Shell fuel fouling spark plugs?

[Wheelbarrow]

A mate of mine rides among others an  old CB900. After 700km his sparks fouled up. He spoke to someone from the Honda dealer who indicated that Shell unleaded 98 apparently contains additives that causes  this, especially for older vintage bikes.
I usually use Caltex or BP 95 octane for my ST1300 and have no probs. If I had to use Shell would it cause dramas for STs also? Has anyone ever heard about this issue?

[Brock]

I use 95 in the 1100, including Shell. No known problems here.

[STeveo]

Always used 95 in my 1100. It didn't like the 91, and 98 was a waste of money, but happy with 95.

[Brock]

Woops, got it wrong, I use 91....  the bike runs fine. ( my spreadsheet says the only difference is the cost per K)

[Biggles]

I use Shell 91 almost all the time in bike and car.
That might have been why it wouldn't idle last week when I fixed it with a dose of Moreys.
I like my 4 cents discount and Flybuys.   The downside is they always try to sell me lollies.

[saaz]

98 is a higher density fuel, so may affect carb tuning. Also it is more resistant to detonation so may not burn completely. 95 used to work fine in my 78 gs1000 even though it is high compression stage 3 motor.

[richo]

There was an article in Australian road rider a few years back that indicated shell fuel has some additives in it that can take the lining off of the inside of your fuel lines causing some grief with blockages.  Given that we only only have a couple of refineries left in Australia the tankers will deliver almost anything brand to any station it is a lottery with what type of fuel you get.  Personally I do not use shell in the bike as I have had it run rough a couple of times after filling with shell 98. 

[alans1100]

If this an older 1982 CB 900 then the type of fuel might be an issue. Anything before 1986 used leaded fuel and needs an additive to use unleaded fuel.

I use Unleaded (91) no matter which brand without a problem.
 
You might get 4% improvement using PULP in mileage but the cost compared to ULP is way more than 4% so you might be just tossing money away.
http://www.mynrma.com.au/blog/2011/06/24/fuels-which-should-you-use/

[winston66]

I have no knowledge or anything with which to compare  different fuels  with in regard to older vehicles (pre 1990)
However Just recently I have switched to using exclusively Caltex 95 in all of my vehicles, Mainly because some of them are turboed and the performance (economy )etc when using fuel from the local Gull servo. seemed to be lacking somewhat.
The vehicles, cars and motorcycles, definitely run better when on the Caltex and the fuel economy has definitely improved, so in that regard I am happy to pay the extra few cants per fill up that the Caltex costs.
I also quite regularly add in some F10 fuel additive when I remember, I think that the F10 does help, especially when there are fuel injectors to consider.
Cheers , Winston66, Northampton Western Australia

[Sicman]

I reckon as all our fuel is imported now its all the same except for BP Ultimate which has an extra additive over the others.

On the subject of additives If I am doing a lot of riding I will use either 98 or 95, but if the bike isn't going to be used for a fortnight or more then I will make sure the last fill is with 95. There have been a lot of reports of blockages and things carboning up caused by the additives in 98 going off while the bike sits in the shed.

Its worked for me so far 

 

[saaz]

It used to be the case that the fuel companies did swap agreements for normal 91 and 95, so if they did not have a refinery in an area they swapped out from a refinery in an area they did have. Base fuel all the same, their own additives but in when loading the tanker. Companies tended to keep their 98 fuels to themselves as something special. With greater fuel imports, it is likely the base fuel is the same everywhere, just additive difference. And perhaps quality control, but I have not been in talks with the industry for a few years now. Tanker drivers do comment on some of the car forums about what goes on.

[DaleMcLean]

I can personally vouch for a 1978 Ducati 900 FOULING PLUGS on SHELL 98 PLUS flashlube
Any other fuel plus flaslube is fine, Shell 98 without flaslube added is OK for a few tanks but will foul again 

The answer is to get the valve seats replaced with hardened ones and run 95 OR 98 occasionally 

[Gadget]

On long runs I tend to use 98 where I can get it any brand, around town I use 95 any brand but predominately Shell and BP as they are closest to my route home, occassionally Caltex if I come home that way.

[STeveo]

On the fuel sitting bit, I have found with my historic bikes that BP fuel will 'go off' quicker than Caltex or Shell, making them very hard to start. I now run the carbs dry if not being used within the next week.

[Aj1300]

I am one of those blokes who cart the fuel in Melbourne. The 3 main players share ship loads of fuel when they come into port. Shell makes more of there fuel then the other. Mobil fuel and Bp are pulled out of the same terminal, it's only the additive that changes. Caltex Safeway Tascoe all come out of Caltex and there fuel is the same. It is said that She'll 98 runs very dry and has caused some problems in some machines

[ppopeye]

When I bought my 1300 I was advised not to use Shell. So in the bike I dont


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