Petrol?

[Will14]

Hi

What fuel is everyone using and do you see a difference in performance with different brands?

I always use E5 premium petrol but use a few different petrol stations, the tank before last was Shell E5 V Power & the bike ran great on it, as I was running low on fuel last night with the one bar left and petrol pump light flashing I pulled in to my local Tesco and filled up there with E5 premium. I only had a short ride home after filling up but could almost instantly feel the difference, the bike didn't feel as responsive and showed signs of hesitation

Is supermarket fuel really that bad?

[Mick_J]

As there are only a few refineries in the UK all petrol comes from the same place so I don't believe there is much difference in them, using a supermarket will ensure the fuel you buy is always fresh, some out of the way fuel stations could have quite old fuel in their tanks.  I think it's all about the additives in the fuel that make the difference.  I use E10 and my bike runs fine but then again I am a cheapskate. 

[Tally]

Esso supreme 99(E5) is my preferred choice,BP then Shell. I have run on E10 out of necessity once and she didn't like it one bit.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Std 95ron when I'm feeling generous,  otherwise it's 91ron for her, no ethanol at all.

[Dwain Dibley]

I always try to use the same station on the way home to fill up, as it's near my house, I use E5 (Jet). I also whack in Redex when I get home, at 2.5 ml per litre.
I do this with all my bikes and they seem to thrive on it.

D.D.

[Hooli]

I always use E5, all my bikes feel flat, rough & unresponsive on E10. Plus they get that much worse MPG it's actually cheaper using the more expensive undiluted fuel.

When I was abroad last year I found 100 octane for sale in Germany & further east, the HD went like bloody stink on it & got a massive MPG improvement, so shame it's never seen over here.

[Phill P]

I've always used Tesco 99 on the bike and my mk2 Focus st (xr5), if its good for the focus then its good for bike.

[gsxbarmy]

So long as its E5 from Shell, Esso, BP or Tesco, I'll run my GS on it.

[Horse]

As the GSX 1.4 is a very basic EFI system and unless you have modified the engine/ timing ,except for the additives(if any)anything above 91 is effectively wasted money.
But if you think your bike runs better on your preferred fuel most of us live in semi free countrys,Enjoy!!!

[grog]

91 with occasional 98 to keep tank clean, has cleaning additives. Runs exact same on all of them.

[Notty]

E5 from Texaco for me - never any super market fuel 

[Hooli]

As the GSX 1.4 is a very basic EFI system and unless you have modified the engine/ timing ,except for the additives(if any)anything above 91 is effectively wasted money.
But if you think your bike runs better on your preferred fuel most of us live in semi free countrys,Enjoy!!!

It's not the octane that makes the difference, it's the ethanol. Ethanol burns much slower so changes the flamefront propagation within the cylinder, which requires a different ignition map & fuelling to run right. If they sold 95 RON with no ethanol I'd run on that as it'd be fine for a 14.

[Andre]

95 RON without ethanol for me as well. As that is not available, I have been running 98 RON without ethanol for years. Not available anymore, so filling her with precious ethanol-free 102 RON.

Main reason for ethanol-free are the rust promoting properties of ethanol.

Second reason: Engine is set up for non-ethanol.

Third reason: ethanol has less energy (

Ethanol burns much slower so changes the flamefront propagation

), so you have to burn more ie lower MPG.

With the 102 RON I probably fiddle a bit more with the ignition timing.

[Horse]

As the GSX 1.4 is a very basic EFI system and unless you have modified the engine/ timing ,except for the additives(if any)anything above 91 is effectively wasted money.
But if you think your bike runs better on your preferred fuel most of us live in semi free countrys,Enjoy!!!

It's not the octane that makes the difference, it's the ethanol. Ethanol burns much slower so changes the flamefront propagation within the cylinder, which requires a different ignition map & fuelling to run right. If they sold 95 RON with no ethanol I'd run on that as it'd be fine for a 14.

It is irrelevant what you slow the burn down with in the the old days it was tetra ethyl lead now it benzine tolulene or xylene we don't generally use Ethanol in OZ not on my side of OZ anyway ,unless as you say you alter the timing you will get no benefit out of the more expensive fuel the octane number is indicative of the fuels resistance to detonation the higher the number the greater the resistance and the slower the burn.

[Hooli]

As the GSX 1.4 is a very basic EFI system and unless you have modified the engine/ timing ,except for the additives(if any)anything above 91 is effectively wasted money.
But if you think your bike runs better on your preferred fuel most of us live in semi free countrys,Enjoy!!!

It's not the octane that makes the difference, it's the ethanol. Ethanol burns much slower so changes the flamefront propagation within the cylinder, which requires a different ignition map & fuelling to run right. If they sold 95 RON with no ethanol I'd run on that as it'd be fine for a 14.

It is irrelevant what you slow the burn down with in the the old days it was tetra ethyl lead now it benzine tolulene or xylene we don't generally use Ethanol in OZ not on my side of OZ anyway ,unless as you say you alter the timing you will get no benefit out of the more expensive fuel the octane number is indicative of the fuels resistance to detonation the higher the number the greater the resistance and the slower the burn.

Yes I'm aware the octane reflects that. Octane is more about denotion resistance than burn speed though, as I understand it the lower octane petrols burn at the same speed as the higher ones, it's just they detonate with less provocation. Ethanol burns slower than real petrol so needs spark advancement & a richer mixture to get the best out of it. 

As you don't have ethanol on your fuel you won't have felt it for yourself. But the bikes really do run noticeably rough and down on power as soon as I use it. Within a couple of hundred yards of filling up with E10 they feel broken until I put proper petrol in again. Plus my 14 gives about 25miles less per tank on E10, proving it's running badly on the stuff, the other bikes are the same in how it affects them.