Warning for 98 octane fuel use, we are seeing a dumping of European Winter Spec fuel at the moment and with its extra additives for the sub zero european winters, it may have addverse effects on engine performance and wear! " be very aware and stick to 95 octane for continued performance and peace of mind

And you are?

Please intro yourself as you are new to the Forum.

As per H & H, what is your source?

Really ?

Yeah i was having a yak with the service manager from team moto the other day and he was telling me he's had afew bikes in from using 98 octane, I think the additives they use in Europe shorten the shelf life of the fuel, anyway just passing on the the buzz

 

Whilst I'm not a fan of ethanol (because it doesn't store well) modern Harleys are designed to run on it and a half a tank here and there shouldn't matter one way or the other.

Having to use it all the time would suck though because then I'd have to start thinking about fuel stabilizers and keeping the tank full when I put the bike away and I'm too old and lazy for all that shit.

Fuels are blended to suit seasons and environments globally , typically evaporation retardants are added for high temp zones or seasons and easy strike additives for cold zones and seasons to name only a few . As for broad usage fuels that have a low dollar value when they are on the water, being shipped half way around the world to be sold would be of doubtful profit to the receiver unless it was being given away. To fill tankers with fuel that is deemed by one continent to be suspect or in quality decline then ship it to another developed nation i would think business suicide .
The closest high volume refinery to a market always get the gig ,Singapore is Australia's major supplier , and its supply is global, in other words ,wherever Singapore gets the best deal.

I will cover another popular misconception here .
The claim that US fuel is better than what we have here is incorrect , the way octane is calculated is different but essentially the energy content/gm , and more importantly the detonation resistance is the same but with a different number.
The US method is {RON +MON ÷2 } so Research octane number + Motor octane number ÷ 2 = pump indicated octane rating . The Australian octane rating is Research octane {RON} rated only indicated on the pump .
Research octane number is derived from a laboratory controlled environment to calculate spark knock more commonly known as detonation , Motor octane number is calculated under higher temperature test conditions that duplicate more realistically the under bonnet temperatures experienced in the real world , so the MON is always lower than the RON.
So when you see an American fuel spec of 89 octane ,that is our 91 octane and when you see the US spec of 95 octane that is our 98 octane but essentially the fuels are the same.
Always buy your fuel from a high turnover gas station if possible.

Now get out there and mow the lawn , as i have just been told to do and stop fucking around on the computer.

and
why would their winter fuel be coming to a country that has their summer temps in our winter, I think there is no substance to the rumor

my question as well ,why are we receiving " winter " fuel planned for countries with far cooler climates than ours,apart from the fact we are close and handy so lets dump it there mentality

yep soapie.forgot to say i agree with you on that.