Hard question, any idea's?

[cornhuskxr]

If your running a power commander, can you map your bike to run E85? I know it takes 1.5% volume of E85 more than regular gas during the combustion cycle. I also know that it takes away from your fuel economy but it makes motors run cooler and has a lot more bang then petro. And lets not forget its only 1.99 per gal

[rybo]

Actually E85 has a lot LESS bang than petro, which is why your fuel economy goes down by using it. There is about 25% less energy in a gallon of E85 than there is in a gallon of gasoline.

Could you make a motorcycle run on it. Probably. But there are issues other than fuel injection and ignition timing to consider.

Alcohol is very hard on rubber products, meaning that the whole fuel system has to be considered before switching to it. The degradation that E85 could cause to the parts of your fuel system may cause leaks or problems that would not occur if you continued to use gasoline.

You really don't save any money by switching to E85 either, the added trips to the station, the reduced range and the reduction in fuel economy more than offset the per gallon "savings"

Scott

[Fly boy]

where the hell is it 1.99 a gallon???? Jackasses up here in cheyenne are charging 2.70. Oh, and its NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!! killed my power in the truck, and mpg went way down

[Bassil Duwaik]

wow your lost let me put it to you this way The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 85-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting. Ergo most bikes have a higher compression ratio (12 to 1) opposed to motor vechiles (8 to 1) thus it is impairative that you use fuel with more octane rings.

[rybo]

Bassil,

The fuel he is referring to is one of the new "alternative" fuels available comprised of 85 % ethanol. The number is not a reference to the octane rating, which for E85 is actually pretty high.

S

[Bassil Duwaik]

oh silly me. Well then on that note your probably going to want to listen to RYBO with regards to the lubricant characteristics of ethanol. They used to put lead in fuel in order to lub the heads. But thanks to synthetic gaskets and seals you now don't have to use leaded fuel to lub the upper eng. Whereas, ethanol is concerned I don't think that the engine is ready for that yet. I'm sure that it will clean the combustion chambers well...almost too well.

FYI i'm half awake

[rforsythe]

You can also get away with lower octane at higher elevations like we live at here. Less air = less volume of fuel/air mix, which means it has the effect of lessening compression. I've routinely run the lowest octane pump gas I can find in several bikes with no knocking or ill effects. If I went to sea level I'd bump it back up, but that is not an issue here.

Remember, run the lowest octane you can without knocking, to get the most power and reduce carbon buildup. Of course E85 changes that rule a bit, but for gasoline it applies.

[No-coast-punk]

Absolutely.

Modern fuel systems are designed to stand up to all sorts of crazy additives and can take E85 with no problem (just don't tell those marketing tools at GM). Most pump gas you get these days has a bit of ethanol in it.

We have been playing with e85 in Subarus for quite some time. You need to run MUCH richer to get a good burn. Problem is that OEM injectors are nowhere near large enough to flow the fuel needed.

RC engineering modifies fuel injectors for higher flow. If they got about 25-30% more flow from your injectors there is no reason you couldn't run e85. Pulsewidth could be turned way down on the modified injectors to run normal fuel as well.