fuel wiki

djcecil

djcecil

New member
Now i know more than a lot of people about fuel, but i am certain there are many that know more than me. i have been delvering fuel for almost 8 years, and have been at the same company using our trucks for our stations so i know 100% about the fuel i put in the bike, so here we go (i am in middle TN so there are variances depending on where you are and how close you are to a major city where fuel has higher rvp, and or reformulated gas). there used to be conventional gas (clear, no ethanol), now we see at the pump gasahol (10% ethanol). now ethanol raised the octane by @ 3 points, so to get an actual 87 the gas now is cbob (google it) that is 84 octane (+ethanol = 87 octane). there is no such thing as a downgraded premium, so we have 93 (plus the eth = @ 96 octane) now i was following manual and just using 87 for months, the other day filled the tank to top with 2.5 gallons of prem to see if there was a diff. there absolutly was more power, and in work commute, plus the other day of running around the hills and corners testing suspension settings i had a full round of riding. normally gps tells me this riding is around 40mpg. the 1/2 prem tank gave 47.5 mpg. leaving gps off while riding would make it worse so this is an actual #. in the tank now is straight premium (+10% alcohol) and i will painfully go out and ride the curvey roads fast to get accurate data. i never ride to try and get the best or worse mileage, i ride to enjoy and use the gps just because it has that function in it. i babble all this info to help possibly explain why you might get better mileage using a different grade as the cbob is obviously not the bikes favorite flavor.
 
djcecil

djcecil

New member
at least typing i do not repeat myself, so be glad this was not a face to face babble ha!









there is that damn enter key!
 
gunbunny

gunbunny

New member
It's getting hard to find ethenol free fuel anymore, lucky for me im close to a station that carries it. Still I always carry a small bottle fuel conditioner for those times I have to put corn squeezin's in my tank.
 
djcecil

djcecil

New member
obv the refineries will make the most of what sells, so if cbob is what gas stations are selling to keep prices down, then all stations need to sell that to keep their prices down. the stations in nashville that were holding out had to charge @0.25 more per gallon for 87 conventional, and to get people back to their pumps they had to switch from their "our gas has no ethanol" to the same fuel everyone else here is putting in tanks (in-ground that is).

on another note a quick fill of 1.6 gallon top off showed 36 mpg, but i am going to run this tank dry, fill with midgrade and see if that is the bike stock likes. but pipe will be replaced this month and smog block plates are here today, so that will change things. government regulations + being able to get you fuel in your car cheaper is basically what it is all about really. i am in charge of 3 trucks, 10 stations, and 4,000,000 gallons of gas a month so i see all patterns of the business.
 
lothodon

lothodon

Super Moderator
fwiw i run whatever is at whatever gas station i'm at (87 corn i guess) and am nearing 40mpg under heavy use. heavy meaning i do NOT shy away from high rpms.
 
djcecil

djcecil

New member
yeah, i forgot that my small passenger has been on the back between those fill ups, so the added 50lbs +/- is likely where the mileage has gone, my bad on that waste of typing. and i agree lothodon, i bought my bike to ride hot/cold slow/FAST, i'll ride to work dry and home even if i'll get wet. my truck sits with enought gas in it to go to the gas station to buy just enough to do what i can't do on the bike. :)
 
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