Springbubba and I have been having low end jetting issues as of lately and in our quest to solve them we where wondering if any one else as been having issues from 2500rpm to 4000rpm that they did not have before. Neither one of us have changed our setups from last year. So the thought is that maybe the ethanol is wreaking havoc with the lower more sensitive jetting range. Any thoughts, or comments about the ethanol? Is it just our bikes? Anyone else have to rejet lately even though they made no mechanical changes?

 

I can't give you hard SHawk data, but I can tell you in my car it makes a mileage difference of 7%. I have a station near my work that advertises ethanol free gas that I do my best to use.

I think it runs better in my Shawk. I have a part throttle stumble at 2400 - 2800rpm that I am sure is lean. It is still there with the ethanol free, but I think not as bad

 

thanks, your data is exactly what I am looking for, observations to try and come up with some data more or less conclusive about the effects. I wish there was a ethanol free station near me so I could try it out just to see.

 

My '98 was running pretty decent with stock jetting and Yosh slipons until the State mandated 10% ethanol went into effect...everything went downhill after that, major spitting, sputtering, and stumbling at lower rpms, a real bitch to ride in traffic...

A Dyno Jet stage 1 jet kit and carb balance pretty much took care of things, though it stills hates moving slow on hot days...

 

"I wish there was a ethanol free station near me so I could try it out just to see. "


there is... EDR performance. RACE GAS



tim

 

Yeah I am starting to think this is what caused my issues when I went down. I just noticed that the gas stations I get gas from have started using ethanol recently. And the one I went to on the day I had major issues is one I usually don't go to. They may have been pumping it out that day already. I'm going to have to find out how much *ucking CORN crap they put in at that station!

 

yeah exactly what mine did and I still haven't sorted it out, maybe I won't be able to jet it for the 10% E.

 

don't they sell that at every gas station . Ha kidding, how much is that a gallon?

 

there are a handfull of different fuels.... from $5 to $40 gallon

tim

 

I've definitely noticed a difference. Same thing, no changes since last year, and now a stumble between 3-4k RPM. I find myself running around with the choke pulled out about 1/2 inch to smooth it out, like it's running lean. WFO it still seems fine, and on the throttle off idle seems good, only problem is cruising. I'd tend to think it's the idle mixture, but again it was fine last year. I'm going to pull everything apart anyway just to see what's going on. Did 350+ mi. on Wed going to Laconia and went up to 130 miles and still no fuel light on, which usually comes on by 120 miles. My boss does some charter boating and they've all been having major problems with the Ethanol. Ethanol attracts water, and when enough is absorbed it separates from the gas and the gas floats on top of the ethanol/water mixture (called "phase separation), so you basically end up with some water, and a shitload of ethanol sitting at the bottom of your tank. He suggested some stuff called K100, you can find it at most boating supply shops. I think there is actually a class action suit being filed in CA by boaters because of the damage it causes to fiberglass tanks.

 

Ethanol is fermented cat ****.
Enjoy your mandated, valve eating, O-ring dissolving Ethanol.
And be sure to donate to the EPA clowns so they can afford to think up
other neat solutions to our wantonness.

 

I don't know if this might have anything to do with it, but I know alot of local folks w/ carburetored bikes that had a ton of trouble w/ jelled up carb jets and bowls when they took their bikes out of storage this year. Most of them ended up having to have their carbs rebuilt before their bikes would run decently. Seems like I read something about this in Road & Track or MCN and they specified that these sort of problems are typically caused by the new oxygenating agents the refiners are adding to gas. They also said that's why when your yard equipment gas is over a month old, you gotta chuck it. The traditional gas stabilizers won't help either...........

 

I can get a tank of gas in my car here, and get 27mpg, and then I can drive to Wisconsin, and get a tank of gas there, and get 32mpg; all because of the Ethanol in the IL gas. Ethanol is basically a grain alcohol, so it doesn't burn well, and it burns faster. Therefore, it significantly affects your gas mileage.

I notice it in the SH, and my Prelude. I can get a tad over 40mpg on Wisconsin gas in the SH.

 

My SH seems to run better on it, I believe it does result in a higher octane rating doesn't it?

 

no ethanol does not burn better than gas and has little to do with octane.

 

Hi, I'm a new member as of today. I ran into problems with water in ethanol blended gas and here is some information I found from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel . Ethanol can also corrosive and has been linked to many engine problems.
In theory, all fuel-driven vehicles have a fuel economy (measured as miles per US gallon, or liters per 100 km) that is directly proportional to the fuel's energy content.[38] In reality, there are many other variables that come in to play that affect the performance of a particular fuel in a particular engine. Ethanol contains approx. 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and therefore in theory, burning pure ethanol in a vehicle will result in a 34% reduction in miles per US gallon, given the same fuel economy, compared to burning pure gasoline. Since ethanol has a higher octane rating, the engine can be made more efficient by raising its compression ratio. In fact using a variable turbocharger, the compression ratio can be optimized for the fuel being used, making fuel economy almost constant for any blend. .[16][17] For E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline), the effect is small (~3%) when compared to conventional gasoline,[39] and even smaller (1-2%) when compared to oxygenated and reformulated blends.[40] However, for E85 (85% ethanol), . Actual performance may vary depending on the vehicle. Based on EPA tests for all 2006 E85 models, the average fuel economy for E85 vehicles resulted 25.56% lower than unleaded gasoline.[41]

 

It's the ethanol in my Scotch that ***** me over....