Unleaded or Premium Unleaded

[Mrjoolz]

Is it worth putting premium unleaded in a 96 ZZr600 ?

Do you think it actually really makes a difference other than to the pocket ?

[DrDonnyBrago]

[stinkwheel]

Short answer. No, it's not worth it.

Your bike is set up to run on standard unleaded. Higher octane fuel would allow you to tune it for higher compression and performance with less risk of detonation in the engine. More modern bikes with a knock sensor in the engine management system could theoretically take advantage of the higher octane fuel.

In harsh reality, you don't notice much difference anyway.

One thing you do get is more mpg. It is usually the case however that the increase in price of the fuel more than swallows the saving you ake in consumption. You could always try it and see. If the increase in mpg makes the higher octane fuel cheaper or the same price per mile, it's worth buying. If it doesn't, it's not.

The only bike I've seen that got enough of an MPG increase to justify buying the high octane fuel was a Honda H100 and even then only with optimax.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Mrjoolz]

cheers.

Probably wont make that much difference. I tend to get about 165-170 before the needle goes into the red. Always tend to fill up then, rather than risk riding and running out. I also tend to stop and turn tap to res when needle goes into red, so it doesnt dam well cut out on Motorway or dual carraigeways on way to the garage.

[doggone]

I remember accidentally going the other way with some low octane stuff in Germany.
I think they sold it for two stroke chainsaws and such - being used to generally just putting in the lower priced petrol I didn't look at the rating.
Anyway the bike started running hot with much less power and nasty pinking noise when working uphill.
mpg was terrible too so soon had chance to fill with proper stuff.
This was an XJ900

[stinkwheel]

[Nixon]

To standard shell fuel I get 120 miles to 16 litres of fuel priced £1.36 per litre
To Shell V Power stuff i get 135 miles to 16 litres of fuel priced £1.45 per litre.

Standard Fuel
£1.36 x 16 = £21.76 per tank / 120 miles = £0.18 per mile.

V Power
£1.45 x 16 = £23.20 per tank / 135 miles = £0.17 per mile.

It is only £1.20 saved over a tank when commuting which can be easily lost by opening it up a touch, but do get better acceleration and smoother throttle response with the V Power fuel.

[Edit] That is on a K1 GSXR 600

The only way to know if it will or won't on your bike is to try it, fill up and record your mileage and work it out, as I did Cost of tank divided by the amount of miles you return

[N cee thirty]

[Mrjoolz]

May give it a try, and see like.

[robbieguy2003]

I use it on the CBR if i'm feeling lavish, that's got a knock sensor on and you do notice it. It feels a bit smoother and more responsive, it's not a placebo, it is noticable.

I dont know about MPG though, not really bothered to check. I think my riding style changes the fuel on ride to ride rather than the fuel type.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[Mrjoolz]

I notice a considerable difference if riding up M20 into London at 65-70 and when in a rush at 80-90.

Although when tank full, I can do almost 80 miles without the gauge moving, and then when it does, it like "hey, I should be down there", and moves whilst I'm glancing at it....damn thing

[Paulington]

In the GSX-R1000 I always put in Super Unleaded (97-98 RON) as the bike is designed on run on that as it says so in the Owner's Manual.

It does make me laugh when I see people putting Super Unleaded into a GPZ500, Nissan Micra or various other silly things to be putting it into. !

Personally? I've always just put in what the Owner's Manual says unless it's for racing.

For example Atol charge you £8 a litre in karting for race fuel at National events so it is a control fuel and that's a FANTASTIC business to be in. .

PROTIP: They fill up all the containers with £1.40 a litre super unleaded and sell it for £8 a litre, they make a stupid amount of money. !
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Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[Kickstart]

Hi

ZZR600 is designed to run on 91 RON petrol I think (according to the Kawasaki workshop manuals). 95 RON is far more than is needed let along higher octane fuel.

Bit more info for you:-

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=2921369

I would be very surprised if the GSXR1000 is set up to run on super unleaded rather than just normal 95 RON premium unleaded. Suzuki workshop manual just says 95 RON unleaded.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[ruck bodgers]

i always use the one that sounds the most fancy with the pretence my engine likes it better and try to stick to the same one always . dosent happen when i find myself starved of fuel up some country back road in the middle of nowhere that have some stuff i have never even heard of before . i got paranoid about it once and as a result had 2 inline fuel filters . one of witch was a shitt shitt piece of crap purchased from ebay . the basic square transparent ones with the flow indicator . you would not believe the amount of trouble it caused me after leaking in air then leaking out fuel

[reesk92]

i dont have alot of experiance on the matter but id say if your gonna be racing or using the bike to its full potential the higher octane will give you a performance boost but general a to b day to day riding id say it wouldnt do much more for you in the performance department

as far as other benefits i have heard some vehicle be it car or bike are mapped to run more efifciantly on certain fuels but if ou dont want to use premium i imagine you could have the bike retuned for regular

honestly dont think about premium unles you need it what you need it just dont put penny fuel in it ei any fuel that is shite sold by a supermarket ect some bp or shell regular should do you right

from my own expirance though and this has nothing to do with fuel i know ive gotta use decent 2 stroke oil unless i wanna fuck my bike up so silkolene or castrol it is for me

[tk338]

Interesting, very interesting!

I've put premium stuff in before and got less miles on my bike... But that was before when tanks varied from all motor way to all town. Now I just do one journey and its mostly motor way with a fairly consistent mileage to tank I might try it again. If I do I'll report back in a few days.
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Ybr125(10)>CBR600fY(00)>Bandit650N(58)

[Kickstart]

[reesk92]

Normal standard 95 RON IS premium unleaded. Can't say I have ever noticed any difference from supermarket fuels.

there probably isnt much of a difference it is just a theory that cheap supermarket fuel probably has crap in it you dont want like water or is just all together a crap batch somethings got to give for them to be able to sell it i wa just saying if you really wanna spend the extra penny brand name might be better but as i did mention i dont have much expiriance on the matter

[Kickstart]

Hi

Same basic fuel from the same suppliers. Possibly a different additive package, but probably no more chance of water in the fuel at delivery time and quite possibly a better chance of the tanks being well maintained to avoid water contamination compared to a small franchise of a big fuel company.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[reesk92]

[woll]

[Polarbear]

[woll]

It doesn't have to if it's producing more power surely? It's not a major difference really.
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Current Bike- Suzuki DRZ400 SM K6
Previous bikes - Derbi Senda Xtreme50r, Honda CBR 125, Kawasaki ZZR 250, Yamaha DT125R, Suzuki Bandit 600, Gas gas ec 250, Honda CBR600FW
Damaged spleen, damaged kindey, 2 popped lungs, 2 broken ribs, broken face, broken wrist and 5 back fractures... remember kids walls hurt

[neil.]

I thought I'd try and do an experiment so have been running both types for a while, a few tanks of super vs a few tanks of 95 RON stuff - all of the Shell variety. I can't notice any difference in power (acceleration etc), although the bike sometimes fails to start on the first press of the ignition with super in the tank. Always starts first time with 95 RON stuff.

As for MPG, I've recorded it all here, and you can see the times I've been running 95 RON vs super petrol from the Log Book section. Can anyone see a significant difference after accounting for times when there were perhaps more days where the wind is against me or I was giving it more beans on the A13 for some reason, or I over/underfilled a little bit etc? I can't really.


So for me there's no gain to be had, in fact, the bike is a little bit harder to start when using super unleaded...

[P.addy]