What Fuel?

Andrew Harris
Welcome to the family if I have not already said so. Smashing looking machine you have there. I tend to use Shell super. Wouldn't be keen on the supermarket fuel. But really I think it pretty much as good as each other. Always try to get as little ethanol as I can but even that is hard to tell these days.
Regards & Ride Safe
Joe.

 

I never worry whether it is supermarket or any other branded fuel. I've had new bikes for years and never had any problems with them irrespective of the fuel I put in them.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

Yes same here. But if the shell garage was on my route and a super market closer I would opt for Shell. Think supermarket is just cheaper and more watery they rather sell and never clean their tanks aswel. But I would use them and have done. Like you say its really down to how you feel and if its right in your head your bike will be happy and run nicer. How's your grin with that nice new bike.
Regards
Jo

 

Having an older Triumph with a plastic tank, I tend to use Shell V power as it’s supposed to have a minimum amount of ethanol in it.
In my Beemer I tend to use Shell too, mainly because there’s a Shell station 100 yards from our house.
Out and about, I try to stick to Shell or BP stations rather than supermarket fuel as I’ve always found that cars and bikes run better on their fuel. The only times I use supermarket fuel (in the car) are when Tesco does the 10p a litre off vouchers.

 

I decided to use super unleaded, as I don't do many miles on the bike, it is efficient and like you it's the bike that I have owned from new.

Really no idea if it helps, suspect it's negligible, but not doing any harm and not a noticeable cost difference.

 

During the cold season is Super unleaded an option, but not specifically recommended by Triumph. I use only branded fuels and have always had the best experience. For most of the year I use unleaded regular fuel, that should suffice. During longer rest periods in winter, I also put a shot of Castrol two-stroke oil in my tank, which protects the engine and the injection system from corrosion.

 

My son worked in a depot which filled all the tankers for 50mile radius the fuel has to meet BS/EN standard with slight differences in additive package essentially 99.9% the same.
Occasionally a garage may get some water in its tanks which causes issues but the fuel is all the same.

I buy wherever is cheapest and so does he!!

 

That's fantastic, try riding a Tuono you're lucky to get 85 miles @MrOrange

 

For years now I've always opted for super unleaded, when I first started using it I thought the bike felt smoother and I definitely got much better MPG so have continued with it, my preference is Shell, (they have a good little reward scheme as well, have had quite a few free fuel rewards this year already) another plus is if the bike is not used and sitting idle for a few weeks or months at a time then the fuel doesn't tend to "go off" like standard unleaded can.

 

Modern bike are designed to run on unleaded pump fuel, super has a slower burn so is in fact detrimental to performance

 

2 separate quotes from different sites!

"Premium petrol has a higher octane rating than regular petrol. Octane is a chemical component of petrol, and the amount of octane contained within the fuel determines how well it will work in higher compression engines - high octane fuel works more effectively than lower rated fuels."

"The main difference between regular unleaded petrol and premium-branded unleaded is that the latter will have an increased octane rating, also known as research octane number (RON). ... Premium or super unleaded petrol also contain additives designed to keep your engine clean, so your engine will perform better for longer."

 

An increased RON rating is great in a high performance engine as in turbo's etc i agree but using super in a Triumph Twin or even my last triple is a waste of money as they are not tuned to use super unleaded, the smoother engine you think you have is in fact just like retarding your ignition as the fuel burns slower and gives less shove to the piston in the power stroke.

 

I regularly get ~100 out of a tank !!!! (less if your properly having fun)


Premium fuel = snake oil in 90% of cars and bikes.

It is designed for high compression engines to reduce the chance that they pink or knock. These engines have knock sensors to allow them to run as close to perfect as possible without pinking and causing damage to the engines. The closer you can get an engine to pinking, but just stop short, the more power you can achieve.

They do not contain any more 'enegy' or cleaning agents than regular fuel, and as Darkman correctly states- ' fuel burns slower and gives less shove to the piston in the power stroke'

If your vehicle is designed to run on it, buy it. But the rest of you are just being taken in by the marketing bollox from shell/BP/etc.

As I have stated before, if your bike feels better on it, thats cos you've paid for it and convince yourself it's true. Same as your car feels better after a full valet, does feck all, but you just feel better.

You pay your money, you make your choice. If you feel happier, good, but don't try and convince us it's better, cos it ain't.

FYI - all the fuels come out of the same refineries !!! It's all the same Shell/BP/Asda/Tesco

 

Premium Unleaded fuel is recommended for high compression ratio engines (high performance), a high compression ratio motorcycle engine is classed as anything above 9.5:1, my Triumph Speed Twin is 11:1 and my Aprilia Tuono V4RR is 13.5:1, I feel I am doing the right thing by using the premium fuel, as you say I might be wasting money, I don't honestly know for sure, but it certainly makes me feel better putting the higher quality fuel in them, I definitely get better mileage using it so this helps offset the extra cost a bit. Each to their own I suppose

 

If you want to buy premium fuel buy the Ferrari to drink it.....

More seriously, if your engine can’t tell the difference then don’t kid yourself you can (that’s called ‘marketing’!). Think about it, knock sensors and top end lambda systems are required to tune electronics to maximise output in high compression engines. Motorcycles usually use cubic displacement as a substitute for sophistication - it’s cheaper.

Harleys manage both. Big AND unsophisticated.......

In a motor ‘Burn is good’....... Detonation isn’t.

 

I aint trying to convince anybody mate just giving my opinion much like you!!

 

Just to add some more lol, i run my classic motorcycles on super the reason for this is older design camshaft duration was much longer than modern high tech engines and normal pump fuel causes pinking, with super i can run full advance on the ignition with these old motors using super, it's just about understanding what goes on inside a your engine of choice