Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

I've been using Roadtrip on my iPhone to track bike expenditure for the last 10 years and have only just found a whole load of functions I didn't know existed.

At long last I have a way of doing the test to see if Super Unleaded is worth buying for improving consumption.

I'm going to do 1,000 running the comparison. Might just post the findings one day.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

I'm a fuel snob with my bike, and aim to use either Shell, BP or Esso super whenever I can. Largely because of the extra detergent additives that those three have, but there's no real science or evidence behind my choice :)

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

Using the Fuelly site, my MPG results always seem better after filling up with premium fuel. Not an exact science though as it may be partly coincidence. If I work out the extra cost vs MPG the extra cost of the fuel per litre always seems to pay for itself.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

This is what I found on cars with an ECU smart enough to adjust spark timing, modern car ECU will back off ( retard ) timing if knock detector gets triggered, this can happen with lower octane, and the later spark means less power, so more throttle for same speed. Do not know if bikes have knock sensors though.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

What no one seems to relate back is how much performance improves. As the fuel is 4% more expensive at the moment I want to see at least that as a performance improvement in mpg. Otherwise it's a waste of money.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

The cars I have tried it in certainly seemed perkier, pulled away better and went up hills better. Unfortunately he truth was you can't have your cake and eat it, you can either enjoy the extra oommph or get better MPG.

I tried V Power in a carbed bike and it actually ran worse ( but maybe 'V' power was made for V twins LOL ), maybe the ECU was not smart enough to make use of higher octane, to be honest have not tried higher octane in SV AL7 as ( like Seeker ) I am getting amazing MPG anyway and plenty power for me on normal 95.

I did a blind trial on my wifes car, we had identical cars and when I drove hers it always seemed less willing and more sluggish than mine, she was in the habit of using Sainsbury's or Tesco fuel because of the 5p a litre vouchers she got with shopping. I filled her car up with V power one day and didn't tell her. A few days later she asked me if I had tuned her car as she had noticed it drove better, I told her what I had done and she never used supermarket fuel after, but used normal 95 Esso, BP or Shell and seemed happy. This was about 10 years ago, don't know if SM fuel has changed since then.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

And that makes my point. Seemed perkier doesn't quantify, and the approach of good enough mpg avoids the facts bit too.

The fuel companies say you get more miles to the tank, but don't quantify how many more. How much more efficient is it?

For 1,000 miles I averaged 59.0 mpg on 95 RON. So far over 231 miles on 99 RON I've had 58.6 mpg. Not convincing, but the mileage is too low so far too be certain.

For it to be cost effective in looking for 61.3 mpg for the same type of riding.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

A few years back, I did a test in my company car at the time (a 2011 Volvo V60 D3). I ran 10 consecutive tankfuls of diesel Shell V-Power (i.e. about 6000 miles over 6 months using no other fuel than V-Power), and compared with the 10 previous tankfuls of Shell's ordinary Fuelsave (easy for me to do, as Shell is my nearest filling station and the same price as the local supermarkets).

I got a brim-to-brim average of 46.29 on V-Power compared with 45.12 on Fuelsave.

Or, to express it in percentages, I got a 2.6% improvement in economy for spending the extra 5.7% cost of V-Power. I reckon that the 10 tanks / 6000 miles on each fuel was sufficient to reduce the influence of variables like ambient temperatures, type of journey etc.

There was no detectable difference in performance at all. I concluded that while V-Power made a small difference to economy, it wasn't worth paying the extra for, compared with the ordinary, cheaper Shell diesel. But that really only applies to that car and engine.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

A bottle of redex injector cleaner very couple of months will give your system a decent clean, dinosaur juice is not as clean as it looks and deposits lacquer on injectors and other stuff. Bit like limescale on shower heads and in hot water tanks and kettles.

@red ones it wasn't me who noticed the better running, it was my wife and she did not know anything had changed, that qualifies as a blind trial. Must have been a decent improvement for a woman to notice, but that was compared to supermarket fuel 8 to 10 years ago, think they have upped their game since.

Re: Bike expenditure app - Roadtrip
 

I accidentally put premium diesel in my van the other day (pulled up next to wrong pump and didn't notice). It's an old X reg Fiat. Not running well since. Some engines don't like better fuel.