Info on Iran anybody?
 

Hi guy and gals,
I'm off to ride around Iran on my trusty XR6(starting late april, en shallah). Does anybody know about availability of oil filters, quality lubricants(synth.) and high octane fuel in Iran?
Thanks!

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Hi ;

I will enter Iran at the beginning of March ( en shallah ) and will every post worthy information.

But i packed everything (oil filters & oil ) as if there is nothing avaliable for bikes.

Safe Rides ,

Went through Iran last year with GS George. He was on a GS1100 and I was on a Dommie.

Took our own filters and used local oil. Oil was ok.. couldn't read whether or not it was synthetic but hey.. it was 4 stroke oil, can't complain as it was better than nothing.

Fuel seemed to be standard wherever you went to buy it. I didn't notice an octane reading but I think our bikes told us it was quite low. Best to chill out and not flog it.
Dave

To prevent what Spud has encountered, i am taking Würth octane boosters, which doesnt take too much space.

usl,
Good stuff!

Are you taking a GPS with you to Iran? If so, please read my note (in the mid. east forum) on GPS and tell me what you think.

About the ocatne booster, how does it work? what if the fuel is really crap, say about 80 oct., will it boost the octanes to the recommended level i.e. 93+?

Thanks for your advice mate!

Hi ;

No, i am not taking GPS to Iran since i will stick to roads (dest-> Nepal)

Würth's octane booster increases the existing octane by +5. But personally i dont worry about getting ~80 octane fuel too much , because i (actually my motorcycle) dealed with 75-85 octane fuel in Russia quite well.

Glad to be of any help.. nice rides .. see you on the way..

usl,

Cool, that is quite comforting... By the way, what's your bike and what compression ratio does it have?

Cheers,

Perhaps if GS George can remember if he sees this thread.. 87 octane rings a bell now.

I do remember George filling up his petrol lighter from the pump though and it didn't light very well!! When it did it did give off a load of black smoke!!! Octane booster might be a good idea I guess. If the booster runs out though, I wouldn't fret too much.

One bit of advice I would give though, is that as soon as you enter Pakistan, you may not find a petrol pumps until you get to Quetta. Now.. we didn't and other's we met didn't but perhaps others have done, who knows. Petrol seemed to be sold only out of cans and old plastic containers. This fuel probably comes from Iran as it's amazingly cheap there. They filter it out using an old rag... I suggest you get yourself a nice piece of filter cloth of some sort for this leg of the journey. In Quetta you'll find the usual worlwide petrol stations etc (which incidentlally we didn't see in Iran)

Hi ;

I am using Husqvarna TE610E and its comp. ratio is 9:1. I will take about three bottles which is roughly for 750 lt. of fuel. It means 15.000 km. of fuel with octane booster, and thats more then enough for me.

But in any case i made a fuel filter at home;

3 cm. long and 3,5 cm. diameter stainless steel pipe - take three pieces of filters from a water filter manufacturer or repair shop of 4 cm. diameter each - weld it to one end while keeping the other end free for fuel intake --- you have a fuel filter that you can carry in your pocket.

I thought of such an invention after similar warnings of fuel between Taftan and Quetta.

Nice rides with clean fuel

Hi guys, I definatly had pinking on my GS1150 in Iran (how rude of you spud to relegate me to an 1100!) which started if I quickly opened the throttle more than half way. Ugly sound (like nails in a blender if you can imagine that) and marked performance loss. Spud did'nt notice maybe as those things come as standard on the Dominator (ouch! sorry spud). The one thing I really did regret not taking on our trip (apart from a brew kit) was an octane booster - I was going to buy some on the way but none could be found in Turkey...don't know about putting it in a lighter though...buy quality oil if you need it in Turkey, I did'nt get any synth stuff until Delhi. In India the highest octane I could source was 87, slightly better in Nepal. If you go without booster I agree with Spud, you should be fine, just don't give it too much wellie.

Regards

George

"Just grab something and give it hell!"

[This message has been edited by GS George (edited 03 March 2003).]

Sorry Georgious! I was getting mixed up with you and Goose when I was typing. That extra 50cc makes a big difference of course!! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

I also had pinking with my 1150GS in Iran but only at higher speeds (120km +). The garages sell very cheap little bottles of additive. I couldn't tell you if it's any good but we did use a few and the bike made it to England. Stephano

Regarding oil filters, have you considered getting a reusable stainless steel one? I use a Scott steel filter in my XR400 and haven't had to buy one for a couple of years now. That's a useful feature if you're on the road; they filter better than paper too.
http://www.scottsperformance.com/indexmain.html

[This message has been edited by Stephano (edited 13 April 2003).]

Hi ;

I dont think you will find any original fuel or oil filter here in Iran,except for BMW.

The distributor in Iran is some great and they have a large stock. I even saw that they have METZELER MCE Karoo tires.

Anyway regarding them i posted necessary contact numbers to " repair shops" topic.

Here they have two types of fuel .. normal and super. The later one is very hard to find except around Tehran and therefore octane boosters should be considered.

Oil can be found but only 20/50. SAE type i only saw in Tehran.