This morning PipeMax printout was looked at for octane requirements. It says the (R+M)/2 octane should be 108.2 to 108.8 for the new motor. This is about right. The 112 I will be using gives a bit of added safety for this air-cooled engine. Plus, the pan is about 2,000 feet lower than Bonneville so the engine compression will be a little bit higher than what I am used to.
A couple of weeks ago I met a local fellow with a KTM adventure bike. It had a 1,000cc liquid cooled Rotax two cylinder engine. They put it on their dyno and it has over 100 hp, stock, at the rear wheel. Yesterday I met another fellow with one of those bikes and I asked him what octane gas he uses. He fills it up with regular.
These modern Japanese, Austrian, German, and Italian bikes seem to be governed by other principles than Harleys and Triumphs. The world they live in is sweeter, for sure. It rains beer, birds chirp, and the sun always shines. There is absolutely no way a Triumph twin making over 100 horses is going to run on regular.