We need to get on our politicians to stop this ethanol crap, or least have a choice when you go to buy gas. The only good thing it has done is help the corn farmer and make some people feel good about themselves because they are "saving the planet".

Reality is it made the cost of food, and animal feed go up, and gas mileage go down. It will ruin your 2 cycle stuff and it is not good for lawn mowers either. Unless your vehicle is a flex fuel vehicle, it will eventually eat up your fuel system (in around 7 years or so of average driving I am told). It is impossible to grow enough corn for ethanol to make any meaningful difference in oil supplies.

(I'll step off my box now.)

 

Reality is it made the cost of food, and animal feed go up, and gas mileage go down. It will ruin your 2 cycle stuff and it is not good for lawn mowers either. Unless your vehicle is a flex fuel vehicle, it will eventually eat up your fuel system (in around 7 years or so of average driving I am told). It is impossible to grow enough corn for ethanol to make any meaningful difference in oil supplies.

(I'll step off my box now.)[/QUOTE]

Good point; 2 cycle boat motors are getting f-ed up w/ethanol. Alternative is $4 gas @ marinas! It's about time that our politicians leave us alone.

 

These are other points the guy at the shop was trying to make but I was annoyed and wanted to leave. Guess U will look for more of this Star Tron type stuff....

 

Here's a couple sites I found where folks have taken a ride and posted their travel and experience.

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/route...L/FL_index.htm

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...94877417020eb0

 

Nope.... it will not. As a source (one of many) please reference the following excerpt from Wikipedia.

Higher octane ratings correlate to higher activation energies. Activation energy is the amount of energy necessary to start a chemical reaction. Since higher octane fuels have higher activation energies, it is less likely that a given compression will cause autoignition.

It might seem odd that fuels with higher octane ratings are used in more powerful engines, since such fuels ignite less easily. However, an uncontrolled ignition is not desired in a spark ignition engine.

A fuel with a higher octane rating can be run at a higher compression ratio without causing detonation. Compression is directly related to power and to thermodynamic efficiency (see engine tuning), so engines that require higher octane usually deliver more motive power and do more work for a given BTU or calorie of fuel. Engine power is a function of the fuel, as well as the engine design, and is related to octane rating of the fuel. Power is limited by the maximum amount of fuel-air mixture that can be forced into the combustion chamber. When the throttle is partially open, only a small fraction of the total available power is produced because the manifold is operating at pressures far below atmospheric. In this case, the octane requirement is far lower than when the throttle is opened fully and the manifold pressure increases to atmospheric pressure, or higher in the case of supercharged or turbocharged engines.

Many high-performance engines are designed to operate with a high maximum compression, and thus demand high-octane premium gasoline. A common misconception is that power output or fuel mileage can be improved by burning higher octane fuel than a particular engine was designed for. The power output of an engine depends in part on the energy density of its fuel, but similar fuels with different octane ratings have similar density. Since switching to a higher octane fuel does not add any more hydrocarbon content or oxygen, the engine cannot produce more power.

However, burning fuel with a lower octane rating than required by the engine often reduces power output and efficiency one way or another. If the engine begins to detonate, that reduces power and efficiency for the reasons stated above. Many modern car engines feature a knock sensor – a small piezoelectric microphone which detects knock, and then sends a signal to the engine control unit to retard the ignition timing. Retarding the ignition timing reduces the tendency to detonate, but also reduces power output and fuel efficiency.

 

I Live in NE FL ~ and my fuel mileage always stinks ~ low 30's is the norm.. Now I always ride it like it is stolen ~ when I bought the 10 ~ and rode with no radar detector ~ no mods I was getting in the mid 40's ~ but aftter intallation of the detector and mods ~ I'm back to twisting the wick and the mileage went right back to what I'm accustomed to.... We call this Smiles per Gallon

 

Hey lets not forget our scenic mountains here in Florida. Over passes and bridges....

What's the scoop on STA-Bil? I've been putting it in my gas cans for lawn mowers, weed eaters and ATV's etc. GAs in the bike doesn't last long enogh fo it. but it is supposed to help with the ethonal issue in long term storage.