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Ethanol damage to bikes?

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  #11  
Old 06-15-2009, 10:31 AM
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The fear of something different is the only real problem.
It work great in all my harleys.
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The ethanol burns hotter and raises your engine temps and gets about 2-3 MPG less, so it is more to it than the fear of something.
 
  #12  
Old 06-15-2009, 11:41 AM
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I have had to go to a octain booster in my Sportster,to get away from ping,eg with lower compression, no problems.
 
  #13  
Old 06-15-2009, 11:53 AM
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I can absolutley attest to ethanol causing engine failure. This year my '07 BMW X5 had the fuel pump **** the bed solely due to ethanol. At first dealer wouldnt cover under warranty because after all its not their fault but after arguing for a while a different dealership did it. The problem is nobody tests the gas stations for their actual ethanol content. I ONLY run premium in my cars(am forced to) and bikes for that matter. Only purchase from big dealers, Exxon, Mobil, Shell. The ethanol content in my tank at time of failure was 19%. And it took a long time to make it fail not just one bad fill. With the good old gas the water settled to the bottom of the gas stations tanks and stayed there until pumped out. But because of the new ethanol the water mixes with the gas causing very harmful effects. And it's only going to get worse. Bring back REAL gas. We are all paying more for an inferior product that gets less MPG and causes damage. The EPA sucks!
 
  #14  
Old 06-15-2009, 01:11 PM
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I use Shell 93 octane only no ethanol in it
 
  #15  
Old 06-15-2009, 02:15 PM
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Originally Posted by CURTYS06FLHX
I use Shell 93 octane only no ethanol in it
Or so they tell you.I have seen several stations that claim no ethanol,only to go to another town and that same brand has ethanol listed on the pump.Regular,premium,ethanol,who knows what they do.I know the gas is sure expensive crap.
 
  #16  
Old 06-15-2009, 02:57 PM
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Here in the UK we have some ethanol in our fuel - it's usually less than 10% but there were, local to me, some issues when engines were damaged with too much ethanol in a batch (15% if I remember right).
We usually find it in "cheaper" grades and brands and especially in supermarket fuel. I always buy decent brands (never supermarket stuff) and the best octane I can - just to be sure.
 
  #17  
Old 06-15-2009, 02:58 PM
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I know of at least one accelerator pump on a Harley getting fouled up with ethanol
 
  #18  
Old 06-15-2009, 03:00 PM
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I'm not worried about decreased octane. Ethanol blends actually increase the octane a little.

My problem is with the mixture. It would be okay if the mixture was set to use ethanol, but we all know Harley EFI already runs too lean & too hot for the health of the engine (required by the EPA), and unless you crank up the mixture to compensate for the smaller molecule, more ethanol just makes it that much worse.

Per the USDA, ethanol costs about 57¢ more per gallon than gasoline, and it takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to get the energy as one gallon of gasoline. If it wasn't subsidized, it wouldn't even be considered.
 
  #19  
Old 06-15-2009, 04:12 PM
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I wonder how the EPA would respond if for the next year every one saved all the bad parts and this time next year every one sent them the parts with a short note US EPA Region 3
1650 Arch Street (3PM52)
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029 Closest one to the White House. Oh no return address so they can't return to sender after all their lack of attention, care to regulate or payoff
 

Last edited by Mark 2; 06-15-2009 at 04:26 PM.
  #20  
Old 06-15-2009, 04:20 PM
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I'm all for supporting the farmers of this country but we have really screwed the pooch on this one. We guarantee to buy all their left over corn, have nothing else to do with it and low and behold its in gas. Kinda like how everything has a good amount of high fructose corn syrup in it as well.
 


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