Is NZ fuel a new level of shit?

[MGST]

I've got a 1992 Ducati 900 SS. Carburettors, air cooled, 2 valve, pretty basic. I had it in Australia for 7 years, used it very infrequently. I used to lift the tank and turn off the petcock valve then run the engine until the carbs ran dry, then put the bike away for 2-3 months at a time. Left whatever petrol was in the tank in there. Ran it on 91. Never had a problem.

Brought the bike home with me to Auckland last year, and it's never run right since it's been here. I've pulled the carbs twice and completely stripped them and put them through the ultrasonic cleaner at work multiple times each of the 2 times stripped them. Checked everything meticulously for wear etc. Everything else is fine ( Bike only done 15000km from new ), put new plugs in it, didn't make any difference.

It's 2 weeks since the second carb strip and clean, and a few points to note on how it currently runs

1; I set the pilot idle jet at 2 1/2 tunes out, which should be lean ( should be 3 - 3 1/2 ). Doesn't appear to be, as it'll still start with no choke each morning, and after sitting for the weekend. Will pull the plugs tomorrow and see what they look like, and decide whether to adjust the jet further.

2; Runs ok when either on or off the throttle, but trying to hold a steady throttle / speed ( anything under 100kph ), it is terrible, bucking and lurching, must be killing the chain and sprockets

3; Has a weird habit of about once in every so often if I have to sit at a set of lights, it'll foul a plug and run like crap 'til it clears about 750 metres down the road. Most times it'll take a set of lights no worries, but the odd occasion for no reason it'll shit itself.

4; Sat in the garage for 3 days last weekend ( Monday was a Public Holiday ). Started it up on Tuesday morning, and it ran like shit for half the 16 km ride to work. You can't seriously tell me the fuel in the carbs will go off that much in 3 days that it'll run like a drunken monkey until it's got rid of that fuel and got a fresh lot down from the tank? The bike sits in a dry garage, which is reasonably warm ( no condensation / dampness etc ?

Will be installing an additional petcock valve tomorrow, so I can turn it off near to home so the carbs will be all but dry when I put the bike in the garage. But jeez it should be able to sit there for the weekend without packing up??

Is our fuel that shit? Bike runs on 91. I've got a 1973 MG BGT ( which takes 95 ) and have noticed that doesn't seem to like sitting for an extended time these days. I ran it yesterday after 3 1/2 weeks. Started right up, but coughed and spluttered for a few minutes before it would run cleanly. Never used to do that, and nothing has changed on it. I'm wondering if they've changed the fuel blend in the last couple of years?? Might run a tank of Avgas and see how it likes that...........

[AllanB]

Petrol is good for about six months since they dumped the lead years back.

Try it on 95.

Aussies are gay.

Nuff said.

[BMWST?]

not using an E blend are ya....Gull?

[Akzle]

Petrol is good for about six months since they dumped the lead years back.

Try it on 95.

Aussies are gay.

Nuff said.

this. job done.

but also, i mean... it's a duc'...

[caspernz]

Petrol is good for about six months since they dumped the lead years back.

Try it on 95.

Aussies are gay.

Nuff said.

not using an E blend are ya....Gull?

The other clue might be in the 1992 bike having done 15000 km since new

[jafar]

I've got a 1992 Ducati 900 SS. Carburettors, air cooled, 2 valve, pretty basic. I had it in Australia for 7 years, used it very infrequently. I used to lift the tank and turn off the petcock valve then run the engine until the carbs ran dry, then put the bike away for 2-3 months at a time. Left whatever petrol was in the tank in there. Ran it on 91. Never had a problem.

Brought the bike home with me to Auckland last year, and it's never run right since it's been here. I've pulled the carbs twice and completely stripped them and put them through the ultrasonic cleaner at work multiple times each of the 2 times stripped them. Checked everything meticulously for wear etc. Everything else is fine ( Bike only done 15000km from new ), put new plugs in it, didn't make any difference.

It's 2 weeks since the second carb strip and clean, and a few points to note on how it currently runs

1; I set the pilot idle jet at 2 1/2 tunes out, which should be lean ( should be 3 - 3 1/2 ). Doesn't appear to be, as it'll still start with no choke each morning, and after sitting for the weekend. Will pull the plugs tomorrow and see what they look like, and decide whether to adjust the jet further.

2; Runs ok when either on or off the throttle, but trying to hold a steady throttle / speed ( anything under 100kph ), it is terrible, bucking and lurching, must be killing the chain and sprockets

3; Has a weird habit of about once in every so often if I have to sit at a set of lights, it'll foul a plug and run like crap 'til it clears about 750 metres down the road. Most times it'll take a set of lights no worries, but the odd occasion for no reason it'll shit itself.

4; Sat in the garage for 3 days last weekend ( Monday was a Public Holiday ). Started it up on Tuesday morning, and it ran like shit for half the 16 km ride to work. You can't seriously tell me the fuel in the carbs will go off that much in 3 days that it'll run like a drunken monkey until it's got rid of that fuel and got a fresh lot down from the tank? The bike sits in a dry garage, which is reasonably warm ( no condensation / dampness etc ?

Will be installing an additional petcock valve tomorrow, so I can turn it off near to home so the carbs will be all but dry when I put the bike in the garage. But jeez it should be able to sit there for the weekend without packing up??

Is our fuel that shit? Bike runs on 91. I've got a 1973 MG BGT ( which takes 95 ) and have noticed that doesn't seem to like sitting for an extended time these days. I ran it yesterday after 3 1/2 weeks. Started right up, but coughed and spluttered for a few minutes before it would run cleanly. Never used to do that, and nothing has changed on it. I'm wondering if they've changed the fuel blend in the last couple of years?? Might run a tank of Avgas and see how it likes that...........

Run a couple of tanks of 95 through it. Should see a difference in power & performance.

Sent from my SM-T116 using Tapatalk

[pete376403]

Do you (OP) always buy your fuel from the same place? Water in the storage tanks isn't unknown.

[MGST]

In NZ, I've always run it on Shell ( Z ) 91, and I always buy it from a station on a very busy road ( Ti Rakau Drive ). I also fill my cars and jerry cans for the lawn mower and weed eater up there and they all run fine, so I doubt any sort of contamination in the fuel is the problem.

Regarding the comment about it being 1992 and 15000km, I had the carbs striped and cleaned / rebuilt by a motorcycle shop when I first got the bike in Australia ( in 2009 with 10982 km on it ). It ran well enough the whole time I had it in Australia, not perfectly, but certainly no where near as poorly as it has since being in NZ.

[caspernz]

Run a couple of tanks of 95 through it. Should see a difference in power & performance.

Not wanting to kick off a debate about variations to the theme. There's benefit in running a tank or 2 of 98 from Mobil or BP thru any vehicle. Hard to quantify in a scientific manner, but it works. Some guff about the 98 removing residue in the fuel system, all fine unless your fuel filter is nearly blocked of course.

This is a trick used by a few owners of classic cars of the high performance variety, again I can't vouch for the science of the practice other than it seems to work.

[Kickaha]

Not wanting to kick off a debate about variations to the theme. There's benefit in running a tank or 2 of 98 from Mobil or BP thru any vehicle. Hard to quantify in a scientific manner, but it works. Some guff about the 98 removing residue in the fuel system, all fine unless your fuel filter is nearly blocked of course.

This is a trick used by a few owners of classic cars of the high performance variety, again I can't vouch for the science of the practice other than it seems to work.

Injector cleaner does the same thing

[Grumph]

In NZ, I've always run it on Shell ( Z ) 91, and I always buy it from a station on a very busy road ( Ti Rakau Drive ). I also fill my cars and jerry cans for the lawn mower and weed eater up there and they all run fine, so I doubt any sort of contamination in the fuel is the problem.

Regarding the comment about it being 1992 and 15000km, I had the carbs striped and cleaned / rebuilt by a motorcycle shop when I first got the bike in Australia ( in 2009 with 10982 km on it ). It ran well enough the whole time I had it in Australia, not perfectly, but certainly no where near as poorly as it has since being in NZ.

Did a previous owner rejet it for aussie fuel ? Aussie has had ethanol blends longer than NZ - and some are a bit different too.
Check jet nos with the book...

[slofox]

I have had my gixxer for coming up 8 years. Most of that time, I have run it on 95 or 98 or force 10 (no the alcohol doesn't hurt it at all). But mostly 95 in the last four years because I have an old fart's Mobil card that gives me 10c/litre off whatever pump price I pay so Mobil it has been.

My local Mobil dropped 95 octane and went to 98 only about a year ago. So I decided to try 91. After all, the book says I can use anything 91 and up.

I keep a log book of fuel use so have some records of all the fuels used.

Absolutely no change in fuel consumption changing from 95 to 91 in the year's trial. No measure of power but it seems to be the same as well, to me at least.

In Boyds not so long ago I saw a UK magazine article comparing several fuels in a gixxer 6. They measured power on a dyno and found only minor changes between fuels.
So I will stay with the cheaper option.

[JimO]

i had 2 tote tanks filled at Z 2 months before xmas, didnt get to use them, i usually empty all the unused fuel into our old accord but i thought it would still be good first time out at xmas the motor fouled up and i had to replace the plugs and ditched the fuel..yamaha 115 four stroke

[Akzle]

.

Absolutely no change in fuel consumption changing from 95 to 91 in the year's trial. No measure of power but it seems to be the same as well, to me at least..

curious.

but i imagine anything with a computer will be able to pull timing or adjust AFM to produce at peak regardless of what you feed it. be interesting to run avgas or some 85ron and see where the brackets are.

[AllanB]

After reading this thread early on I went out of my way to run 3 tanks of BP 98 through the Ducati (as opposed to it's usual diet of Challenge 95). Absolutely no difference anywhere that I noticed other than a extra 20 kms there and back to home to fill up at BP

Actually there was one difference - the BP staff were utterly robotic compared to my two local Challenge stations. And some arse at BP asked me to take my helmet off. I asked him if he would ask the same of a Muslim in a turban, he just took my money and shut-up.