Spirits in my Tigers tank

[TriumphTengu]

Hey now.
In the last two days every gas station here in Austin has slapped a
sticker saying "Contains at least 10% Etenol" on all the pumps.
Is there any harmful effects for our bikes?
Jim

[Mustang]

turns the inside of float bowls a nice crappy brown color over time and water likes to accumulate in them  (this is on carbed bikes)
I have also seen it do some amazing things to plastic fuel filters , distorts the hell out of em .

and it has the added pleasure  of reducing the giddy up power of your tigger
I avoid it whenever possible but it is becoming harder to do as almost everywhere sells the crap now , some stations still have non ethanol blended fuel but at a premium price .

[abruzzi]

These days mot states switch to "oxygenated" fuel in the winter for emmissions.  The "oxygenation" used to be an additive MTBE but due to the really nasty in groundwater contamination, so most states now use some amount of ethanol.  The main effect I know of is less power and worse fuel economy.

Geof

[EvilBetty]

And tough on non-Viton fuel seals and o-rings.

[TigerTrax]

Just a note:
I have not done the complete math...
however, it appears REGULAR fuel will give you more power
than ETHANOL added fuel.

The ETHANOL is often 5¢ - 10¢ lower per gallon, but it may not
give you the mileage that REGULAR does... it looks like it may be
a wash in costs.

Too bad we can't burn milk!
The dairymen could use the money . . . we could use the lower price!

[EvilBetty]

When you refer to ethanol fuel are you talking about fuel that has more than %10 or ANY ethanol?

In Missouri most gasoline sold contains up to %10 ethanol.

Also when you refer to REGULAR are you talking about 87 octane, or 92 octane (PREMIUM)?

Just curious since the manual claims a need for 90 octane or higher.  I've been running premium in mine.

[Nick Calne]

Oh no! you guys get 87 and 92 RON petrol!!!!  Say it ain't so!  Here in the UK 95 is normal and 98 is premium!  87? That just can't be right.  In the land where the car is King you get the sort of petrol they have in Africa?.....  maybe some ethanol is a good idea after all.

A couple of years back Bike magazine ran an article where they got a daytona 675 to run on 100 % bio ethanol.  The result was more power but less mpg.

They got some kids to make the ethanol at school from apples....

http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2008/04/fast-fruit-apple-derived-bioethanol.html

If memory serves they changed the fuel lines to avoid them disintegrating in the alcohol....

[Mustang]

Oh no! you guys get 87 and 92 RON petrol!!!!  Say it ain't so!  Here in the UK 95 is normal and 98 is premium!  87? That just can't be right.  In the land where the car is King you get the sort of petrol they have in Africa?.....  maybe some ethanol is a good idea after all.

our 87 octane is comparable to UK 95 ron
the rating standard is different
94 octane is usually the highest pump gas you can buy which is slightly better than UK 98

and my steamer runs just lovely on US 87 octane even with 4 degrees of ignition advance

[abruzzi]

US octane ratings are the average of the RON and MON ratings: (R+M)/2.  Since MON is usually about 10 less than RON,  RON95 is equivalent to US 90 octane.

Geof

[Sin_Tiger]

I remember in my teens, 70's I hate to admit  :roll: , working as a pump attendant for pocket money, remember pump attendants  :lol: , and pumping 102 RON. Octane rating explained, sort of :? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating)

I have to deal with Marine Gas Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_oil#Bunker_fuel)(diesel) and Heavy Fuel Oil (crude oil with the shells and sand filtered out) and I'm sure the Aero guys on here go through the same thing with AvGas but for my money Liquified Petroleum Gas is the thing. Goes by different names around the world, CNG (not strictly accurate) NGV etc. higher calorific value (power crazed), cleaner burning, cheaper (even cheaper outside UK but don't start me  :roll: )

I have often thought about running bikes on it, since I have run all my cars since the mid 90's on LPG but the pressure vessel is always going to be an issue. Then I was up in Shanghai last year and I noticed nearly all the bikes and scoots had stainless steel top boxes. Can't read the wrinting but on closer inspection I realised they were used as holder for LPG tanks  :shock: I enquired with a local and was told that you just buy a cylinder, drop it in, connect it and away you go and it's mandatory in some cities. I also recently noticed in the back of a [url]"Wunderlich" catalogue [/url=http://www.motohansa.com.au/docs/wl/09/K_1200_GT_-2005_ENG.pdf]that they were offering LPG kits with top box tanks, catalogue was a dogeared German version so I couldn't gleen much and haven't researched it any further.

Hope I haven't gone too far OT, alternative fuels interests me as you no