Fuel Tank Additives...Pros and Cons

[web_wizard]

Ok, Im asking this because I think its important and I'd like to know real results...For those of us who have used fuel tank additives to clean our fuel system.....Do they work? Are there any drawbacks to using them?? I'd like to hear everybody's thoughts before I try it with my bike....What about an octane booster additive...The same questions apply...is there a chance that it will be too much and end up doing damage??

thanks in advance

[Itchy]

why do you need an octane booster for we live in Europe not Mongolia or the US where they have low octane ratings,
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[Spoon261]

Don’t mess around with fuel tank things you pour in.
Their a waste of time and money, these octane and cleaners.

Instead buy high end petrol. They have higher octane and cleaners and other things.

When I say high end petrol, I mean.

Shell V Power (99 Octane)

BP Ultimate (97 Octane)

Tesco 99 (99 Octane)

If your tesco sells the 97 petrol don’t bother.

Don’t get in to the higher the octane the better trap, its meaningless, its not the octane it’s the cleaners and other things that make the bike faster, cleaner and better pulling power thought the rev range. You can also end up with faster acceleration.

I mention the 3 petrol’s above since they are the best, the other brands high end ones are rubbish.

Shell V Power is 7p a litre more than unleaded

BP Ultimate is about the same 7p.

Tesco is around 5p more than unleaded.

Also do not be surprised to find your fuel economy improves so the high end petrol works out cheaper than unleaded per mile!

The cleaners are mild, so can take 2 whole tanks to really perform.

You can mix high end petrol with normal unleaded.

Try whichever is convenient for you

My preference is Shell V Power, I think its cleaners are better than Tesco

I have not tried BP Ultimate since its not convenient where I live, but no its reputation as being as good as Shell V power.

But independent tests, showed the tesco gives slightly better performance than the other two, I say try them all and see what suits your engine. But its convenience that’s the most important.

[Dazbo666]

I had a can of octane booster given to me by the previous owner when I bought my current bike, but to be honest, could never really tell any difference if I used it or not.

I think I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread (and my fuel consumption) and maybe try some of the high end fuel to see if it makes any difference
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1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
Word of the day : DILLIGAF

[cestrian]

Apparently, the expensive BP petrol gives better power in high performance engines but is no better than standard petrol when used in a standard engine.
Fuels from SHell, BP and other big names have detergents added to them whereas the cheaper supermarket fuels don't.

I wouldn't bother with extra additives, just a waste of money.

[Spoon261]

Check what octane your motorcycle needs.

Most are 95 octane or less. That means they will work on normal unleaded which is 95 octane.

Some bikes demand 97 octane. This is known in this country as super unleaded.
Do not put normal unleaded in a 97 octane engine unless you put an octane booster in.

Theirs no harm in putting to high a octane in an engine, there is real trouble if you put to low in. The performance will drop, the engine will knock and loads of other things that will damage the engine.

Octane in the UK is measured in RON (research octane). So you will see 97 RON.
I think the rest of Europe uses the RON system. America uses another system = MON? That’s more like the real octane at the pump which is lower than RON.

If your bike has been tunned, it may have been tunned for 97 octane.
If your bike is a high end sports bike type engine it also could be 97 octane.
If its anything else, its all most certainly not, unless it’s a grey import.

[ZRX61]

The only fuel thats been independantly proven, so far, to do any cleaning etc is Chevron/Techron...

Any octane booster you buy is basically snake oil as you'd need at least 4x what they contain to make any difference.

[Spoon261]

[bladerunner]

unless you have preignition or running high compression heads..then you dont need high octane fuel..although whats been said above is correct and you'll find quite a few people say that shell v boost etc seems to make performance markedly better.

As for fuel cleaner additives I never really thought them a suitable replacement for a proper strip down and clean..however I bought a 750 SRAD which had been standing for 3 years and once running wouldnt pull past 10,000 rpm..however with a good dose of injector cleaner it was running all the way through to the limiter in only 6 miles so I guess it has it's uses

[feef]

[ZRX61]

[web_wizard]

Thank you everybody for all this information....Itchy, I do actually live in the U.S. but the information is very useful thanks everybody...

[Spoon261]

[ZRX61]

[feef]

[timjim]

Going back to your original question,i use a fuel additive in my bandit 600 in the colder weather and have done for years with no problems..i couldnt even tell you if it increase performance but it certainly helps and runs smoother.

[feef]

[timjim]

i use silkolene pro fst,usually about every other tank refill,the effects you speak of being sycho sematic i would dispute as ive tried the bike with AND without the additive in the cold,when not used the bike is erratic on tickover/lumpy,when accelerating from about 3-3500 rpm,the bike hesitates and splutters.I have spoken to great lengths with other(early) bandit owners who have also experienced the problems and symptoms.The problem was supposed to have been resolved by suzuki fittting carb heaters as the fault was diagnosed to being condensation in the carb bowls when cold...mine had heaters fitted and still did the same!all i can say is that the additive is down to a personal choice,but for me using the bike ALL yaer long,rain,shine,snow and ice..the use of additive has shown positive benefits.I havent tried using the stuff in summer(what little we have!!),but can only relate my own results and opinion.

[Spoon261]

This thread is going no were.

Lets make it very simple.

Try everything for yourself and see what happens.
It will depend on your engine and how you use it.

If you are worried about some companies damaging your engine, only use the companies you trust.

Just remember there are things you can buy to stick in the petrol, there are also special petrols available that already have extra things put in them. Some things will do nothing, something’s might give a slight improvement, something’s might give a big improvement etc. Something’s might make your engine last longer, some things might damage your engine (that’s were which companies do you trust comes in).

[Welsh Al]

I don't know about cleaning engines, but fuel additives can help with Carb icing if you have an older model.

I used Wynn's Dry Fuel. A pink bottle that let my GPX behave like a bike over that christmas.

I didn't try the super fuels though. They didn't have them round here at the time.
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[Kickstart]

Hi

There are fuel additives to help with carb icing. These can work, although carb icing only occurs in certain circumstances anyway.

There are also fuel additives to clean the system. Personally I am pretty dismissive of them. Certainly some can work, but it is a bit of a bodge job.

There are also octane boosters. If you need a higher octance fuel then they are required (and failing to use them, or fuel already of a sufficient octance rating, could easily result in sudden and major engine damage). If you engine does not need the higher octane fuel then it will do not good at all (indeed, might loose you a tiny amount of fuel as generally higher octance fuels have a lower energy content).

Europe uses the RON (Research Octane Number), the other major rating is given as MON (Motor Octane Number). Basically a similar test, but using a control engine at different revs. The USA uses the PON (Pump Octane Number) which is an average of the RON and MON figures for a fuel. Rule of thumb the RON figure will be 10 points higher than the MON figure, which means normal UK 95 octane unleaded is about equivalent to US 90 octane fuel.

Plenty of Japanese bikes have fairly low octane requirements (eg, 1999 to 2002 R6 is listed as needing 91 RON fuel).

All the best

Keith
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[Walloper]

If you don't spend the price of a round of drinks on the stuff then a wee splash of snake oil now and then could help.
Most common problem is the additives in the petrol evaporate as your bike sits in the garage.
Solution is get out on the thing more often there by increasing fuel use and helping to warm the planet (Which, I can inform you all now, will not be happening in Scotland until later.)

Or throw the old fuel away and add fresh.

But that is extreme.
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[ZRX61]