| Author | Message | ||
     Ezblast |
Taken off another Board: I don't know if you've been following the news lately ? But Fuel cost is not only rising, but ALL the major oil companies are scrambling to substitute Ethanol in place of one of the higher priced(and toxic) additives. And this will have an effect on the performance of our Blast. Now alot of you have probably heard of Gasohol, which is basically just a mix of 90% gasoline with 10% ethanol. This has been available for years at some stations, and supposedly is harmless to our engines...though not entirely true. They limit the percent of ethanol to a max of 10%, because any higher will have the outwardly Negative effects of poor performance and fuel system corrosion ! But that mainly pertains to automobiles with fuel injection systems. A carburated machine (auto or bike) will start to run poorly on 10% ethanol, because the air/fuel ratio becomes too lean. Let me explain (although I don't have the exact air/fuel ratios at hand). If your bikes carb is jetted fairly close to perfect on a dyno- say using an air/fuel ratio sensor, you might think you are fine. But that ratio is different for Ethanol than it is for gasoline....Ethanol needs to run a much-MUCH richer fuel to air ratio to match that of gasoline. So when they added 10% ethanol...you engine isn't getting enough fuel and is running lean and losing some power(performance). Your engine would also be more prone to detonation(pinging/pre-ignition)when using gasohol. And here is the Bad news which I started with... pretty soon- ALL the major Oil compnaies will be switching over to 10% ethanol blended Fuel ! Now if you run a fuel injected car or bike, then the sensors and computer will pretty well correct for the difference in air fuel ratio. BUT a Carburated machine cannot do that ! The only way to compensate, is to Re-jet the carb to a much richer fuel ratio....and hope all gas stations are using the same fuel mixture ? Oh, one more point about this whole Ethanol deal, which you should have seen coming. To get your engine to run correctly again with the rejetting, you're going to be losing MPG's ! Luckily, it won't be too much with only 10% ethanol, but you will lose a few mpg's :-( Here is something you may not have understood, told in laymans terms. Say you have a racecar set up to run normally on gasoline, and it averages 15mpg. Now say you want to convert that car to run on 100% ethanol, so without changing anything but the fuel system- you accomplish the conversion. But now when you average out your MPG- you are ONLY getting 8 MPG's ! Thats the different between burning alcohol and gasoline..... But a couple of pluses for running alcohol based fuels is, you put out less hydrocarbon emmisions, and if the motor is set to perform with alcohol based fuel- it will run cooler(that is if the correct air/fuel ratio is calibrated by either a computer w/fuel injection, or by rejetting a carburator). A Reply: While it is partially true ethanol is cleaner burning it really isn't. It leaves more CO in the exhaust. Less NOx but More CO because it has less combustion temperature (that is why less NOx) And alcohol has significantly less BTU's per pound compared to most other hydrocarbon fuels. The stoichiometric A/F ratio for gasoline is about 14:1, where with ethanol it is near 8:1. You can make an engine run well and make plenty of power on alcohol but it takes a compression ratio and air fuel system set up to deliver proper atomized fuel in the combustion chamber. Any comments, questions? | ||
| Berkshire |
those bastages!  ...like the fuel tank on my Blast isn't small enough already.  If i'm understanding this correctly, it sounds like we'll all need dial-a-jet and a high-compression piston upgrade. any indications that header diameter might need to change? | ||
| Marijane0569 |
Blame the EPA. but I agree w/ you Berkshire. | ||
| Naustin |
In Minnesota, ALL fuel already contains 10% ethanol and has for many years... That time I got 75mpg with the blast was also on 10% ethanol blend. And with my exhaust and 175 mainjet, the bike runs fine... (It should be noted however that I had my exhaust and 175 jet when I got 75mpg - and maybe I am running hella lean??) But, i agree, ethanol will degrade performance in higher concentrations. MN - being a huge corn crop state, is building ethanol plants left and right - and the farmers are lobbying the Legislators to bump the blend to 20%. Ethanol, IMHO, is worse for the environment than oil. WHAT?, you say... Well, think about all the pesticide and chemical fertilizer and all kinds of other nasty stuff they put down on those fields to maximize their yields. And then figure in all the energy it takes to manufacture the pesticide and the fertilizer - energy in the form of electricity that was probably generated in a coal-fired power plant. And then consider the HUGE amount of energy and effort it takes to convert corn into fuel. And, don't forget those pesticides and fertilizers leaching into the water table, washing into the streams and rivers and eventually creating a "DEAD ZONE" in the gulf of Mexico. Look it up. The Mississippi is so polluted and full of agricultural run-off, that the gulf of Mexico is virtually sterile for hundreds of square miles around the mouth of the Mississippi. The brown stained area can be seen from space with the naked eye. **************************************** Just saw this too: "The Minnesota legislature last year passed a law that all gasoline must contain 20 percent ethanol (E20) by the year 2013. Other than flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) built to run on gasoline or E85, none of the vehicles built today will be able to survive very long on E20. Even if you bought a new car today, it would likely be unable to cope with that much ethanol in the blend and would suffer fuel system damage." http://www.winktimber.com/reader/reader13.htm But - I also found a list of gas stations that sell "Non-Oxy" (non- oxygenated or ethanol-free) fuel. This is recommended for snow blowers, lawnmowers, snowmobiles, pre-1990 vehicles, and of course carburated motorcycles. I'll have to try some Non-Oxy fuel and see how my bike likes it...  Also, even though it isn't required by law as in MN, Wisconsin and Iowa gas stations also sell the 10% ethanol blend almost exclusively. I'm sure other states do too. Nick (Message edited by naustin on April 13, 2006) | ||
| M4sterblast3r |
i say bring it on 100% ethanol. give us ethanol safe carbs and tank conversions cheap, dont tax ethanol, take the corn wasted from that subsidies stuff, and make it cheaper than gas like 50cents a gallon. buy urself a high comp 17-1 piston. cooler/cleaner engine and more power, sounds fun. im dreamin again aint i (Message edited by m4sterblast3r on November 12, 2006) |
