Ethanol blend & older bikes

Just wondering if anyone has had problems with the Ethanol blends being sold out there. Oregon has mandated a 10% Ethanol blend, and I have heard people having problems with it messing up the carbs on lawn equipment etc. I have a 1983 KZ550M LTD, and I have been paying a lot more money for a premium fuel without the ethanol that is supposed to be for off road use only, but hey, if I can use the cheaper fuel without problems, I will. Thanks for your input.

ive run it in everything i own that can run on pump gas for 20 plus years without issues

Right when they started doing it here in CO, I noticed my plugs now run a nice shade of orange, so forget taking plug readings to get any idea of engine tune. Also I went like 60,000 miles without swapping one valve shim, then coincedently all of a sudden right when the orange started my valve shims needed adjusting regularly. So does it hurt anything? Of course not! But I don't care, I guess. I would drive the truck a couple hundred miles to get 30 or 40 gallons of regular gas in cans to run all winter and no more problems, then my military gas cans all rusted. Not from the alcohol I'm sure though So now I just grin and bare it. My old boss had a 1987 Thunderbird and it ran just great, then one winter the check engine light came on. Took it to the dealer for a scan and it said the MAP sensor was bad. We spent $75 for this tidbit of info. So I put a MAP sensor in only to find it did not do a thing, (SURPRISE), so we wait till spring, when the alcohol is no longer mixed in here and all is well. The engine knew it was running like crap and it was all the gas. One of those wonderful things we live with along with the other government regulations from idiots that don't know how to tie there own shoes but make laws to help the general public.

They have been forcing that garbage on us here for a long time now. We get 10% alcohol and also the oxygenators that screw it up even worse along with MTBE that has totally fouled our groundwaters and made a mess 1000X worse than lead ever did... but, I digress. It's one of the reasons I run a tetraethyl lead additive in the gas for my bike. At least that makes the gas more like what it was back in 1978 when the bike was made.

RonKZ650 wrote:

...One of those wonderful things we live with along with the other government regulations from idiots that don't know how to tie there own shoes but make laws to help the general public.

The 10 scariest words in the world are: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to "help" you".

All the corn being used for making this stuff has led to a shortage that is killing Texas farmers who used to use corn to feed stock. Governor Perry sent in a note to Prez Bush requesting that Texas be exempted from taking part in this mandatory push to use corn squeezings in our gas because it was hurting our farm economy and was turned down. I hope the next round of elections don't spur on more federal lunacy.

wiredgeorge wrote:

All the corn being used for making this stuff has led to a shortage that is killing Texas farmers who used to use corn to feed stock. Governor Perry sent in a note to Prez Bush requesting that Texas be exempted from taking part in this mandatory push to use corn squeezings in our gas because it was hurting our farm economy and was turned down. I hope the next round of elections don't spur on more federal lunacy.

BTW folks: if you want to laugh (or cry)enter this into the search engine:

ethanol scam


You will learn that it actually takes MORE FUEL OVERALL to use ethanol than pure gasoline. Ethanol can NOT be sent down pipes, it has to be trucked to it's destination and is an ENERGY LOSER not a "green solution".

It's just ciorporate welfare to the big agro conglomerates who are making a bundle off it.

There are two primary ways of making ethanol, one uses grain, the other uses cellulose.
The process using grain is a loser from the beginning, the process that uses cellulose could be a winner if the process can be scaled to commercial usage.

Typing "Ethanol Scam" into a search box is not going to get you unbiased reports :laugh: :laugh:

Missouri started requiring all gas to have 10% alcohol as of January 1 of this year. I discovered it will cause your fuel line to become brittle and crack, depending on what you are using. I had to replace the clear lines (neoprene?) that had been on there for years without problems with Goodyear rubber fuel line from the NAPA store, which so far works OK. The other thing is it dissolved the liner in my gas tank. It will also attract moisture more than pure gasoline, so top off the tank after each ride to prevent rust on exposed areas inside the tank. All in all it is just a big boondoggle by clueless well meaning bureaucrats. About all I could say on the good side is that it doesn't seem to affect the performance of the engine one way or the other as far as I can tell.

steell wrote:

Typing "Ethanol Scam" into a search box is not going to get you unbiased reports :laugh: :laugh:

Are you saying that "Rolling Stone" ISN'T an unbiased source of news and commentary???
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

steell wrote:

Typing "Ethanol Scam" into a search box is not going to get you unbiased reports :laugh: :laugh:

You can do your own research. Any way you slice it, ethanol takes more energy to produce than it saves. It's a flat out scam to benefit agro business conglomerates.

The only thing more absurd is the use of hydrogen powered vehicles to "save the environment" when hydrogen is produced by electrolysis which requires electricity, most of which comes from coal-fired plants......