That is interesting. I would like to understand if the conversion kit requires you to run just E85. While it is available a lot of places, some of the smaller towns I ride through don't have it and I would hate to be stuck somewhere.

I would also like to understand the relationship between the HP increase and torque. Could the stock tranny and other important stuff (I'm still learning so don't make fun of me) handle the increased power. I've seen some posts on here that talk about having to change gears and cams with increases in HP.

 

I found occ built an e85 bike but couldn't find much about it.

 

My guess would be that running the high alky gas would have a cooling effect much like ­nitrous oxide has. ­A byproduct of nitrous oxide injection is an effect that improves performance even more than just added oxygen boost produced by heating and splitting it into nitrogen and oxygen. When it vaporizes, nitrous oxide provides a significant cooling effect on the intake air. When you reduce the intake air temperature, you increase the air's density, and this provides even more oxygen inside the cylinder.

Flex fuel is exactly why I say you'd need an ecm and efi. The ecm would need to remap on demand to run the 2 different fuels. I would say it's definitely possible to run just E-85, but not both in our old Evo bikes.

 

I only use supper in my bike to avoid any ethanol (our lower grades can contain up to 10%). From what I understand (from past posts) ethanol attracts moisture and is harmful to engines and systems not designed for its use . There was an article in AI regarding this last month I believe.
Cheers

 

I'm in Chicago and I can't remember the last time I've seen a pump around here that wasn't labeled 10% ethanol.

 

I can't say if it's harmful or not, but your 100% right about it absorbing moisture ( hydroscopic ). I work in the chemical industry with industrial grade alcohols and it's a problem.

 

It's the same here in upstate NY. it's E10 or stay home.

 

I posted this in another post.

My healthy 04RK engine is 10.5:1 and I have to run 91 octane in order for it to run with out detonation. But on Hot days it will detonate pretty bad just by a slight little roll of the throttle.
So I tried a splash of e85 just to see how it reacted. I put in a 1/2 gallon of e85 then topped of the tank with 91 octane, about 4.2 gallons. My engine now runs better then ever. It feels alot more powerfull and runs cooler with no more detonation. I can't imagine what it would do on 100% e85. But I will leave that for my 12:1 BBC Chevelle.

 

The thing to remember is that drag racing has been using alcohol for years. There is big benifit to performance. Like mentioned above, it is cooler burning which will allow more compression and timing. So, yes, more power can be had with it. However, I cant see how simply changing to ethanol will magicaly give more power since its got a lower BTU than gas.. In the "real life" world for normal consumers there is no bennifit. Ethanol costs more per mile driven, absorbs moisture, acts as a solvent, and deteriorates hoses that arent designed for it.. It does burn cleaner, but running proper mixtures and not loading your engine up will keep any combustion chamber relatively clean.. Want clean, propane and CNG are the fuels of choice... Gotta find a place to put the tanks though.. Ethanol is a total scam for the general population..

 

Absorbing moisture in a gas tank isn't necessarily a bad thing; I've added alcohol to my gas in real humid cold weather just to make sure I burned any water out (when the bottom of your gas cap has condensation on it, you''re probably getting some water in the tank). Water doesn't mix with gas, can freeze in fuel lines, and cause rust, of course. It does mix with alcohol, which mixes with gas, and the whole combination gets burned (doesn't hurt an engine at all to have a little moisture run through it, under some circumstances - extreme turbocharging pressure for one - engines get water injection. That said, I prefer straight gas in any other circumstance because it gets better mileage, more bang for the buck. Don't know about bikes, but I've read that cars have had components that can handle alcohol for over 20 years.