Regular vs Premium?

[Stiggles]

Hi guys, I've been happily riding my 796 now for the past week as I passed my test last Wednesday. Its pure bliss :-)

The thing is I've been filling up with regular unleaded and was wondering should I be using premium stuff?

Will I notice any difference or is it advisable to stay with unleaded?

Hope someone can help. Its a 2011 796.

Cheers

[DrD]

Unless heavily modified, regular unleaded RON95 is ok

[Funkatronic]

if you use it up then the norm stuff is fine

just dont leave fuel sat in the tanks for long periods as cheaper petrol with ethanol in it it has been known to deform the fuel tanks and clog up injectors etc (less of an issue on your bike afaik but still worth noting)

i'd avoid the cheapest supermarket petrol unless your desperate tbh

[turbohobbit]

I use VPower in my 696 and to be honest I do find it performs subtly better.

With regards "the cheapest supermarket petrol" I'm not actually sure whether or not it's actually the same as the Oil Major boggo, just rebadged for your favourite hypermarket...

[Stiggles]

Cheers guys, filled up around 5 times now in the last week so no problem with it sitting for too long :) started using stuff from a BP garage today though as its slightly better quality than the other cheap stuff.

The super we get in N Ireland isn't up to the same standards as the mainland and its scarce enough to find so I think ill stick to regular!

[Nickj]

I use VPower in my 696 and to be honest I do find it performs subtly better.


I always switch to the stuff when it starts getting cold, carbed moster issues. BUT on V I don't need to add FST so there is a difference.

Fuel used to be sold in cans, I've actually got a Shell can that came with a gallon of Golden Extra. It also had a reasonable shelf life measured in months.
The current stuff has a shelf life of a few weeks and the ethanol tends to do nasty things to various materials.

The moral of this (if you have green tendencies look away now) is whatever fuel you use get out and burn though it. Never leave a tank full, it'll melt the bike into a pile of gently steaming sludge.

So out, out now and use up that fuel before it does something nasty to the bike :mand:

[Dirty]

With regards "the cheapest supermarket petrol" I'm not actually sure whether or not it's actually the same as the Oil Major boggo, just rebadged for your favourite hypermarket...


It is. The standard unleaded is pretty much the same stuff depending on what area you live in. The nearest refinery supplies the garages within it's range so you could be buying shell at a BP or whatever. It's only the premium stuff that is actually any different.

[AndyC_772]

I swear my 695 runs more smoothly on SUL. Eleanor says the exact opposite about her 696.

[Stiggles]

So Super could be worth trying out a few tanks to see if there's a difference. And if not just go back to regular? Given that its £15 or so each time I fill up it'll not be a huge difference price wise so it might be worth a shot.

Cheers for the responses :-)

[Dukedesmo]

I'm sure all the new bikes are designed to run on 95 octane so there is no benefit of running anything higher? No harm done hoever if you do.

That said I run both my Monster and 916 on super, but they have both had tuning work that involved raising the compression ratio.

[Mr Gazza]

I always try and fill up with the "Super" or "Premium" grades if it's on the pump when I fill up.

Can't say as I can notice any difference in performance. I do it just to keep the Ethanol levels down.

I always make a deliberate effort to make sure the last couple of tankfull's of the season are "Super" and lay it up with as full a tank as possible. I am told that the better grades don't have Ethanol.

[Nickj]

Fuel with more ethanol does tend to have a lower BTU, less has higher. Typical range is 110 to 124K.
Modern motors with intelligent ECUs control knock etc by regulating the mixture, hence the usual increase in fuel consumption when using fuel with added athanol, this is up to about a max of 2.5% with 10%. With 20% ethanol it obviously will get worse as the BTU content drops more and the potential water content increases. Ethanol can hold a lot of water so you could be buying 5-10% water in the worst case at £130 a litre.
Generally there are additives in anything with ethanol in it to try and stabilise the burn rate, ethanol goes bang slower than gasoline. In most motors there will be little practical difference between using generic 95 and 98 grade fuels UNLESS you start to hit autoignition with high comp motors. A hot high compression motor can have the fuel start burning well before the ignition spark when you get a drop in power usually at the top end of the rev band.
Whats better depends on the motor, the electronics and how you ride the bike.
In most cases the 98 isn't going to really do much better than the 95 but there may be a noticable difference when you find you have a tank full of fuel with a significant water loading.
Its a seat of the pants thing, if it makes you happy then its good.

Oh and its all unleaded these days stiggles although the UK does have a dispensation to produce .5% of fuell as leaded. There's a limited ammount of 4* leaded fuel produced mainly for old and historic vehicles from a very limited number of sites.

[Dirty]

In most cases the 98 isn't going to really do much better than the 95 but there may be a noticable difference when you find you have a tank full of fuel with a significant water loading.
Its a seat of the pants thing, if it makes you happy then its good.



How about the additives the makers claim they put in the super, are they worth anything?