Gas Pumps

[willtill]

Same here, thanks for the response but do you find ethanol OK? By the way your aviator, is that Cav? I recognize the badge but can't remember.

Jim. I have had no issues with 10 percent ethanol with the motors (many) that I run. I do however, treat them occasionally to doses of SeaFoam; which may negate any issues if I had not done it in the first place.

I am Cav. albeit retired now...

http://www.hood.army.mil/1stcavdiv/

[Jim-oz]

Thanks mate/buddy, i can't seem to get through to the link you sent but I'll try off the forum. Always good to converse with fellow veterans.

Jim

[DaWadd]

My two cents, I run regular all the time. Previous experience with premium in other bikes is carbon build up. I find I get better mileage with regular. Only time my "6" gets premium is for storage in the late fall.

[xltsport]

My brother said when he drove fuel truck. They all bought fuel at the same terminal. Only a few choices everyone bought at which one was cheaper. Even the ones like bp have exemptions if they are too far away from their own branded terminal. They just have their own protocol ie additive added by their people or by the driver. Alot of the stations contract their fuel hauling. The same guy might stop at several different stations.

[Old Ryder]

The BP terminal sold BP, Citgo, Walmart, etc......

The Citgo terminal provided Citgo, She'll, Hess and others

The Exxon terminal sold Phillips, Cheveron, Shell, Exxon and BP

What makes each brand unique is the additive mixture. A code is entered according to the destination and the correct mixture is made during the loading process.

Yes----when a trailer holds 9,000 gallons of gasoline different stops are made at different locations. The normal trailer has 5 different compartments, so you could service 5 different stations with 5 different brands. As a common carrier, the driver has a card for each terminal and the customer has a code or an account at the terminal. The customer code is punched in and the proper mixture/brand is loaded into the compartment the driver has designated for that customer. Money is deducted from the customers account when the trailer is loaded and it is the drivers responsibility to keep it organized. "Mixing product" or otherwise known as improper delivery is grounds for dismissal.

The misconception is that all 9,000 gallons are mixed together and some is left here and some is left there. There is a lot more to it than that. Stations are trusting the driver to load and deliver the specific product they have ordered.

[Maddoggie501]

I ran a BMW motorcycle shop several years ago. Some BMW's seem to have drivability issues, which BMW Motorrad says is related to Ethanol. BMW Motorrad sent out information that owners should only use gas from Top Tier Stations, Mobil, Shell, etc. They said the problems were from to much Ethanol in the gas at discount gas stations. We started testing customers bikes with drivability issues and found some fuel contained 30 to 40% Ethanol. BMW's don't like anything over 10% Ethanol. Some customers found Ethanol free stations and claimed their bikes ran way better. I don't have easy access to Ethanol free gas and have not tried any in the F6B yet. However, I do run premium gas from Top Tier Stations.

[wjduke]

We're pretty much all ethanol up here. I toss in some Seafoam every 3 or 4 tanks of fuel, run 87 and haven't heard or had an issue yet. I am paying attention.

[Patch]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, but may be overlooked is not the fuel (I worked at several gas stations in my youth, and a couple as a second job within the last six years) so only presenting what I do know. As those that drive or know drivers have mentioned, the fuel all comes from, essentially, the same place. However, the delivery locations tanks and pumps vary greatly. There is a 15ft measuring pole, some white paste and in two establishments, a 12 ft pole with what looks like a hard sponge spoon on the end of it.

The measuring pole is used to determine the amount of fuel left in the tank by checking for the wet line. One then applies the paste to the wet section at and below the wet line and re-dips the pole. If it changes to pink (or blue in one case), this would signify the amount of water in the tank. This had to usually be done early morning before the trucks started arriving. Exxon, Shell and 7-Eleven were all good at having very little to no water in their tanks. However, the stop-n-go and sack-n-save locations I worked at had quite a bit of water built up in their tanks, and not just the low octane tank, but even the high octane. The two places that had the sponge pole, it was used to determine the amount of particulates in the tanks. We checked these when the tanks were low (less than 6 inches of fuel left) or after we just got the tank filled. These were particulates that were larger in general. While the pumps have a filter on them, usually if particulates showed up on the sponge, the tank needed to be cleaned because we would get small particulates in a 5 gallon plastic container fill test.

I steer clear of stations that are in the middle of getting fuel, or I see a fuel truck leaving. Even though they are likely dropping in good fuel, the amount of junk it churns up needs some settling time...like several hours.

[wjduke]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, but may be overlooked is not the fuel (I worked at several gas stations in my youth, and a couple as a second job within the last six years) so only presenting what I do know. As those that drive or know drivers have mentioned, the fuel all comes from, essentially, the same place. However, the delivery locations tanks and pumps vary greatly. There is a 15ft measuring pole, some white paste and in two establishments, a 12 ft pole with what looks like a hard sponge spoon on the end of it.

The measuring pole is used to determine the amount of fuel left in the tank by checking for the wet line. One then applies the paste to the wet section at and below the wet line and re-dips the pole. If it changes to pink (or blue in one case), this would signify the amount of water in the tank. This had to usually be done early morning before the trucks started arriving. Exxon, Shell and 7-Eleven were all good at having very little to no water in their tanks. However, the stop-n-go and sack-n-save locations I worked at had quite a bit of water built up in their tanks, and not just the low octane tank, but even the high octane. The two places that had the sponge pole, it was used to determine the amount of particulates in the tanks. We checked these when the tanks were low (less than 6 inches of fuel left) or after we just got the tank filled. These were particulates that were larger in general. While the pumps have a filter on them, usually if particulates showed up on the sponge, the tank needed to be cleaned because we would get small particulates in a 5 gallon plastic container fill test.

I steer clear of stations that are in the middle of getting fuel, or I see a fuel truck leaving. Even though they are likely dropping in good fuel, the amount of junk it churns up needs some settling time...like several hours.

[VStarRider]

Makes sense to me that one carrier distributes fuel to several different branded stations, using subtanks aboard the truck, driver does mixing, etc. I have seen a Patriot Oil tanker go to several different fuel stops from one distributor and wondered how they got away with that.

As for fuel, I default to the owners manual. That language has to survive a 3-7 year warranty period and possibly 100,000+ miles, so I am guessing they write their recommendations with confidence.

I run 87 except prior to storage in all fuel injected vehicles. The ethanol and detergents keeps the fuel system clean. I wonder if long term usage of 91 non-ethanol gas in fuel-injected engines causes dirty fuel system issues over time...