Fuel types.

What does everyone use?
Premium or just Unleaded?
Was thinking of doing something like .....say 4 tanks unleaded and 1 tank of Premium??????
Or does it even matter?
Any thoughts?

Also i've been told to "stay away" from supermarket servo's ......

Has anyone have a particular petrol station that they prefer to fill up at?
Have a BP & Mobile out on the highway ( edge of town ) and another small privately run servo in town esso/caltex i think ( which i reckon over half the people in town use ), also know that most of the folks here that head out for a ride usually fill up at this servo.

Thanks.

I only use petrol over 95 RON. A couple of reasons why, first of all my bike was made for the UK market, so given the lowest RON here is 91 and there it's 93 (from memory) I just stay on the safe side. The other reason is because mine is oil/air cooled, I just figure it's just on the safe zone to reduce the chance of pinging. Giving the fact that higher octane petrol is only 12-15 cent/litre more at the most, a fill up is only an extra $1 or so.........who cares....no big deal. I have heard the arguments on the differences, saying it doesn't make a huge difference. I just think for the cost, why risk the reduction in performance or risk damage.

I use 95 or 98 where possible. The extra cost isnt much, so it doesnt bother me.
Plus compared to overseas, our fuel is crap.
I dont use Shell fuel...usually just BP or Caltex

from me experience PULP makes stuff all difference to how the bike runs
i will say tho that i've only tried PULP a couple of times (ran 2 or so tanks in a row thru it) so can't comment on continuous use.
i did try pulp one time form BP and my bike ran like shit till the tank was almost empty. i then refilled with my normal brew and it took 2 tanks to come good.
i put woolies fuel in all my cars and bikes and i've had no probs so far. 150 tho kms on my prado, 15tho combined on these bikes, 8 tho on my ER6 and god knows how many on the scooters before that.

IMO use what eva brand and rated fuel you wish as it all makes the engine go which equals riding.

I usually run a branded 91 (Aust only has 2 Refineries). However the first tank of a long trip is often PULP for the cleaning benefits.
I have used all brands but my local Mobil has a pay at the pump feature so I use that mostly.
Our engines have a low compression ratio compared to many bikes available so the fuel RON is not as critical.

Up until 4 months ago, I always used standard ULP in the bandit, unless we were filling up my wifes M750 at the same time then we used PULP, easier to use the same pump as the money was coming out of her purse anyway.

I never really noticed any difference in performance (power or economy) but I only ever ran 2, maybe 3 tanks, of PULP in a row. Then this winter the B12 really started hating cold mornings, it was as though it was being starved of fuel. Someone suggested using PULP 95 or higher.

So I started using PULP. It helped a bit with the problem, but other than that for the first 3 or 4 tanks I noticed no real difference, then I started getting 200k's plus before reserve around town, whereas before I would only hope to get 180k's before reserve. Now 200k's around town before reserve is common, infact this week I did 230k's and still hadn't hit reserve, it took 14.5 litres.

For the record it's an '02 Bandit with 50,000km on the clock, gets ridden every day for the daily commute, and in the last 12 months I haven't done many rides over 150km in distance.

From what I've read the older bandits, i.e 1200's, don't need PULP unless you've done some performance mods. I can't speak for the 1250.

Thanks for the replys everyone!

Most of the time I use PULP and will use RON 98 if 95 isn't available.
I tried regular ULP and the bike was definitely less happier. Maybe just a bad batch?
Economy wise, I believe there is no difference. My bandit drinks about 6.5-7 L per 100 km on city cycle regardless of RON.

2wheelsagain wrote:I usually run a branded 91 (Aust only has 2 Refineries). However the first tank of a long trip is often PULP for the cleaning benefits.
I have used all brands but my local Mobil has a pay at the pump feature so I use that mostly.
Our engines have a low compression ratio compared to many bikes available so the fuel RON is not as critical.

This is what I do also.

I used to run 98 in my ZX6R, and I could notice the difference between that and the 91, the bike was much more responsive on the 98, seemed to run more smooth as well.