Ethanol...good or bad??

[reddrider]

I`ve heard that a law is trying to be passed(in Aust) to make it mandatory for all fuel to have a certain amount ethanol in it. i was just wondering what good or bad affect this may have on our bikes?

[SDTLR]

:dunno sounds very combustible to me :dunno

Will it raise the cost

[LiononaLeash]

less BTU per gallon... I forget how much exactly... but 1 gallon of gasoline has more energy in it than 1 gallon of ethanol.

Bottom line is... less power(unless there is more fuel per unit air to make up for it)... and worse mpg.

[BNC]

Here in OK they just came out this this stuff called "E85" which is 85% ethanol and the rest good ol' petrol. I think it is only at 1 station right now...

[tlrcraz1]

Iowa has ethanol everywhere and I haven't ever noticed a difference in power or gas milage in my cars, but the TLR doesn't seem to like it much. It is suppose to eventually lower the cost because it is a renewable resource.

[Steve TLS]

reddrider, you haven't got that arse about have you?

There was a big stink over here when some operators we mixing it with their petrol, (different excise tax etc, = cheaper for them).

I read some articles in AMCN about it and the motorcycle manufacturers gave max % figures.

But a law was being passed that any operator who used a blened petrol had to put signs up on the bowsers or else be fined heaps.

[BNC]

Originally posted by Steve TLS
had to put signs up on the bowsers...

Bowsers? Is this Aussie speak for pumps?

[Steve TLS]

Petrol Bowser, yeah it's a Gasoline Pump

And the local pub can be called the local bowser too .

I"ll slowly get you all talking Aussie.


edit, how about this? It's named after an American.

bowser ['baʊzə]
noun
1 a tanker containing fuel for aircraft, military vehicles, etc

2 (Austral. and N.Z.) (obsolete)
a petrol pump at a filling station
[ETYMOLOGY: originally a US proprietary name, from S. F. Bowser, US inventor, who made the first one in 1885]


They got the obsolete part wrong, it's still used.

[Steve TLS]

reddrider http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/...9567873331.htm

BP's Statement http://www.bp.com.au/products/fuels/...l/position.asp

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17703/newsDate/11-Sep-2002/story.htm

We may very well be forced to use ethanol blended fuels. I'll try and dig up what the manufacturers have to say about it.

[reddrider]

Well i heard something about it on the radio on monday, and i could be wrong, but from what i heard it sounded like the powers that be want it in all fuel asap

[Steve TLS]

I think you are right reddrider, looks like we will soon be forced into using it.

[reddrider]

My main concern is whether motorcycles can handle it as well as cars. Sure it`s way better for the enviroment and a renewable resource, but if it`s bad for my bike i won`t be pleased.
Another thing just sprang to mind steve, is it true that Optimax is bad for bikes?

[katana750]

uh...all the fuel sold hereabouts is 10% alcohol. (either methanol or ethanol).

[Steve TLS]

I've heard all sorts of stuff about Optimax, but if it is available it is my preferred fuel for the bike. I don't go out of my way for it, but if it is there.

Built in cleaner, can't be bad for the injectors.

The reason I have no problems with it is my Sister works for Shell, she was telling me before it was publicly released they put it in the tanks of a few select servo's without saying anything, they started getting letters and phone calls from people wanting to know what they had done to their fuel and please not change it back. So I thought I'd use it too.

I hear all sorts of stuff about Mobil Synergy8000 or whatever it is Optimax, Vortex etc. I don't think any of it is any worse than the other.

I think the manufacturers said upto 10% would be ok without mods (I think). That's before you had to start changing things.

[Steve TLS]

Originally posted by katana750
uh...all the fuel sold hereabouts is 10% alcohol. (either methanol or ethanol).

I think we have 0.3% at present

Here is a copy and paste from the first link I posted.

The Federal Government is also funding vehicle testing and other technical research on ethanol-blended fuels, with results expected next year. Vehicle makers and motoring organisations in Australia believe that blends above 10 per cent ethanol may adversely affect some vehicle components. However, the ethanol producers reply that engines can be manufactured to run on any desired level of ethanol. Indeed, there are buses in Victoria that run on pure ethanol, while in the United States so-called flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) can take blends of from 1 per cent to 85 per cent. And sugar-rich Brazil long ago mandated that its motor fuel should be 22 per cent ethanol. Australia might begin more modestly, requiring that, say, just 2 per cent of motor fuel be ethanol. Such a level should not trouble even the oldest cars (the average age of Australia's vehicle fleet is some 11 years). Yet it would be a substantial advance on the present meagre proportion of ethanol in Australia's motor fuel - just one-third of 1 per cent. As ethanol production and public confidence grow, the level might well be increased to, perhaps, 5 per cent.