Methanol and ethanol are not the same thing. Methanol is a toxic substance mostly made from natural gas, or coal, in the old days wood. It eats up rubber, aluminum, plastic, breaks down the oil in an engine, generally causes all kinds of nastiness. I tried using "Meth injection" for a while. I got tired of replacing all the stuff it ate up, including three of the pumps that were supposed to be designed to spray the crap. Pump gas guys run it so they can bump their timing up a little. Way better off running E85.

 

Even though congress is so-called "stopping" money for ethanol, it will go on because of the unregulated EPA. I was just reading about how E-15 is gonna be the norm instead of E-10. In states like Wisconsin, finding premium fuel without ethanol is tough depending on where your at.

 

Mostly E85 is not adopted for OE fuel injection yet because there is extra cost involved in making the injectors, hoses, fuel pumps, and other system components resistant to that much alcohol. GM makes a lot a E85 compatible vehicles only because it helps with their CAFE standard calculations. Parts that can handle E15 cannot necessarily handle E85 without breaking down. Also, the energy density of ethanol is less than gas so the ECU needs to be able to identify what fuel you are using and change the injection and timing maps to compensate (basically make it richer).

(I work for a major fuel system manufacturer for cars and bikes)

 

Around here most of the 93 octane pumps have a very little sticker that says "May contain up to 15% ethanol."

 

Not trying to fan the flames here but my 5.3 Chevy truck runs great on E85, and under normal driving conditions I can't really see a performance difference between that and gasoline. It costs less than 90% of what gasoline does and my MPG is two tenths of a mile per gallon less with E85 than with regular gasoline. This is why I suggested that there's a fair amount of technology involved in making E85 run like gas in a small block Chevy V8. As far as starving people and cattle for corn, I drive through miles and miles and miles of what used to be farm land thirty years ago; land that's now full of subdivisons, malls, industrial parks and vacant commercial real estate. I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just relating my experience with E85.

 

This is the latest post I could find about E85, so I figured I'd do a deadthread revival.

I rebuilt my Carb'd Evo with 80,000miles on it last year with the following additions:
10:1 Wisecos
Ultima Digital Ignition (set to most advanced curve, using Voes and dual fire) w/ a new 30kV coil
EV13 Cam
S&S Quickee Rods (installed to stock height
Ultima Roller-Rockers
Jose's XB Rocker Box Conversion.
CVP Performance Kit for the Stock Keihin CV Carb (new idle afr screw, idle speed screw, vortex emulsion tube, and rebuild kit for all the fun parts and some new jets).

After this I got it tuned up with a 42/160 combo that rocked using 91. Well the tinkerer in me decided to get crackin with the E85 crowd and get the cooler running benefits of it to boot. It's currently got the 52/180 jets in it and it FLIES. Exhaust has dropped approx 100*F and charge air is always cooler due to the alcohol content of the E85. I have had it running this way for approximately two months now, and there is no sign of issues as of yet. I have no rust in my tank (which I keep sealed and all the valves and petcocks functioning), after leaving it sit for about a month, the carb bowl developed a TINY bit of the E85+Water corrosion markings, but otherwise is back to normal.

Today I did a 67 mile ride up to my parents house and came home and refilled with 1.720 gallons, which equates out to about 38.9MPG. I only have the 5 speed in mine so doing 75-80 really sucks the gas down, and that significantly lowers it, but in doing so you can see that it is pretty great. Just letting you other jokers out there know, it works, and in theory, as long as you don't leave your bike sit for a few months and all your seals fail, you'll be happy as a clam.