yeah i run bp 95 for my set up great. 

 

All good until you ride out of the metro area, the choice is seriously deminished....I put in whatever is available and have found little difference in 80000ks from one end of the country to the other...

Bt

I currently run with Shell V Power, but after reading an article in a bike magazine a couple of days ago, stating that quite a few people have had issues with V Power, I have decided to give BP Ultima a go.

 I like the 98 octane fuel, I have spoken to a number of mechanics who have recommended the 98 octane fuel.  I have been using 98 in all my cars for many years. I have found I have not noticed any difference around town, but out on the highway the fuel consuption is so much better.

I did put some ethanol in my car by accident one day, never again. The car was noticibly underpowered and the fuel consumption was shithouse.

I am not an expert, but when quite a few  people have said V Power is not the best, I have got to try something else. From reports I have read, the most brands of fuel come from the same refinery, but with different additives  for Shell , the same with BP & Caltex too. That is, Shell get the raw fuel then add their additives, BP adds their stuff to their specifications an so on........

So my next fill up I'm gonna try BP Ultima and see what happens

And all the experts do agree it will depend on how you store your fuel, how often you use it. Petrol has a certain "shelf life" and it will go off. I have had fuel in a container for over 12 months, tried to use it even in the lawn mower, and it was no good. I had to dump it.

 

Cheers

 

I find that the 103 runs better on 95 and over, but will still run adequately, but seems to run hotter, on 91. I try for 95 most times and find the difference in using 98 isn't worth the extra coin unless you are flogging the crap out of it. Some Freedom outlets have a 97 ethanol blend which is well priced and seems ok. I recall being told that unless you have a full range of O 2 sensors, as in cars, to accommodate the higher octane, some it's wasted anyway. Just depends where you are. Just stick with the majors fuel suppliers so you are getting what you pay for..

95 is fine for a stock bike where the factory tune is rich and timming is way way on the safe side...if you have had your bike retuned then you should speak to your tuner, as some are more agressive than others and the difference between using 95 and 98 could be a dead motor!
Andrew

I tend to agree with terrorist one. I have found that in general a 95 RON fuel works just fine. If I am going on a long run I will use 98 but only for the slightly improved fuel economy. I use (in order of preference) BP, Caltex, Mobil, Independent Suppliers, Shell.

Sorry to hijack, but would I have to use a fuel additive such as flashlube to use 98RON premium in my 88 Sportster?

i'll run anything in my bikes, 91, 95, 98, any brand, whatever i can get as long as it goes bang, i've felt no difference or benefit in any of the bikes, brands or octanes,
it's also worth remembering that in the USA, where our bikes are made, their HIGH octane pump gas is 91

From a highly qualified & experienced HD mechanic friend of mine. 95 is best for air cooled V-Twin.
98 does more harm than good & is designed specifically for water cooled/car motors.

Another thing I should mention that will clear some thoughts up. Polish the head bowl and run on the dyno for 60 minutes with 91, take note of the the colour of carbon deposit starting to form, note the extent of the burn from the flame. Then clean and re polish head, use 98 and run on dyno for an hour, you will be surprised at how clean the 98 burns + you get to bump up ignition timing without introducing detonation. The burn is much cleaner, less carbon, engine cooler and - you can tighten the squish up a bit more!

This is my findings based on fact and a lot of work however, others will have there own findings and beliefs based on experience or the voice of someone else. For the extra buck to fill a tank......

Thanks Dave,
Sound advice. You refer to the older carby model V-twins.
The information I rec'd was that yes, 98 good for carby but due to the preheating of the fuel in the lines (& I cant recal if it was the car engine or V-twin) that the 95 is better for the newer model EFI V twins...
Your thoughts?

Bandit, I do not have experience with tuning EFI V twins - Yet. I am contemplating it but it would mean a career change etc etc so I cannot really comment on it. I would assume (which is dangerous to do) that there are tables in the Harley tune that are optimised for low octane fuel which will include AFR and timing. So saying that it is perhaps likely that there willl be no benefit to a higher octane fuel such as 98 if the PCM is not smart enough (Dual tables) to detect and ajdust timing, AFR's etc for better performance accordingly.

If you were to tune agressively with timing, fuel/air etc, you will cause damage due to detonation if you are not using a premiuim grade fuel. A lot of tuners I am sure will advise the customers of this. If you are in a situation where 98 is not always available I would not want my tune on the edge, i would want it a little conservative to compensate for a lower grade fuel. Again, this is an assumption as I am not familiar with HD EFI. Plenty of Guru's on this forum that are but.

My comments were based around 98 only used for water cooled engines and cars only which is simply not right.

Dave.

Ive always run BP ultimate in my bike and nothing else, had it dyno tuned to this fuel and the tuner swears by it. I recently worked for an independent testing services company (will keep all names and places secret due to confidentiality contract) My job was to board ship apon arrival take samples of fuel from each hatch then return to the lab and test it for flash point and purity etc All im going to say is im sticking with BP ulimate because I know I cant go wrong.

i just run Caltex 98 or BP 98, but the rest of you are free to use what you like. after runing BP 98 for a while and lifting the heads for a look the chamber & piston top sure looked clean to me no carbon build up. this is an 01 Twin Cam 95 inch carb dyna Cv carb. i think the BP 98 seems to be on average pretty good like you might get bad caltex or other brands but BP always seems ok. my bike is also a bit higer comp & i need to use comp releases to start. what you need to remember with fuel the 98 is slower burning the 91 is faster burning, you just need fuel that is on the virge of detonation to make the best power. if you have a low compression motor it would most probably go faster on 91 octain than on 98 octain, but if you have a very high comp motor you need to run a high enough octain fuel or risk damage.

also over lean tune not good if you ride wide open throtle.for long periods, but who does that?

cheers

I have been using BP Ultimate for the last few fill ups now (used Shell V Power before) and one thing I have noticed the bike is running cooler. The engine oil temperature is running at 105 c. With Shell V Power it was running at 110 to 115 c. This has been after a 2 hr highway ride.

My mechanic (not HD dealer) recommends 98 . His 1st choice is BP, 2nd choice Caltex. He is not a big fan of Shell, though.

So I'll stay with BP for the time being, and see how it goes!!!

 Hi there

BP Ultimate. Runs sweet, little decel pop (althought tuning correctly controls this largely), never had a problem.

 

Cheers