Higher octane fuels in lower south island

[Berries]

So I am dredging this old thread really but figured nobody would read it in that part of the forum - Race-fuel-in-the-S-I

Just got me a bike where the manual recommends 98 octane. The three stations near me only go to 95 so it is a 30km round trip to Dunedin to fill up at one of the self serve stations which have 98 and 100. No problem if heading north or in town, pain in the arse if going south or inland.

So, if you draw a rough line between Queenstown and Dunedin what is there south of the line?

Only a select few NPD stations do 98/100 - Cromwelll, Frankton, Mossburn, Gore, Winton and Invers.

McKeown are much more widespread than NPD now, like Hyde and Owaka etc. Anyone know if they do 98, or any of the BP stations down south?

[Grumph]

McKeown seem to carry Caltex products so no 98 or 100.

BP's website is useless. You'd have to contact them to find out which sites carry 98.

[Berries]

BP's website is useless.

Which is why I am here.

As much as I hate using any petrol station where I have to wait for someone to get their coffee when I just want to pay for the petrol. Self service stations are a godsend.

[R650R]

What’s your compression ratio? 96 should be ok, two modern bikes in recent times and reckon both are better on 96 than 98.
Me and mate both had trouble with those NPD/mckeow type 24hr pumps they didn’t like our eftpis ir credit, maybe there’s a secret South Island code.
All modern bikes have knock sensors now and should auto adjust fuelling to suit occasion use of lesser fuel.
I’ve noticed newer Mobil/bp stations in smaller towns like Gisborne etc often only have 91 or 98 a conspiracy to make you buy the more expensive fuel.

[Berries]

What’s your compression ratio?

12:1 but while it is under warranty I will stick with the recommended fuel type.

Me and mate both had trouble with those NPD/mckeow type 24hr pumps they didn’t like our eftpis ir credit, maybe there’s a secret South Island code.

Yes, there is.

[neels]

The Gaspy phone app lets you set what type of fuel you are after (premium+ for 98 & 100), and gives you a map of where to find it with prices.

[R650R]

12:1 but while it is under warranty I will stick with the recommended fuel type.



Yes, there is.

This is worthy of its own thread just been down a few rabbit holes on Google.
It seems compression ratio on its own is not the only factor in pre ignition knocking and that bore size and other factors come into it.

[Berries]

The Gaspy phone app

Thank you, that does the job. Not great coverage though so I hope the fuel gauge is accurate.

[Racing Dave]

Not great coverage though so I hope the fuel gauge is accurate.

In my experience, you can be very confidant (certain!) that it will not be accurate. I've never seen one that is. On my GSA, which I had BMW 'calibrate' the fuel gauge (twice!), the countdown to 'zero' km remaining concludes with the display showing three dashes (---). I have ridden a further 60km from there without the engine stopping. On my XL750, the first segment of the fuel gauge takes over 200km to vanish and then 50km for the next.

Manufacturers constantly blow their metaphorical horns when boasting of the multitude of electronic gizmos that their bikes have, but not one can make a fuel gauge read accurately.

In my previous life as an aircraft engineer, considerable time was spent calibrating aircraft fuel gauges, and pilots of same can have no doubt that when the gauge reaches '0', the engines will stop.

[Grumph]

In my previous life as an aircraft engineer, considerable time was spent calibrating aircraft fuel gauges, and pilots of same can have no doubt that when the gauge reaches '0', the engines will stop.

Most car fuel gauges show empty when there is still a reasonable reserve left.
This is to cater for the car-ignorant housewife who never looks at the gauges.

One well-known racer of my experience did the entire South Island National rounds with the gauge in his Sentra wagon showing empty all the way.
Asked if the gauge actually worked, he said, Yes, but I know it has a huge reserve.

He never did run out. But as the bike fuel he carried was 20% Nitro, I'd have liked to see the result if he did.

[SaferRides]

Which is why I am here.

As much as I hate using any petrol station where I have to wait for someone to get their coffee when I just want to pay for the petrol. Self service stations are a godsend.

Just use the BP app to pay at the pump. You sometimes get extra discounts as well.

Having said that, I tend to avoid BP because of their ripoff pricing, but their coffee is half decent.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk

[Berries]

It does seem like BP has 98 at a lot of their stations so I will have to bite my tongue and not go off at people in front of me who are buying something other than petrol and fags which is all a petrol station should be allowed to sell.

/Long Friday night rant deleted/

I have been boycotting BP and Shell for years now so it will suck arse having to go in there again.

[Gremlin]

In my experience, you can be very confidant (certain!) that it will not be accurate. I've never seen one that is. On my GSA, which I had BMW 'calibrate' the fuel gauge (twice!), the countdown to 'zero' km remaining concludes with the display showing three dashes (---). I have ridden a further 60km from there without the engine stopping. On my XL750, the first segment of the fuel gauge takes over 200km to vanish and then 50km for the next.

On my R1200GSA, I've ridden down to 6km remaining, wasn't brave enough to go further. It's also run out with 17km remaining on the dash... that was a fun call on the side of the motorway (AA guy says, don't you have a fuel gauge, yeah, it said 17km then coughed and that was that). Mates then of course hassled me for running out of fuel on the supertanker of motorcycles... 750km with about a litre to spare was my record.

The other problem of course is that it calculates to empty, not reserve, so you have a tendency to cut it closer than you probably should. On my 1090R I did about 30km after it hit zero (no choice, middle of the countryside wishing I hadn't been yanking on the throttle before). I think I put 22.81L into a 23L tank, so I had a few km and then I was likely empty. Thank goodness Waipukurau wasn't further north!

Don't get me started on manufacturers desire to keep reducing tank volume. If it can go further, cool, I want it!

[Racing Dave]

Don't get me started on manufacturers desire to keep reducing tank volume. If it can go further, cool, I want it!

I smile to myself when I see more modern bike's tank capacity described as 'huge'. Ever since the R1200GSA having an alleged 33 litres (what it really has, if you take all of five seconds to hook out the rubber 'thing' in the filler neck, is 38 litres. It doesn't need to have five litres of air above the fuel) all the more recent BMW models are down to 30 litres or less. Hopeless. I'll be most interested to see what the (proposed) R1300GSA has, but I'd bet that it won't be anything like 38 litres. I, too, can regularly travel over 700km on a tankful. Excellent for events like the TT2000, where time spent in the pits is average speed diminished.

[Gremlin]

Haven't modified my tank, and I can put something like 36-38L in.
Yep, I had a R1250GSA for a time, down to 30L, and so less range than the R1200GSA hex/cam.

Still, we're spoilt. When I had a Tuono hit reserve at 155km, that was the final straw and it was traded. I'm not even in the South Island!