Cheap ASDA petrol, bike running poorly

[0ni]

Now I may be jumping to conclusions here but the only thing I have changed on my bike the last few days was the petrol I use. The bike was very hard to start this morning, and I can certainly smell a difference. It sounds daft I know but there has been a different scent about the bike. She seems to be a little rougher at low speeds and getting very hot.

I haven't used any of the fancy optimax nonsense before but I have by chance stuck to normal Esso petrol since I have owned the bike - its the closest station to my house.

The bike is also Dynojetted to stage 3 - would this make it more sensitive to fuel choice?

Is supermarket petrol crap?

slanj

oni
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[Aikman666]

Chances are there using a less expensive fraction of the distilled oil used to make petrol, to make the price cheaper. If true, this will mean the fuel wont burn as well as it should and doesnt contain as much natrual lubricants. Thats just a COMPLETE guess though, and im sure someone is waiting to prove me wrong But hey! i did acctually pass chemistry!
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[Walloper]

If enough diesel fuel was delivered to the wrong tanks by the tanker then it would affect your engine performance. It wouldn't necessarily damage it though.
Call at the store and ask the nice manager to check.
There are chemical test for fuels but usually only done by Dept of Standards, Petrol companies etc.

Advice: Bosh the suspect fuel and fill with fuel from a known source.

Petrol in a Diesel engine is an entirely different matter and could cause damage in many ways.
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[Aikman666]

Sorry bout this guys BUT: i remember being told deisel for non industrial use has a dye in it? So that the police can tell if you are doing a tax dodge (as industrial deisel has little or no tax).

So have a quick look in the tank, if you can see any discolouration, then you know that there is diesel mixed in there. On the other hand, it might be the industrial deisel that has the dye (beats me ). Either way check the colour of the petrol!

(i said sorry at the start because i cant remember which way round it is )
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[Davo]

[yambabe]

[Walloper]

Both fuels are the same grade/quality.
The dye is added by the tanker driver on discharge to sites where duty is not applicable.
The clear type from petrol station is called DERV (Diesel Engine Road Vehicle) The other is called Gas Oil (Same name as the Septics use.)
Diesel is the name of the chap who invented the principle of the 'Oil' burning engine.
The same tankers carry fuel to both points only one gets dye added.
Marine is the same.

The dye cannot be completely removed using cat litter as there are chemical indicators present in the dye as well as colour. The colour now only serves as a visual aid in identifying type of fuels.
'Red' diesel as it's known can be detected on all components of a fuel system using lab tests or 'road-side' chemical tests performed by HM Customs and Excise officers who can then seize the property and goods contained. Even after the tank and system is 'cleaned out' Deep shit.
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[Flip]

Some vehicles are tempermental too. My old mans' Piccaso runs better on certain stations fuels. Some fuels make it rough f*ck.

[Davo]

[Walloper]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Chances are the fuel is exactly the same as in a load of other petrol stations in your town. Entirely possible the tanks need cleaning out at the supermarket (same at any fuel station).

I assume you did not fill up with diesel . By the way, modern high pressure diesel injection systems are damaged very easily by petrol. It would take a lot less than £5 worth in a tank.

Possible it is the fuel, but unless it is running really badly then I would just run it through, maybe fill up the next tank early.

Dynojet kits can make the bike more prone to problems with temperature / pressure / etc, depending on how well the bike was set up. Yesterday was quite warm which might have triggered the problem.

All the best

Keith
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[MarkyPancake]

I have only used 95 RON fuel in my R1 once and it didn't run badly, but it didn't feel as good as my old ZX-6R. I have always used at least 97 RON since and put Shell Optimax in for the first time the other day (at nearly 95p per litre though!) and it does feel better.

[TOM M]

I'm not really fussed what fuel i use in my bikes, but in the car it seems to run better from the cheap supermarket fuels and i seem to get a higher mpg when using tesco petrol in the car then something like shell. Not sure if the car being 12 years old makes a difference to it liking cheaper petrol?
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[feef]

[Andy C]

i think there is a bit of difference, i think supermarket stuff is cheaper for a reason aswell,

my RS125 blow up when it had sainsburys premium stuff in, i really doubt that it was the reason but thought i would mention it!
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[feef]

I've had jobs where I've driven in excess of 1000 miles a week...

I've done 6000 miles on the bike this year, and about 20000 so far in the car.

I buy my fuel from wherever I happen to come across, whenever I need it, supermakets, big name filling stations, little no-name service stations (have even had red deisel off a farmer friend in the past Ssshhhh).

I've yet to suffer Any of the symptoms that are often bandied about when talking about "crap" fuels.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but a decent engine, in good condition, and a reasonable level of tune can handle a surprising level or crapness...

a
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[Flip]

[kb-zxr]

I find my bike "feels" best when the petrol is from Tesco or Shell. This may just be psycological


I never tried Optimax, does it make much difference, and can you just fill the tank up with it straight after using normal pertol?

Kurt

[Walloper]

[jay12329]

I used (untill last month) work in a supermarket petrol station, the fuel was deliverd from the BP refianary, in BP lorries by BP drivers. It was infact BP fuel. I beleave ASDA is the same, as they had suply problems at the same time we did due to BP drivers not doing overtime.
HTH
J

[0ni]

It is the smell though, discounting everything else I am sure I could smell a difference when the bike started - back on to esso stuff and it is on the button again.

Awell, it was only 1p a litre I was saving!
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[Walloper]

[Milo]

I always fill up at Tesco and I'm a fan of the pay at pump - I don't even get of the bike!
Have been getting about 100 miles out of a tank but when I used the Optimax type stuff I got 120 under the same conditions.
This big difference is very unlikely to be down to the fuel, but I'll use it again soon to see what happens.

I've not noticed any performance issues with Tesco fuel, though I'm South London so it may be possible that the more remote areas have slightly more deteriorated fuel.
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[quik_d]

i used the Esso expensive fuel / super petrol (can't remember the real name of it) and my bike ran like a dog, i dunno if it was cos it was a 1990 bike but i couldn't wait for it to run out so i could change to the cheaper stuff!
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[ZZRman]

Supermarket fuel is 2nd rate but it shouldnt affect the bikes running, possibly your carbs are out of balance