I tried some Shell V-Power this weekend, and I noticed the bike running a lot smoother (less hesitations, more pull, smoother idle, better fuel economy). I normally just gas up at the Pioneer 1 block from my house.
Now the story would end here as a random anecdote, but the science is terrible so I'll refute it:
- The temp has gone up almost 10-15C this weekend, warmer ambient could easily explain it.
- I did my chain maintenance and lubed the axles on the wheels. It doesn't explain the engine changes, but it always makes the bike feel smoother.
- Shell gas could have some chemical differences that the bike is better engineered to handle (ethanol ratios?).
- Pioneer is typically cheaper than shell around here, it's possible there might be more particulate in the fuel (pure speculation). Shell's regular gas might work as well (or better) than the v-power.
- The bike is a 2009 with 13k km on it, I'm not sure the injector cleaner (does it even work on carbs?) they include in v-power would have much effect, unless my existing gas was somehow causing problems.
I believe I spent $1.00 extra on my fill up to speculate on the internet. The only thing I can say for sure is v-power entertained me for a bit
