Fuels

[92kk k100lt 193214]

I had a very interesting experience in France in September.

Took the 1984 K100RT....85k miles [50k of them mine] and did 2 k miles while there.

I was using 98 and to be honest it wasn't running that great on it, also managed to foul the plugs up significantly.

Changed it to 95 which was sometimes E10......very noticeably better running, fouling plugs problem went away, about a 10% improvement in economy. I certainly did not expect this but that's what happened.

I avoided E85 as in previous years the K did not like this stuff.

The K100 despite its age is fuel injected but has no knock or lambda sensors, only temperature and air flow metering. It therefore has no way of knowing if you put in 'premium' fuel so the extra cost is sort of wasted.

He he when I came back I picked up a 97 K1100LT......58k miles working ABS etc etc

[Nick_2112]

I tend to avoid Supermarket fuel with the bike but happily put it in the car.

As someone said in an earlier post, we are a small island, is there any scientific evidence that Supermarket fuel is any different to regular garage fuel?

I ask this as I have seen branded fuel tankers delivering to supermarket stations and unbranded fuel tankers delivering to so called branded regular petrol stations. I realize that fuel companies will sometimes hire tankers to cover when short.

Near me I see plenty of JET tankers knocking about, but to my knowledge there are no local JET stations.

[DavidS]

My understanding is that the ethanol is added just as the tankers leave the depot as it can't be left in there too long
We are lucky to have a small garage company locally that deliberately have ethanol free petrol so they get a lot of bike and classic vehicle business.

My TVR was fine on most super unleaded but ran like a donkey on Tesco 99.
A lot of smaller garages don't do 98 now.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

The BM 800 has very sophisticated engine management and would be able to get the best from the 'Super' fuels.

Beg to differ it doesn`t have a knock sensor, the GS flat twins do and will run on lower octane but prefer 98 and you will get better mpg/power.
Bill you are right RON rating is universal the confusion with 800 is it says use super unleaded but in germany that is 95 RON!
Just got this off a forum
Here is a copy of an email from BMW UK!

Thank you for contacting BMW Motorrad Customer Information. The grade 95 RON stated in your handbook refers to super unleaded in Germany .

That was what originally confused me and when I realised I used 95 RON with no problems.

Oh, I thought it used the BMW BMS-KP engine management system...the KP denoting anti-knock.

http://www.bmw-motorrad.co.th/th/en/tec ... _twin.html

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

This is interesting

https://www.simplemotoring.co.uk/superm ... ded-fuels/

[DavidS]

This is interesting

https://www.simplemotoring.co.uk/superm ... ded-fuels/

Much as I had understood it but I have never been a fan of BP but they are always much more expensive than the other 'premium' fuels yet I have noticed lower performance more than any other mainstream petrol.

I'm only just into diesel car ownership (2 days before the anti-diesel rumpus started) and I haven't found any difference. Maybe because of the turbo?

[djwarrack]

I have found that I get the best performance in terms of engine responsiveness and mpg from BP Ultimate in my Moto Guzzi Stelvio. Also, having moved to West Wales about a year ago Gulf super unleaded seems to be pretty good too. Shell vpower I avoid as it didn't make any difference. I did read somewhere else that Shell vpower wasn't recommended for Moto Guzzi's in Australia.

Refuelling up in France presents a bit of a dilemma as I never seem to be near a branded fuel station when I need to fill up, so usually end up using supermarket super unleaded. Some of it isn't too bad, but after my latest trip I will avoid Intermarche in future.

All the best

David W

[Morph]

This is interesting

https://www.simplemotoring.co.uk/superm ... ded-fuels/

Thanks for the link, I think this sums it up;

Not many people really know the truth about this business, and they are not the kind of people who will reveal all on the internet. Unfortunately, that means we will have to keep guessing as to whether there is any meaningful difference between supermarket fuels and branded fuels.