] Quote from my lawyer before I went to jail,............. Happy destinations with your detonations, Marty

My '89 906,with the original weber,"works" with 95,but "runs" with 98...much to my dislike,because of the price of the latest.But there is a hell of a diference.Anyway,it could be only in mine,and the others would work fine on 95.
Hasta la vista

wow my second post thats cool i run my paso on nonoxy gas i live in minnesota so i dont know if they have that where you live all i can say is this when i first got the bike i put 92 octane from bp and it still sputtered from the alchohal in the gas now that i am using nonoxy fuel in the bike it runs perfect even in stoplight to stoplight traffic in 90 degree weather i know the pasos have had problems with inner city traffic but since using the nonoxy gas i have not experienced any of these traits it runs like a champ the non oxygenated gas here in minnesota is rated 91 octane the downside is that it is not sold at every station here i am limited to where i can fuel up if you have access to this kind of fuel i highly recommend it if there is and old car club or similar they may have a listing of gas stations that carry nonoxy fuel in your area in minnesota go to msra.com

Not to be contrary,but you all have it reversed. You should start with the lowest octane gas and work your way up to avoid pinging. Here in Pennsylvania I find the mid grade(89) works well on most brands for all seasons. Here we have lots of rolling hills and flat roads are few and far between and every driver feels it is their god given right to drive at 80mph.. Low octane(87) here tends to induce pinging on hard acceleration due to the positive grades on most roads. If you live in a flat area in the US 87 is all you should need. There is absolutely no reason to use a higher octane in an engine with compression less than 10.5. High octane gas burns slower(cooler) than low octane gas. This usually means if you use high octane in an engine designed for lower octane you risk idle problems,hesitation issues and shorter engine life due to carbon build up and accumulation. In a Ducati that means shorter valve/guide life and ring issues and if you still have a carb it will make getting the proper jetting that much harder to achieve.

Higgy is right on. The lower the octane the better.

pure bullshit,You are confused. Boyles law rules. pvt1 = pvt2 period. Increasing the temperature or the pressure on the fuel makes it burn faster( at a higher flame propagation)Detonation or its cousin pinging is as you state due to instant combustion brought on by either higher pressure or higher temperature than the octane of the fuel is rated for.Detonation is way to fast burning,charge ignites while the piston is still moving up btdc,all at once,pinging is too fast burning,burns faster than the piston can accelerate down but atdc. Newer Ducati use compression ratios of 11:1 or higher and as I stated if your compression ratio is over 10.5 :1 you need a higher octane. Higher octane fuels by definition burn slower,at a slower flame propagation than low octane fuels.modifications to cylinder heads are designed to raise compression by increasing the break mean effective pressure of the charge entering the cylinder effectively doing the same thing as decreasing the volume of the combustion chamber( raising the compression ratio) bigger charge more pressure,more heat more power.
by the way if you put someone who is 200 lbs on the same engine as someone who is 100 lbs,you increase the compression . If you ride into the wind you increase the compression , if you tow you increase the compression .If you ride uphill you increase the compression .But the ratio stays the same.
It is all about pressure,temperature and volume.
Two plugs,two flame fronts propagating burning the complete charge faster not faster flame propagation
Also 87 octane fuel has no more or less energy than 89 or 91 octane fuels.energy output is the same regardless of octane rating
The noise you hear in either case of pinging or detonation is your piston forcing the rod into the crankshaft and in the worst case all of the above shattering from pressure that exceeds their design.
rant off................