Running on Ethanol ??

GoldenMotor.com

dag_29307

New Member
Jul 1, 2009
296
1
0
Enoree, Sc.
First welcome to the addiction and the forum....enjoy the ride! Now for the question at hand. Not that I know of. I do not believe that would be even possible due to the nature of the beast. 1) Being a two stroke engine the lack of oil would possibly seize the motor, or at least do some serious damage. 2) A four stroke might be able to run with that but there would be permanent damage to the motor I am sure. 3) You are still talking about using a bicycle as a chassis and that kind of speed would surely be unstable at best.

So in conclusion.....BAD IDEA.

Otherwise these are great to have and ride.=)
 
Last edited:

wildemere

New Member
Feb 12, 2008
269
0
0
Newcastle
It will make it hard to start and corrode the fuel system.

You will also need to bump the compression quite a few numbers.

Then use expensive exotic oils like Castrol M that mix with alchohol.

Methanol/Ethanol is a race fuel for race cars/bikes, Its not easy to manage for street use.

Apart from the fact that is dangerous, it burns with an invisible flame...

But it smells nice though.
 
Last edited:

meowy84

Member
Jul 18, 2009
239
0
16
Canada
In addition to some of the other obstacles/problems that some have already mentioned you would also have to give the carburation some attention. On the plus side I believe alcohols typically burn cooler than gasoline so your engine would run cooler as well.

It wouold eat the seals, E85 is more corrosive and it is approx 105 octane so you would be going faster when everything locked up
It's a common misconception that a high octane fuel will give you more power or make your engine 'go faster'. The octane rating refers simply to the fuel's resistance to pre detonation, a problem with high(er) compression engines. You compress a fuel mixture enough and it wants to ignite without a spark (the principle behind diesel engines). The more you compress the same mixture the more energy (power) it will give when it's finally ignited. All things being equal, if you have say a 8.0:1 compression spark ignition engine whether you use 89, 92 or even a 105 octane fuel it won't make much of a performance difference. If your engine has a 10:1 or higher compression/performance engine you need the higher octane gas and you will get more performance but it's mainly because of the design of the actual engine rather than the octane rating.

Engines that run alcohol for fuel (like dragsters) have quite a few different modifications as compared to gasoline engines. Also, maybe someone will correct me on this but E85 isn't pure ethanol, it's a gas/alcohol mixture of some sort?