Tuning alcohol is much more of a hassle then gas. Its NOT as forgiving if you dont pay attention to certain things. For example, if the weather drops 20 degrees in that 2 hours of riding your doing your bike is going to lean out a considerable amount. Thus causing detonation and possibly seize a motor. So if you dont stay up on weather conditions you can lose a motor very easily

You actually run approx 2/3 the amount of alcohol through a motor then gas, that is why a motor on alcohol runs so much cooler.

If you do the math, alcohol is typically more expensive to run then race gas because of the fact you burn so much of it.

Mods to run alcohol...changing your carb over to flow more fuel is a cheap mans way to run alcohol. If you want the full effect of running methanol there are many changes that need to be made. For example, if you have a ported motor that is set for gas, there will need to be many changes made, varying from your exhaust height, compression, squish, ect. Probably going to want a different pipe as well. You can also run more timing advance in your motor when running methanol as well

Alcohol is actually less volitile then gas, so your going to need a good hot spark to keep that machine running hard (ignition).

Some guy said he'd like less water in his alcohol, if you want to get technical having water in your methanol actually increases its octane.

Why you purge with alcohol...alcohol retains moisture very well, they mix good and they like to rust parts when left sitting in a motor. For example, anything that is steel, like your crank, bearings, sleeve's will go to hell if you dont purge your motor with a gas/oil mixture. Also, if you dont purge, alcohol creates a residue that will corrode your needle, seat, and slides in your carb.

Any other questions let me know.

 

Dabeechman is there anything you can do to prevent your quad from running to lean when the weather drops, precautions? Why does it do this? Hotter spark, ignition what needs to be done? Thanks for the help your info was great.

 

I got a question... I know a few "Alcohol-fueled people" who don't funtion very well if they don't have alcohol in them. So my question is that if a quad runs mainly on gas but it can also be ran on alcohol, can an alcohol-fueled person be ran on gas? Just wondering.....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]









Just joking guys, i hope no body tries to do this

 

when the temperature drops it makes the air more dense, therefore the motor can breathe better. When this happens the demand for fuel is that much greater. There really isnt any way to prevent losing a motor or it leaning out except checking plug color every now and then. As you get more and more used to racing you can hear how your motor is running, and eventually can tune by ear. An example is if your motor is pinging (detonating) on the top end (2-stroke) you know your lean.

Also, depending on how serious you are into running this they make what is called an EGT (exhaust gas temperature) meter which can also tell you if your motor is running too hot or too rich

 

I have an unlimited free supply of it because of this, but I don't run it for the simple fact that its not as clean. The stuff we have, right out of the drum will have particles of stuff floating.

Seals: If I am not mistaken the water the methanol absorbs is what screws up your seals, not the methanol. I have not had this problem. I always give a spray of WD-40 after I run the gas out. This might be why, or might not, but all of my rubber componets look good.

poorguy, you can buy kits for some carbs to switch it to alky.

How is it that your mileage only goes down 1/3 but alky requires appx. double the amount?
I never pay attn to mileage so I don't know, just curious.


BigBubba, anything that increases HP will shorten the life. BUT it also makes you engine run cooler, so that could help.
Simply put all you do is raise the jets up.


Shouldn't alky porting, for a four stroke, have real a rough intake track? (just my thinking)




This has got to be the longest thread about methanol in the Yamaha forum.
Thanks guys!

 

yes you want the intake track to be rough

 

Thats true for gas machines as well, not just alky. The rougher the track, the more turbulance. More turbulance yields a better mixture. Better mixtures run cleaner, faster, and more efficiently.

EDIT: Four-strokes though, not necessarily appliable to 2 strokers.

 

extremely appliable to 2-strokes.

 

Maddog I really meant more so than for gas. But yeah your right.

 

Thanks Beech, I learned something. My dad is the 2 stroke knowledge pit, I still have a lot to learn[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]