i am thinking of getting the 14:1.1 piston and running my bike on alcohol all the time? how does this work for trail riding? what would be the biggestest difference between 12.1:1 and 14.1:1? would it be a noticlble difference? is there anything you can do to get rid of the burning eye syndrome from the alcohol exhaust?

 

The biggest difference would be the necessary octane/ alky it runs.

On average, you use twice the amount of alky as you do gasoline. So if you can usually get 30 mpg, you will get around 15 on alky. Its really not a trail setup, IMO.

 

I don't run alky for that very reason mentioned by maddog, mileage. there's many a ride where I return to camp or parking lot on reserve - if I was running methanol I'd be stranded.
but you can run 110 octane race gas with the 14:1.

A friend of mine runs 12.5:1 on alky all the time, including woods trails. he's gotta trip back to fill up more often, but where he rides its not too much of a bother, and he likes the power whether he's racing or not.
its just a matter of whether or nots its worth it to you, you be the judge of practicality for where you are and what you do.

 

i run alky everyonce and a while now and know about the lower fuel miliage. my main question would i feel enough power difference between the 12.1:1 and the 14.1:1 to justifiy running alky all the time. also will an ims tank fit with a tm 45?

 

You will notice the difference but I dont know about trail riding if these trails are tight. Alky is cheaper than race gas.

 

It is cheaper. I havent checked prices in a while, but unless alky is 1/2 the price of the race gas, it will cost you more.

 

thats why i am considering going 12.5:1. i can run 100 octane on long trips and alky the rest of the time. 100 octane is always available at the pump at delat sonic.

 

I really don't think 100 octane is enough for a 12.5:1 piston. I tried 110/93 mix that SHOULD have been 101.5 octane and mine knocked really bad above 6,000 rpms. I thought I had an exhaust leak at first but when I ran straight 110 or alky it quit. I would recommend at least 104. JMO

I can get about 2 solid hours of trail riding out of a full tank of alky, a lot more power and you'll never hear the fan come on either. I pay about $2 per gallon for it, $4 for 110 race gas.

 

We can get our race gas here for about 3 bucks a gallon, all the way up to 114 I believe.

 

Thats an awful lot of compression to be running on a trail motor. I'm sure you will tell a diference between the two pistons, but I dont see a benefit in running a 14:1 piston in the trails, or alky for that matter. That would be way to much for general trial riding, then later you will be wanting to go back to lower compression. JMO.



Bigger.