Standard or super petrol?

First of all sorry if this has come up before (couldn't see a thread) or it is just a stupid question. 

Not had a motorcycle before and I only drive s**t cars. My present is the oh so sensible Picasso (actually I like it for spacious reasons) .... Anyway I have only ever filled up with the standard petrol.  

When last at the pump with the Intruder I got to wonderin, as it is a lot less to fill up, why shouldn't I go for the premium fuel? Being an adopted Yorkshire man I obviously was not going to be so rash with cash without some research.

What is your view.  Can I fill up on the good stuff and if so is it worth it?

The good stuff is higher octane so should burn cleaner, it's also supposed to have more additives in it to keep your fuel system cleaner, I usually run a tank full of premium on every fourth tank, I don't notice any difference? But the higher cost of it on a bike is irrelevant.

Interesting comment. I might try an experimental approach in the Spring of 1:1 to 1:4 ratios to see what's what.

I did run the works van on the premium diesel for a while, it usually did about an extra thirty to forty miles per tank, not sure if the extra miles warranted the extra cost though? And didn't notice any improvement in its running.

With Sim, you will get more mpg from premium but it doesn't warrant the extra price and you wont notice the extra mpg on a motorbike tank! BUT again the same as sim I do fill up all the bikes and car every 3/4 tanks with premium purely for the xtra cleaning ingredients if you work in the slight gain in mpg and the cost of not buying redex or the like, doing it this way makes better financial sense

Cheers Justin.  Makes sense.

The price difference between the 2 is just bloody ridiculous. Just buy the cheaper one and pop a cap full of Wynns in every few tanks

I guess it depends on the brand and seller. Sainsbury's the difference is not much and with ten times nectar points this month on petrol. ......

captain crash wrote:

The price difference between the 2 is just bloody ridiculous. Just buy the cheaper one and pop a cap full of Wynns in every few tanks

Using Wynn's formula gold petrol treatment every so often works out at about 20p per litre more expensive than using normal unleaded fuel, not sure on the extra cost of premium fuel over normal? 7p per litre possibly? but no where near as much as buying addatives.

I was advised not to use supermarket fuel, but I do. Occasionally I treat the old girl by filling her up with premium but I have not noticed any difference, but my VX is carbed so I am not sure if that makes a difference or not. I did put some Seafoam in the VX's tank when I got the GPZ as I bought a bottle to put some in it but did not need it all.

Some bikes (Like my mate's BMW GS1200) do require 'Super' petrol, and as Sim mentions this is all about the octane rating, and is linked to the compression ratio, the characteristics of the camshaft the general refinement of the ignition mapping etc.

The Suzuki 800s run fine on 'normal' petrol - which in the UK is a higher/better octane rating than the standard grade pump fuel in the USA . There is little advantage in running a higher octane rating fuel than the motor is designed for (Unless you make other changes to optimise running on higher octane fuel - which could negate savings) - though it is true that there may be some marginal advantages in improved combustion efficiency (& you might get a few extra miles per tank - but riding style is the main influence on tank range - a it is not easy to accredit any improvements to octane rating alone). that said I've hear other people say they get better tank range from premium diesel in their works cars.

In terms of mods for running on higher octane fuel, I advanced the cam timing on my F6C because it is run on better UK fuel - I noticed a slightly better pick up from low down (ever so slight), and the tank range did improve slightly - but as mentioned above any gains can easily be lost due to riding style)

So you could stick to you 'Yorkshire' intuition & bask in the satisfaction of the few pence per litre you save each time you fill up ...... & in a million years you will get a free bike from those savings !

 BUT - if you did want to try higher octane fuel, it will not do anything detrimental to the engine - so don't worry about that !

Free bike That's more like it lad "nars thar torking" 
Actually really sound stuff; cheers

never really thought about it but I'm gunna fill up on the good stuff next time I take the bike to the petrol station