Any reason to run a higher grade than regular gas in my 02 Savage? The dealer advised it and further stated that, "This will run on anything." All in all, it didn't sound very professional to me.

Bottom line, no reason to get anything higher than 87 octane.

I think this is what you're looking for...
An interesting post for tweakers
There's a post by Paladin talking about preignition.

Misunderstood by most, lower octane fuel actually has a faster burn rate and MORE power.  The idea is to run the lowest octane you can without detonation (commonly known as pinging).  The reasons race or performance cars with superchargers use a higher octane is because of timing, higher compression, cam profiles etc which cannot run on lower octanes without severe detonation.

Picture detonation as the explosion happening BEFORE it's supposed to while the piston is still coming up...can cause big time damage.  

So on a stock thumper that was built for 87, running higher is a total waste of money (if you want the supposedly better fuel system cleaners in the higher grades, get it at Walmart).  If you ever build up your engine, especially with a higher compression piston, you will need higher octane.  My Z400 with 12:1 compression needs 93 with a little octane boost on top of that!  

Finally, not to beat a dead horse, but if you have ever run a stock motor with a higher octane and thought it was faster........it was in your head .....you were slower !!!

Owners manual states use 87 or higher. 87 is all use in all my bikes.

KLX likes low grade fuel also.

Clive W  

Actualy its flash point. Lower octane fuels have a lower flash point. So... basicaly ignite at a slightly lower temperature (ignites easier and at lower compression). However there is slightly more BTU's per gallon in a Higher Octane fuel...but it has to be compressed more to burn fully to be utilized at all. Takes some pretty high compression before it will even start to be so.

It would and does take some real high compression to actualy efficently utilize a higer octane fuel. Most of these, including the Savage, are far lower than that number. You would need to start pushing near to 15:1  or so before you could. Better still like closer to 20:1.... yea... that high even!  Not many gasser motorcycles in that range. A few high compression race engines maybe. Mostly anyway.  You will in fact run lousy with full high test in your Savage. Won't burn very efficently at all.  Sometimes you might get by with mid range. But no real need.