wild foamy Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Heya peeps, i may be opening up a whole can of worms here, but is there actually any benefit to using premium fuel over the regular stuff besides maybe a few more BHP?, i used to run the DT and XJ on the cheapest stuff i could find, mainly because they were old bike and i wasnt bothered about doing very silly speeds, but since buying this fireblade its got me wondering, a friend of mine has an SV650 and all he uses is premium fuel, apparently its giving him a smoother ride and better MPG, wether it actually saves him enough money to make it worth while i dont know shame i cant run it on LPG, its now more expensive for me to ride than it is to drive
Grouch Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 I use She'll V-Power and its all I will ever use. My bike runs smoother and gets a bit oomph from it. I once ran out and had to use regular Jet and straight away noticed the difference. Also for the sake of an extra 10p per litre it's worth it, it's not like your filling a Range Rover up. It costs me an extra £1 to fill my tank on V-Power
Moderator DirtyDT Posted April 12, 2013 Moderator Posted April 12, 2013 Normal 95 for me, including the SV. Tried the "premium", couldn't tell the difference to be honest. I guess it's like saying "what blend of whiskey do you like the most"? when you really want a single malt. They are so blended with other rubbish I don't think it makes a difference. If you had an old 4 stroke with non hardened tappets, it may be worth it.
bippo Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Only ever used to put Shell Optimax in my classic Mini - and that made a difference. The other cars I've owned (inc. my current one) just have regular petrol chucked in them. I haven't really noticed a difference when using premium for a few tankfuls, so I don't bother parting with the extra dosh. With my bike, up until 500 miles or so ago, I was just filling it up with regular. I started using premium out of interest and it has made a slight difference. My 125 now holds itself better up hill (one particular near me I'd have to drop into 3rd, but I can now stay in 5th, woo!) Can't really comment on top speed, as there's only so much poke the beast has, ha ha! Also it hasn't made any difference to smoothness, but it is a modern bike anyway. For now, as Grouch says, it doesn't cost much extra, so I'm continuing to use it seeing as it pulls me up hills better!
neversaydie Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Use Super Unleaded Foamy, no ethanol in it in the UK yet.Have a search for "ethanol", its been discussed on here recently and plenty of info on the web, bikes over ten years old not designed to run with ethanol
Moderator Airhead Posted April 12, 2013 Moderator Posted April 12, 2013 ........... I started using premium out of interest and it has made a slight difference. My 125 now holds itself better up hill (one particular near me I'd have to drop into 3rd, but I can now stay in 5th, woo!) Can't really comment on top speed, as there's only so much poke the beast has, ha ha! Also it hasn't made any difference to smoothness, but it is a modern bike anyway. For now, as Grouch says, it doesn't cost much extra, so I'm continuing to use it seeing as it pulls me up hills better! wow thats quite a sinificant difference bippo!
busyeddie Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Premium is regular in the in UK. 95 Ron. Super is 98. Tesco motion is 99. There are also good and bad 95 ron petrols.
bippo Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 wow thats quite a sinificant difference bippo! I know! You can imagine the grin on my face! It's Woodhead Pass, heading back towards Manchester, the part where it's two lanes for a while. I take that road all the time for my commute and hated that section on the way home, especially during winter when it was dark. So many cars speed up there to try and get past as many lorries as they can and I'd be at full throttle in 3rd to just try and keep a suitable speed. Now I can do that very same hill, full throttle in 5th without my speed dropping. It doesn't have much pull left in it, but at least I know I've got plenty of gears to choose from if needed.
Moderator Airhead Posted April 12, 2013 Moderator Posted April 12, 2013 Thats amazing , yeah I know that hill It's quite a slog! Where are you buying your premium?
bippo Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Just the Esso on High Street East, closest station to me, so I'm just being lazy there! Haven't done any research into whether or not their premium is any good or not. Interestingly, I have done a few consecutive tankfuls of their premium in my car and haven't noticed a blind bit of difference... In fact next time I fill that up I'm just going back to regular fuel. With the improvement it made to my bike, I was expecting some difference there, but no.
blackhat250 Posted April 12, 2013 Posted April 12, 2013 Funny enuff " i just bought a gerry can of Shell V-power, and some leaked in the back of rover, have you ever smelt it ? its nowt like petrol, its more like a chemical factory[ Glaxo near here] so i"v filled all the bikes,,and mix for chainsaws,, as i knew it didn"t have ethonol in it,,, went into garage to-night ,, and that smell is in there now,, took ts250 along the drive and back , it did feel spritely, I know 2 strokes run cooler on higher octane fuels,, so time will tell, As for ethinol,,, lookee here.
wild foamy Posted April 13, 2013 Author Posted April 13, 2013 Well, there's a whole lot of spirit conversation, ended by the ever perpetual up.yours, with the amount of ethanol added to modern fuel though is it worth using the more expensivvr high RON stuff> bearing in mind i am doing (maybe) 70-150mph on a run, not saying i do but more if i find myself in the nurburgring or thruxton e.t.c
Moderator Cynic Posted April 13, 2013 Moderator Posted April 13, 2013 Petrol is petrol. Carbs got gunked with the old stuff. Tanks rotted with the old stuff. There isnt enough to worry about on most bikes. THIS is worrying. My Range rover. Has an in tank fuel pump. Plastic tank and lines. Plastic injectors with lots of o rings fitted to the msnifold with yet more rubbers. Any of that ethanol proof........ Nope. I have another injector to change thats leaking and have already done the fuel pump and tank. Gonna make a lot of cars scrap......
Tommy xs Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 well worth the the change for me as my bike's are over 30 years old and not ethanol proof makes you wonder about some of the aftermarket stuff for newer bike's. Do they care that 12 months down the line you will need more new parts, I don't think so, or am i just being daft
jrhendryx Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 I always ran my '75 XS500 on reguar (87 octane) that was a 10% ethanol blend. I'd toss a little seafood in there every other fill-up, and never really noticed a major difference. I did the same thing on my '03 YZF600R up until yesterday. Happened to be running low coming back in from a ride and pulled into a country store that had clear premium (92, no ethanol). It was nearly a dollar more per gallon, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm not sure if I'm just imagining it, but at idle it feels like the engine runs a little more smoothly. Under throttle I didnt notice a huge difference, but I'm going to run a couple more tanks through and watch my mileage, etc.
mike1949 Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 it's all a con , buy cheep shit. I totally agree with you Kev. Although I tend not to fill up at supermarket petrol stations I just pull into a petrol station and fill up with ordinary bog standard unleaded.
Campaman Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 Google it, Up Yours is right, its bull, yeah its got more additives, but as petrol goes its just petrol. I had a Subaru Legacy Twin Turbo up to last year, all the guys on the forums said that you had to use the super, but inside the filler cap of mine it said use 95 only, so I did, and it went like shite off a shiny shovel, and no problems, so I stick with standard, until its proven otherwise, for BS standards to be quoted in that industry they have to be complied with, trust me I work within an industry where BS and other standards mean if you don't comply you don't trade.
blackhat250 Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 trust me I work within an industry where BS and other standards mean if you don't comply you don't trade. Corruption" Kev " smell that Vpower, that aint petrol , its pure chemicals,, like lager aint beer,,
kenDAWG Posted April 13, 2013 Posted April 13, 2013 I don't know what I put in mine its just the green one and not the black lol Ken
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