4 degree timing advance need higher octane fuel?

[Texan67]

I recently got an ELS 4 degree timing advancer. It's awesome, I should have ordered one the day I bought the bike. But I'm wondering if I should run higher octane fuel. Where I live we have 87, 89 and 93. The factory recommends 87 but I always run 89. Should I be using 93 with the timing advanced or will it be fine? I've ran a couple of tanks already and it seems fine, I don't hear any knocking but I do wear earplugs.

[Grahamm]

The stock engines are built with an amount of retardation in the ignition to ensure good combustion with poor quality fuels, especially in parts of the world where petrol can be adulterated with cheap additives.

If you're in a country where this isn't a problem, the advancer allows the ignition to take place later in the stroke, giving better power.

In simple terms, a higher octane number means that the fuel is more resistant to "knocking" (premature ignition of the fuel) but that only really benefits high performance engines and you're unlikely to notice any difference except in your wallet!

[Texan67]

Thanks!