OUT AND ABOUT 2025

[Johnwebley]

Next Wednesday, 14th,

The bikers are meeting at H J PUGH auction house, just on the outskirts of Ledbury,

A remarkable coincidence, this Next weekend is a bike sale,


All welcome

Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk

[Laverda Dave]

I thought I'd make the most of the lovely weather today and take a break from the TL build so decided to give the restored 400/4 AKA 'Rat Bike' or as it is now called ‘The Flying Banana’ for its first proper shakedown run. Although I completed the rebuild in November 2024 the weather was pants by then so I just did a quick blast around the block and put the bike into hibernation for the winter.

I duly filled up with some fresh V-Power and headed out for Little Kimble in Bucks. My timing was impeccable because as I approached Amersham it poured with heavy rain in the form of hailstones! I parked up and had a coffee whilst the storm passed. I headed home wearing a very wet mesh summer riding jacket!

The bike went really well during the 45 miles, I’m keeping the revs down to 4500 for the first 100 miles and will then take it up to 5000rpm for the next 400 miles without labouring the engine. The clutch will need some adjusting as new plates are bedding in and I have a rear l/h indicator the appears to have a bad earth or worn contact (thanks Bryan).

[Athame57]

I duly filled up with some fresh V-Power and ...

Sorry about the rain Dave, maybe it waiting for you!  OK, what is special about V power (Shell) ? Should I give up my Nectar points at Esso for it?

[Oddjob]

No ethanol George.

[Laverda Dave]

And it doesn't go off after a few weeks either George.
It's the only fuel I use and luckily I have a Shell garage a couple of miles away with cheap fuel because there's a Sainsbury's and an Asda both with cheap petrol within a mile of it.

[Spitfire]

I always use Shell in the Honda, the cars get cheap stuff, and it seems to work well for the Honda.

Cheers

Dennis

[Rozabikes Tim]

Lovely that Dave.

When you get that past 5k it will pull your arms off..... being yellow of course.🙃

[Athame57]

No ethanol George.

I though that the case with E5 petrol, but no it has 5%  ok, the Shell garage isn't far from here...

[Moorey]

   
       UK Shell V Power does contain ethanol
 
   Shell Regular Unleaded contains up to 10% ethanol following the governments E10 introduction in 2021, whilst Shell V-Power Unleaded contains no more than 5%. This is in accordance with current UK specification requirements.5 May 2025

[Athame57]

   
       UK Shell V Power does contain ethanol   
 

Back to square one then. I see it may only be available for a few more years too.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

My understanding is that Shell SUL is marked E5 to comply with legislation i.e. no more than 5% Ethanol, there is a lot on the internet to the effect that it contains no Ethanol at all it is also a higher cotane rating of 99RON. The Shell website does not even mention that VPower contains Ethanol.

www.shell.co.uk/fuels-oils-and-coolants/shell-fuels/v-power-unleaded.html

[Oddjob]

That was my understanding as well Ted, has to be marked as having up to 5% but actually doesn't have any along with the BP Ultimate.

[Laverda Dave]

Lovely that Dave.

When you get that past 5k it will pull your arms off..... being yellow of course.🙃

You are right there Tim. Rumour has it that Honda trialled the fitting of a supercharger to the yellow ones but found it out performed the CB750 and it tied the frame in knots above 9500rpm when it reached 140mph (with more to come). They dropped the plan and instead painted the Honda CB750F1 to match the yellow 400/4. As I say, it's just a rumour and can't possibly be verified  .

[Moorey]

My understanding is that Shell SUL is marked E5 to comply with legislation i.e. no more than 5% Ethanol, there is a lot on the internet to the effect that it contains no Ethanol at all it is also a higher cotane rating of 99RON. The Shell website does not even mention that VPower contains Ethanol.

www.shell.co.uk/fuels-oils-and-coolants/shell-fuels/v-power-unleaded.html

Do a simple google search. Does UK Shell V Power contain ethanol.  Or even do your own test.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWTknCPX6yo

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkTrdE9JAhA

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Not sure how adding dyed water to the petrol in the Breeze Blocked laboratory is a reliable scientific basis to judge Shell E5 Ethanol content or how cleanly it burns.

The prices quoted for Shell SUL seem off the scale, in Derby it's 164.9, BP SUL  is 150.7 locally, the price difference between E10 & E5 is 29p.