.....and this forum (and most people on it) by default. And also because I didn't want to continue the "gasoline saga" in the other post (my apologies to the OP in that post), I will give you guys some more usefull information.

First,...."Super Sport",....your bike ran like crap on the Costco gas. You think water (possible), but not likely. I'll explain:

Every gas station owner worth his salts, will order (and enforce) his station manager, to "stick the tanks" every morning to test for water. USTs (Underground Storage Tanks) have a VERY sophisticated water monitoring systems, and alarms. They can malfunction, and they do. The best way to test, is to cover the bottom three inches of the "measuring stick" with the water sensitive paste, and "stick the tanks" (if the water is present, the paste will turn from "toothpaste white" to purple). I've NEVER seen ANY unbranded gas station doing this (and EVERY owner of every site drives around his immediate area every morning, and checks the street prices of his competition, writes them down, and adjusts his selling price accordingly!). Have you ever seen the Costco (example) manager sticking the tanks in the morning? I didn't think so.

Water is heavier than gas, and it pools at the bottom. The turbine intake (the one that pumps the gas up to the dispensers), is usually six inches from the bottom (you can never pump the tank "dry"!). Owners that don't want to replace the turbines more frequently NEVER run the tanks down to the intake level (turbines are cooled by being submerged in the gas, and overheating kills them!).

Your problem was either you pumped right after the "drop" (delivery), in which case the water droplets would be suspended in the gas throughout the tank, or....(IMO more likely)....you received the gas with less than indicated octane rating!!

How can this happen?

One way is at the "rack". As all the grades travel through the SAME PIPELINE (divided by "plugs"), they sometimes spill and mix at the rack. The rating is CONSTANTLY checked by the rack managers. This happens, but not as often as the other two reasons.

As much as we relay on computers and machinery, we are still humans, and we make mistakes. Air traffic controlers are highly trained professionals, and even they make mistakes, and people die. Is it hard to believe that a tanker truck driver, delivering the fuel in the dead of the night, drops it in the wrong tank? Nope. Hapens more often than you think.

It happened to me several times. I come in the morning, and check the "bills of lading" from the last night. I KNOW I had the 87 delivery scheduled, and my tank doesn't show the increase! But,...the 91 tank has more gas than it should!! Sure as hell, the guy dropped into the wrong tank (or delivered some other station's fuel to my site, which also happens often). So the major (branded) station owner calls the company, and requests the service. They come running, and pump the gas out of the tank. If the owner doesn't report it (and the inspector happens to come by!!), the fine is BIG, and you have a chance to lose the contract (very EXPENSIVE, but I will not bore you with details), and a hard time trying to convince the inspector that YOU didn't do this intentionally.

Unbranded station manager (there is NO owner at Costco), doesn't want the trouble, there is no inspectors to worry about, and it's "business as usual". The consumer pays for 91, and get's 87 (if that, and you can find the reports on the web where some sites sold 83 or lower, under 87 label!!).

I know a station owner in Culver City (unbranded site), that constantly fills his 89 tank with 87 gasoline,....on PURPOSE. See,....there are dispensers that mix 89 at the site, and there are some older sites (unbranded and independently owned), that have 89 delivered to the designated tank. This guy loads 89 tank with 87 gas every time he needs "extra cash" (he has a gambling problem!). The tank holds 15K gallons (sold in two days at his site), he sells 89 for 10 cents more than 87,.....you do the math. No inspectors (except the State twice a year MAYBE!). Customers that pump at these sites usually drive older American machinery (in a BAD need of service), and they will never notice the difference between 87 and 89 (most people wouldn't!!). So every third/fourth delivery he drops the real 89 in the tank, and if the state inspector comes by, and if the octane rating is slightly lower (there is acceptable tolerance by the state),...no big deal. In the meantime, the guy is making 3-4 grand a week EXTRA by defrauding the public.

So if you are pumping unbranded gas, you are taking a gamble. Poor regulations, poor management, and poor inspection and enforcement.

One more advice: You should always avoid pumping the gas right after the tanker leaves! Dropping the fuel stirs the tank, and all the particles that settled on the bottom are suspended! (if the site doesn't have filters, these particles WILL BE in your tank!). If the filters are 30 micron (some owners run them in order to save money on more frequent filter changes needed for more restrictive filters!), every particle smaller than 30 micron WILL BE IN YOUR TANK (and after that in your fuel filter, check valves, injectors, etc.). "Four Majors" have the 10 micron filters mandated by the company, and constantly checked!!

And as Plums said,.....this is not brand vs. brand debate. This is couple advices from an "industry insider" that has seen it all. Pump whatever you feel comfortable with, but remember......there is no free lunch. PAY NOW, or PAY LATER (in maintenance and repairs).

Enjoy your cats, and feed them good!

I edited this to make it clear to all of you:

I started mentioning Costco in my posts, because the other member mentioned them by name. I don't have ANYTHING against Costco, and I am NOT singling them out here. I used "Costco" as an example (being too lazy to type all other names in every post!), but I am refering to ALL "unbranded gas", and that includes IN CA and AZ (I hope I can mention them all!): Valero, Trifty, USA, 7/11, Walmart, Costco, and ANY other retailer that is not part of the four "majors" (76-Conoco-Phillips, Exon-Mobil, Chevron, Shell) to include Texaco also (as a "major"). I will not bore you with the details of who belongs to which group (info available at your fingertips if interested). "Unbranded gas" includes Arco as well. Although a member of BP (major brand in Europe), their business practices are different in the USA (again - research the independent studies, and don't fall for the particular company owned website information, which is basically ADVERTISING).

And remember: There is no "free lunch" despite people telling you different. If one retailer is selling the gas on the street for 10-20 cents a gallon LESS than the other,....there IS a reason (they "save" or "make" money elsewhere). The only rule when it comes to selling the gas is: Retailer CAN NOT (by law) sell for less than he buys for (so they all make money). Why would someone sell for less? To drive the traffic to the other profit centers within the location (car wash, market, etc), but that's a whole new subject. ALL the gas is traded on the open market at the SAME PRICES. So if one company sells for less, ....there is a reason. Find that reason, and make your own conclusions.

So much from me on this subject.