lets talk octane!

I wonder.... Why is alcohol bad for our carb seals and if its bad for the carb how about our intake boots? Is it because the alcohol dries out rubber? If so why not add a couple of oz. of marval mystery oil to your alcohol / gas. I add a couple of oz. to my tank every 5 or 6 tanks or so. It can't hurt. I have also noticed that I loose about 10mi per gal. by running 87 instead of 91 oct. Has anyone else seen this dramatic of a fuel milage drop by running the 87?

 

Absolutely! I've put 87 in a few times when 93 wasn't available and I definitely noticed a drop in mpg.

 

Agreed. I run premium in my bike beacuse it saves me more money in the long run. Only a buck or two, but a buck or two is almost a gallon of gas! Thats 3 - 4 times back and forth to work! But if I gotta start putting additives in the gas here soon anyway cause of ethanol, then i'll just switch to 87 along with the additives. Fuel stabalizers or somethin. Driving is getting more and more expensive everyday. Almost a luxury
-Chris

 

I know for sure that on the carbs I've torn down or rejetted, those run on Premium were always much cleaner as well. In fact on one Savage I had the dealer tear down, the mechanic even mentioned to me that I must use Premium. LOL I even run Premium in the Rebels I buy and sell.

 

Alcohol may be "coming" (or should I say, forced upon us). Fine, just get ready to spend more money and more time maintaining any vehicles or equipment that use it. It is not the panacea so many have been whining about.

 

Anyone know WHY they're doing it?? Just cause?? Or to cut back on gas usage?? How many of those politions actually do their own work on the vehicles?? They dont care about us... rar..
-Chris

 

Because they can?!

Seriously though i believe it's supposed to reduce some portion of emissions.

And if it was really that great why would the government have to force it on us?

 

I found this on the internet-

Buna-N rubber is a synthetic rubber originally developed in Germany in the '30s. Buna-N is oil resistant which is why it is a common material used for O-rings. It also stands up extremely well against petroleum products, including good old-fashioned gasoline, which made it an excellent material for accelerator pumps prior to the addition of ethanol-which causes deterioration

Viton is a registered trademark of DuPont and the name of a newer type of synthetic rubber. Unlike Buna-N, Viton is impervious to alcohol as well as to moisture and solvents. David said that Standard has tested Viton to 15-percent alcohol exposure, but they believe that it could be exposed to higher amounts without showing any damage-but those tests haven't been done yet. For the moment, Viton (or other brands identified as ethanol-compatible or non-corrosive) is the best solution to the problem of accelerator pump failure.

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/tec ... index.html

 

Two powerful lobbies:

1 - Environmentalists.

2 - Corn growers.

 

mtbe caused more cancer and hurt more of the environment than ethanol does, so here we are!

viton is ok, its the plastic floats that get wasted by the alky.

someone suggested MMO, i would stay away from that snake oil. nothing mysterious about it, and it is worse for rubber than the alcohol! instead i would run a small amount of 2-stroke oil.

this is a table for diesel fuel additives, so most of it doesnt apply to us. it does include MMO and 2 stroke oil. the HFFR test results for lubricity would shock most people. http://www.superdutydiesel.com/forums/a ... 1189097548

 

ingredients of MMO:
dichlorobenzene
naptha
Mineral Spirits
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons (brake cleaner)

 

someone suggested MMO, i would stay away from that snake oil. nothing mysterious about it, and it is worse for rubber than the alcohol! instead i would run a small amount of 2-stroke oil.


Thanks I didn't know that MMO was bad for rubber seals. I won't be trying that styff anymore.

 

It amazes me what a bad rap petroleum has gotten lately thanks to the lobbying and brainwashing of powerful interest groups that are basically, anti American.

It comes out of the freakin' ground for cryin' out loud. Places on the ocean floor it is oozing out of the bottom and methane ("natural gas") is bubbling up all over the planet.

We should be using this fantastic commodity provided to us by mother nature, not trashing it. Using modern technology for top efficiency and clean burning *is* the way to go, but with all the ignorant statements and misleading propaganda out there the average person has been brainwashed into forking over money for pie in the sky "global warming" schemes.

I hope its not too late to save this nation from ending up like cuba.

 

The house I grew up in had the well in an underground room off the basement. House blew up twice before dad found out where it was coming from and routed the well vent outside.

Turns out that when you watered the lawn the water rising and falling in the well would push the gas into the basement. Once enough got to the pilot light in the water heater BOOM!

 

My experience with ethanol has been nothing but positive, i live in melbourne australia, and it is available here in a 10% component. i used it as soon as it came out in my old honda civic, and the car ran better, more evenly, and despite all the negative press, and frequent under the bonnet checking, i found not a single compnent to be corroded, from O rings to fuel hoses, not a thing was amiss.

I have also run my xj650 on 98 octane with no probs, runs great but! nowadays i run 95 due to cost, availability, and mileage. I do believe i can feel the difference between 91 and 95.

concerning the greenies and environmentalists....despite their arguments, they are trying to save us from future monopolies created by shortage of stock, or oil. if we start using alternatives now, we might not be paying $9 a litre for petrol as soon as we would without changing any thing. I think it is ironic that americans are threatened by alternative supplies of energy when the american governments have always insisted foriegn countries deregulate their economies to allow competition.

competition is good, either electronics or cars. so why such a big storm over competition in the world of fuel?

also, i believe south america have been adding ethanol to their fuel in high concentrations for years now, with no adverse effects. not 100% sure of this though.

cheers

 

i dont know what magazine you are reading, but alternative energy sources have been quite a big deal for the past several years in my USA. dont let your opinion be biased based on the jerk-offs that find their way to the front page or the big screen.

here in new england we have oxygenated fuel in the winter, is that just us or do other regions run that as well? the oxygen and ethanol throws the jetting off enough to require a large jump in jets to make things run right again. when they started changing fuel in the winter, i rejetted several sleds for people who suddenly couldnt figure out why it was running like crap.l

 

Competition is where suppliers can sell any product they like, with the features they want and the consumers vote for the best one with their money. That's why we can buy DVD players in the states for under $50 as opposed to north of $1000 a video tape player went for when consumer playback devices were introduced. There is very little regulation of electronics in the U.S.

In the case of petroleum though it's heavily regulated and heavily taxed. Ethanol is subsidized by tax dollars in the field (crop subsidies), and tax dollars after it's produced (50 cents/gallon of tax dollars paid to the ethanol producer). Still, consumers aren't buying as much of it as the government wants so they're working on mandating 15% ethanol content in motor fuel.

Meanwhile, people in Latin America are having trouble affording tortillas (a staple food there) because corn is prohibitively expensive because special interests in the U.S. are trying to force the use of corn as a fuel feedstock.

It's not competition when the government deliberately tilts the playing field with taxes, subsidies and mandates.

I've never had a problem with ethanol blended gasoline and I don't care if the corner service station offers it in whatever blends the proprietor likes. I do object to forcing ethanol on anyone, especially those with older machines or marine engines that are getting hosed in the process.

 

Amen!

 

Exactly. I'm happy that you like ethanol so much (mix Jim Beam into your gasoline if you like) but if you leave that concoction in your equipment for too long a time it turns rancid and will produce obnoxious chemical reactions that will damage fuel systems (i.e. your Yamaha) and you *will* pay the price. There is no pie in the sky despite what some politicians (that will remain nameless) promise.

 

flax is the way to go, soon the world will see.