What BRAND of fuel are you using?

[lynx124]

Hey so I'm new to the biker world (been here a little more than a year) but I'm pretty darn versed with cars, ESP BMWs, which are the most picky and fickle cars on the market. To take the best care of the engine I use either HESS or (believe it or not) SAMs Club Super Grade. The reason I don't like BP (besides all of the politics) is that this "Invigorrate" crap that they put in it, just hinders your performance and adds more gunk. If your really wanna clean out ur fuel lines, buy the high grade stuff from ur autoshop.

As for my bike I abide by the same rules with the addition of one other. Try to avoid Ethanol as much as you can. I know it's hard but as a synthetic chemist I can tell you ethanol does NOT burn in the same fashion as Octane. It's no good for a bike engine which tends to be more sensitive than big car engines.

I hope this helps and if anyone knows more about the truths of ethanol in bike fuel please let me know!

ok, can't resist...

what exactly are you cleaning from your fuel lines with 'high grade' stuff ?
where does said 'cleaned out stuff' go ?
does it go into the carbs, and clog the jets or magically poof away instead ?


I use whatever gas is at the pump whenever I've hit reserve. oh, and cheapest. never seen any increase or decrease in milage with any brand over another. then again, I don't have an odometer, speedometer, trip meter, or a care.

"high grade stuff" (the 'high grade' part being relative to the crap BP puts in their fuel) meaning fuel line and injector cleaners that you mix in with your fuel every few years. I didnt mean this for bikes, but rather cars, especially heavy duty work trucks. The "gunk" basically gets burnt off, which admittedly could cause further problems for the car if used too much but quickly solves fuel injection issues. That comment wasnt meant for bikes as I have no clue if its good to be used on a bike or not. Sorry for not being clear and thanks for pointing that out!...besides for a bike fuel lines (I'm assuming only because I have yet to change them on my bike) are much easier to swap than that of say, an e46 BMW 3-series...

[Nahian]

Always shell in all my bikes. There is a noticeable difference to me.

[peteGS]

I won't put ethanol in my bike... mainly because it reportedly goes "off" a hell of a lot quicker and I've heard of bikes left for relatively short periods of time (ie. a couple of weeks) getting gummed up carb circuits because the ethanol has gone off so quickly. Maybe there were more issues there but I've heard too many bad news horror stories about it to even try it.

[ohgood]

Always shell in all my bikes. There is a noticeable difference to me.

you really need to have your mates setup a double blind test with 4-5 brands of fuel, in your bike.

[junk301]

I only use shell 91

[Nahian]

Always shell in all my bikes. There is a noticeable difference to me.

you really need to have your mates setup a double blind test with 4-5 brands of fuel, in your bike.

Don't really need to..I had Sunoco in my other bikes (never did with the gs, cause I only recently got it, always shell in her) and then the bike would run weird and the carbs would get dirty, the same with wawa and valero. This has a more profound effect on my 2 strokes than my street bikes. Maybe I am superstitious but, I have just never had a problem with shell gas so I just stick to that lol. That being said, I never really thought about what octane gas is best for the gs500. I've been putting 93 but I know that is not necessary in many cases. What do you guys think? I live pretty close to sea level too. I know elevation matters somewhat.

[EdChen]

I use whatever it the cheapest, then whatever is closest when I'm about to run out. I haven't noticed much difference, although my riding traffic is so erratic, I wouldn't really be able to track it anyway.

It's hard to find here, but like others have said, I think the ethanol content makes a bigger difference than the brand. It might just be a coincidence that a certain brand puts less ethanol in their gas, or maybe even no ethanol in some premium octanes.

Who knows, don't ask me though, I use the cheapest gas I can find, and Rotella T motor oil made for diesel trucks.

[twocool]

I've suggested the "double blind test" to satisfy all the Internet arguments on gas brand, octane...mileage, "power"...spark plugs...oil...additives, fat tires....etc etc.....

Nobody has ever taken me up on the offer............

BTW on a similar note...Here in NJ there was recently an expose...the bars were serving crap whiskey.....poured from the expensive brand bottle....nobody seemed to notice.....but worse some bars were mixing food color with rubbing alcohol... and passing it off as scotch......hmmmmm

Cookie

Always shell in all my bikes. There is a noticeable difference to me.

you really need to have your mates setup a double blind test with 4-5 brands of fuel, in your bike.

[ohgood]

I've suggested the "double blind test" to satisfy all the Internet arguments on gas brand, octane...mileage, "power"...spark plugs...oil...additives, fat tires....etc etc.....

Nobody has ever taken me up on the offer............

BTW on a similar note...Here in NJ there was recently an expose...the bars were serving crap whiskey.....poured from the expensive brand bottle....nobody seemed to notice.....but worse some bars were mixing food color with rubbing alcohol... and passing it off as scotch......hmmmmm

Cookie

Always shell in all my bikes. There is a noticeable difference to me.

you really need to have your mates setup a double blind test with 4-5 brands of fuel, in your bike.

yessa, I've heard of similar things.


the thing is, a dyno might be needed to find any differences at all, and if so, who cares.

I haven't noticed a difference in either of my thumpers from any brand or octane to another. they cruise the same, acclerate the same, idle the same.

different gasses, different octanes, different locals... the only time gas is thought about is when I have to switch to reserve.

[RossLH]

I could care less about what brand of fuel goes in the GS. My car is a good test of fuel quality though....turbocharged, ignition advanced as far as possible, if the fuel isn't top notch the knock light starts going crazy at full throttle.

[ohgood]

I could care less about what brand of fuel goes in the GS. My car is a good test of fuel quality though....turbocharged, ignition advanced as far as possible, if the fuel isn't top notch the knock light starts going crazy at full throttle.

that's octane, homie, not quality.

[RossLH]

I only ever use 93oct. Low quality 93oct will cause bad detonation in my car.

[ohgood]

I only ever use 93oct. Low quality 93oct will cause bad detonation in my car.

i'm confused, you only use 93 octane and live with the detonation ?

93 octane is 93 octane, unless it's different methods of determining the octane, or different levels of ethanol.

[RossLH]

Ethanol content doesn't really matter, ethanol effectively raises the octane. It's any combination of age, crappy additives, and water in the fuel that can affect the quality.

And yes, the car is very sensitive. It's tuned to run higher than stock boost on top of a lot of timing. That combination can quickly lead to detonation if the fuel isn't quite right.

[ohgood]

Ethanol content doesn't really matter, ethanol effectively raises the octane. It's any combination of age, crappy additives, and water in the fuel that can affect the quality.

And yes, the car is very sensitive. It's tuned to run higher than stock boost on top of a lot of timing. That combination can quickly lead to detonation if the fuel isn't quite right.

but you said "low quality octane causes deton..."

low octane causes detonation, yes.

[RossLH]

That's not at all what I said. Take for instance E85. Octane rating of well over 100, but ethanol is hygroscopic. When E85 takes on water, the octane rating remains the same, but the fuel is shot. Same octane as before, much lower quality. Very distinct difference.

[iclrag]

You can use just about any brand, i prefer to use Chevron premium because around where i live they generally have a higher octane premium, though when im working full time i tend to use a race blend or an octane boost which runs better than any premium fuel that ive bought from a gas station before.
I wouldnt use E85 because it tends to pull water from the atmosphere into it if it sits for any period of time which can cause problems for your gas tank / petcock

[ohgood]

That's not at all what I said. Take for instance E85. Octane rating of well over 100, but ethanol is hygroscopic. When E85 takes on water, the octane rating remains the same, but the fuel is shot. Same octane as before, much lower quality. Very distinct difference.

were not talking about water in fuel, were talking about fuel. of course dumping water sand or pie into a fuel will make it poor quality. was the quoted bit changed ?

[ohgood]

You can use just about any brand, i prefer to use Chevron premium because around where i live they generally have a higher octane premium, though when im working full time i tend to use a race blend or an octane boost which runs better than any premium fuel that ive bought from a gas station before.
I wouldnt use E85 because it tends to pull water from the atmosphere into it if it sits for any period of time which can cause problems for your gas tank / petcock

what are running the racefuel in ?

got any dyno or temperature graphs that show your bike/car/airplane actually running better ?

[makman]

I top up with Sainburys 95 unleaded. Works fine in the bike and I am returning 64mpg (UK ones).  Or whatever is closest to me when the tank is going dry! Still working on where the reserve kicks in and as I lost around 1 litre of fuel when taking the tank off at the weekend (previous owner did not use clips to hold the hose on), I'll have to wait till next week before finding the true reserve point.