Ethanol damage to bikes?
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 205
Likes: 9
From: Alabama
The fear of something different is the only real problem.
It work great in all my harleys.
__________________
The ethanol burns hotter and raises your engine temps and gets about 2-3 MPG less, so it is more to it than the fear of something.
It work great in all my harleys.
__________________
The ethanol burns hotter and raises your engine temps and gets about 2-3 MPG less, so it is more to it than the fear of something.
Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Tampa Bay area, Florida
I can absolutley attest to ethanol causing engine failure. This year my '07 BMW X5 had the fuel pump **** the bed solely due to ethanol. At first dealer wouldnt cover under warranty because after all its not their fault but after arguing for a while a different dealership did it. The problem is nobody tests the gas stations for their actual ethanol content. I ONLY run premium in my cars(am forced to) and bikes for that matter. Only purchase from big dealers, Exxon, Mobil, Shell. The ethanol content in my tank at time of failure was 19%. And it took a long time to make it fail not just one bad fill. With the good old gas the water settled to the bottom of the gas stations tanks and stayed there until pumped out. But because of the new ethanol the water mixes with the gas causing very harmful effects. And it's only going to get worse. Bring back REAL gas. We are all paying more for an inferior product that gets less MPG and causes damage. The EPA sucks!
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,271
Likes: 29
From: Green Country,Oklahoma
Or so they tell you.I have seen several stations that claim no ethanol,only to go to another town and that same brand has ethanol listed on the pump.Regular,premium,ethanol,who knows what they do.I know the gas is sure expensive crap.
Road Captain
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 505
Likes: 2
Here in the UK we have some ethanol in our fuel - it's usually less than 10% but there were, local to me, some issues when engines were damaged with too much ethanol in a batch (15% if I remember right).
We usually find it in "cheaper" grades and brands and especially in supermarket fuel. I always buy decent brands (never supermarket stuff) and the best octane I can - just to be sure.
We usually find it in "cheaper" grades and brands and especially in supermarket fuel. I always buy decent brands (never supermarket stuff) and the best octane I can - just to be sure.
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Middle River, MD
I'm not worried about decreased octane. Ethanol blends actually increase the octane a little.
My problem is with the mixture. It would be okay if the mixture was set to use ethanol, but we all know Harley EFI already runs too lean & too hot for the health of the engine (required by the EPA), and unless you crank up the mixture to compensate for the smaller molecule, more ethanol just makes it that much worse.
Per the USDA, ethanol costs about 57˘ more per gallon than gasoline, and it takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to get the energy as one gallon of gasoline. If it wasn't subsidized, it wouldn't even be considered.
My problem is with the mixture. It would be okay if the mixture was set to use ethanol, but we all know Harley EFI already runs too lean & too hot for the health of the engine (required by the EPA), and unless you crank up the mixture to compensate for the smaller molecule, more ethanol just makes it that much worse.
Per the USDA, ethanol costs about 57˘ more per gallon than gasoline, and it takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to get the energy as one gallon of gasoline. If it wasn't subsidized, it wouldn't even be considered.
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Joe Kucinski
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Washington
I wonder how the EPA would respond if for the next year every one saved all the bad parts and this time next year every one sent them the parts with a short note US EPA Region 3
1650 Arch Street (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029 Closest one to the White House. Oh no return address so they can't return to sender after all their lack of attention, care to regulate or payoff
1650 Arch Street (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029 Closest one to the White House. Oh no return address so they can't return to sender after all their lack of attention, care to regulate or payoff
Last edited by Mark 2; Jun 15, 2009 at 04:26 PM.
Tourer
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 483
Likes: 1
From: Tampa Bay area, Florida
I'm all for supporting the farmers of this country but we have really screwed the pooch on this one. We guarantee to buy all their left over corn, have nothing else to do with it and low and behold its in gas. Kinda like how everything has a good amount of high fructose corn syrup in it as well.