| Author | Message | ||
     Isham |
Who would love to see a flex fuel buell? I think it would be awesome. Erik are you listening? Please be the first bike manufacturer to do this! This was stolen from the GM website -> Gain increased horsepower for better engine performance because E85 ethanol fuel has a higher octane rating than premium gasoline Lessen engine wear Support the domestic agriculture industry in the U.S. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Sorry if I'm mistaken but these motors were made to burn petroleum products only. Keep the corn in the field and on my plate, but keep it out of my motor. Every mechanic I've personally known over the years has told me that 2 things go into a gas engine. Gas and oil. No additives. Change oil early and often. Buy the best gas you can get. Am I wrong? Misguided? Maybe so but following those 2 simple rules I've never blown an engine or warped a head or thrown a rod or anything like it... in any vehicle ever. | ||
| Gazoobla |
Higher octane retards the spark, no? It only benefits high compression engines. Even then, there is a point of diminishing return. Makes sense to use octane number recommended for vehicle, as too little makes the engine knock and too much gives poor gas mileage. It currently takes more fossil fuel to grow and process the corn into ethanol, than it provides. Good way to subsidize corn growers... again... | ||
| Diablobrian |
IIRC it takes close to twice as much methanol/ethanol to provide the same amount of energy as a given volume of gasoline. volumetric efficiency is therefor very poor. Imagine having what is effectively 1/3 to 1/4 less (depending upon the mixture) fuel capacity. No thank you. I'm basing this on a fuzzy recollection of a race car that Some friends and I converted to run Alcohol many years ago. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. It's been a long time, but I remember the alcohol jets being HUGE. compared to the equivalent gasoline jets. Fuel economy wasn't a problem, The car only drove 1/4 mile at a time. | ||
| Williboyny |
Pwnzor- I would love it if gasoline only contained "gas and oil". While this is not an argument for ethanol, I would like to disuade a myth that gasoline is pure. If anything, knowing more about fuel should make you feel even more ripped off about $2.65/gallon. Natural gasoline has not been available at consumer pumps for a long time. Modern gasoline is filled with detergents, oxygenate blendings (read ethanol), and chemical stabilizers. There is nothing pure about it. Many name brand stations--around me it is Sunoco that I can think of--sell gasahol (90/10 petro/ethanol) with only a small sticker on the pump to inform you. There is a lot of misinformation about gasoline. My advice to everyone: find a gas station that offers clean gas, that your bike likes, and stick with it. | ||
| Pwnzor |
What I meant is gas from the pump and nothing else from a bottle. The oil i referred to doesnt go in the gas tank. There is no such thing as natural "gasoline" it all has to be refined from crude oil and yes it does contain additives. What I said is put gas and oil only in the engine. I also said buy the best gas and oil you can get. When i said no additives, i meant do not add anything to the fuel or oil. If you find a natural spring that flows gas, you let me know where it is ok? I dont care what octane. Increasing the amount of alcohol in gasoline can only be bad for an engine that wasnt designed to burn alcohol, injectors not desigend to spray alcohol and fuel lines, fittings and seals designed to retain a liquid that is many times thicker and more dense than alcohol. (Message edited by pwnzor on February 20, 2006) | ||
| Plag |
Gazooba makes a good point that many people don't realize. Higher octane will only make more power if you have a pinging or detonation problem (i.e. higher compression). Higher octane fuels burn slower. If you engine does not ping or knock on regular fuel it will burn more quickly and efficiently than a higher octane fuel which should translate to better overall performance. Parry | ||
| Dmextreme |
I usually use Amoco Premium 91 or 92 where I can find it. Also, is it true the higher the octane, the cooler it burns? Is that right? My mechanic at Lentner told me that. | ||
| Chadhargis |
All the guys I ride with think I'm crazy for putting 87 octane in my Ducati...but it's never pinged, so I'm not going up in octane. I have stuck with the reccomended octane in the Buell and have never heard it ping. Here in Tennessee, we have 87, 89, and 92 octane. I think Buell calls for 91, so I err on the side of caution and use 92. I might try a tank full of 89 and see what happens. | ||
| Honu |
Willyboyny might have been refering to raw gasoline that was condensed and collected right at the oil well head (nasty stuff full of H2s etc..) Back in the old days (really old) people used this stuff in motors. I can assure you that ethanol is no where to be found in a oil refinery. It is blened into gasoline at the truck loading terminals and at some tank farms. | ||
| Mattl |
Hey Isham, I agree. A flex fuel, or alternate fuel motorcycle would make the Buell even more unique and ahead of the game. Obviously, it would require a redesign of certain engine components. You wouldn't use the E85 in a stock XB. I've been dreaming up ways of cramming my little MasseyFerguson 3-cyl diesel engine into a bike, and using vegetable oil or bio-diesel. Would get some killer torque, but just no HP at all. Maybe a small diesel/bio-diesel/veggie-oil engine with a CVT type transmission? The torque should keep engine RPM consistent and you can just adjust the CVT ratio quickly for acceleration. Kinda' like a HydroStatic Tranny in a tractor.  That'd be a cool/interesting project. | ||
| Chizzler |
Skip the flex fuel. Build me a hybrid bike or a bike that gets 100 mpg on biodiesel and you have a customer!! Oh, and it has to be able to break the speed limit of course. | ||
| Isham |
Biodiesel sounds cool too. I think flex fuels would be neat because you dont have to rely on E85 you can use either full gas or E85. All I think we would have to do is change the injectors and re map the ecu. From what i've heard it's not all that difficult. | ||
| Altima02 |
Dont people already have enough reasons to make fun of Buells? Although they are wrong ofcourse, dont add to the fire. | ||
| Blazinc5 |
Keep in mind too that even though you may be buying the gas outa the big more spendy station where as the cheap rat hole station is also getting the same fuels delivered from the same truck. just because it says conoco it don't mean better... it depends on who is delivering. My dad ran tanker truck for the better part of 20 yrs and I spent many a day runnin hoses for him for a lack of an exuse to get out of it. Carriers buy from who has the cheapest price at the tank farms. They will travel a few hundred miles if the price is rite. So you will never know if it is the same gas every time. only it's less likely to change as often. I'll put it to ya this way. even though the conoco stations were owned by the same guy who owned the tanker my dad drove he may dump Exxon one day into a conoco tank and then shell in that same tank later on. it's all who has the better price. There are only a handfull for fuel oil companys who make the gas you buy. such as like BP, exxon, ect.ect Most fuel station chains don't make the gas or put in addatives, they are chain stores, who just like any company buy and sell other peoples product. | ||
| Brucelee |
A flex fuel Buell is a road to nowhere. Now, a 135 HP Buell getting 55 MPG is a winner. Seems we might see that next year or two. | ||
| Jkhawaii |
a E85 buell could be set up to make more power than a gas engine due to higher octane and cooling effects a diesel Harley would be cool | ||
| Ryker77 |
E85 contains less BTU's. Octane has ZERO to do with power. BTU's is the amount of energy it contains. For example diesel contains more BTUs that gas. Thus diesel cars get way better MPG's. But diesel is rated with cetane and not octane. E85 in cars result in 20-30% DECREASE in mpgs. IF the engine was designed with a huge boost turbo it could take advantge of the octane and decrease the loss in MPGS. Also flex fuel engines require different oil. Read the owners manuals. Dodge engines that are flex fuel require oil thats 10.00 per quart! So forget about e85 in a buell. Enjoy the fact that your getting 5 times the MPG's of the average truck/suv on the road. And at least 100% more mpgs than the typical car. | ||
| Phwx2 |
You want a 100 mpg+ american made bike. Here it is for sale next month. Hayes Diversified Technologies (HDTUSA) http://www.m1030.com/models.htm | ||
| Diablobrian |
I want a hydrogen / oxygen fueled buell. fill it up with water, let the bike convert it into fuell (not a typo, Buell already owns the copyright on the name, why not "brand" the process)...and wahoo!!  } exhaust fumes would be water vapor just like the space shuttle! It's too bad it takes more energy to convert the water to fuel than is yielded by burning the fuel | ||
| Mattl |
Ok, that HDT "Bulldog" is just stinkin' cool. Someone should try and enter that in the Dakar Rally or something. 102MPG and 600 mile range on a motorcycle! | ||
| Phwx2 |
I really think buell should put one of these HDT engines in a Blast frame and call it a oil crises beater. The blast gets 60+ mpg but 100 mpg on diesel would make it hard to say no a as the ultimate commuter bike. Do you know many of the scooters that pitch high mpg don't even do as well as the blast. I had a blast and now an XB and I miss the mpg, but not the other stuff. | ||
| Ryker77 |
Lots of people would line up to buy a diesel Buell-- thats 100+mpg. Plus it can run on Biodiesel. I'd sell my 120hp X1 to get one... err I'd just have 2 bikes. LOL |
