j_rod421 Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Been throwing the idea of E85 or E98 to run instead of race fuel. Anybody trying it? I've messed with methanol before, but not ethanol. My set up is 421 Cub, 17cc Domes, 39mm Airstrikers, Lighened flywheel, timing advanced 6 degrees. I'm in the south central area of Kansas. Let me know if anybody out there has tried it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupelx Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Been throwing the idea of E85 or E98 to run instead of race fuel. Anybody trying it? I've messed with methanol before, but not ethanol. My set up is 421 Cub, 17cc Domes, 39mm Airstrikers, Lighened flywheel, timing advanced 6 degrees. I'm in the south central area of Kansas. Let me know if anybody out there has tried it. Thanks! i have in my turbo cars with great results. i am thinking of trying it real soon since its real easy to get here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_rod421 Posted September 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Ya same here. From what I understand its not as harsh as methanol because it a grain alcohol where meth is a wood alcohol. You still get the cooling that alcohol provides, the performance gain (if done correctly). To be honest I'm really tired of paying an arm and leg for race fuel. Keep the comments and tips coming guys. I just may try to do this before my trip to the dunes over halloween. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250Rho Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 im thinking about going to e85 on the r i think all i need to do is rejet. i believe i would need to go bigger on the mains but i dont want to burn it up so the liklyhood of me actually doing it is pretty small Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupelx Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 im thinking about going to e85 on the r i think all i need to do is rejet. i believe i would need to go bigger on the mains but i dont want to burn it up so the liklyhood of me actually doing it is pretty small i would start out with a 40% larger jet and test the waters. then play with the pilot. converting my banshee to e85 is on my list of shit to do but i have a few other projects to do first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_rod421 Posted September 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 A buddy of mine put his 450 on E100 a while back and I got a couple tips from him. Sounds like I'm gonna have to drill the mains. They make a big enough pilot i think though. Still trying to find somebody thats done it on a banshee. I seen a guy on here did it with EFI. I'd love to do that, but thats gonna have to wait. Keep the input coming guys! Any is better than none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Other than the price and you can buy it at the pump instead of a 5 or 55 gallon drum, I'd run Methanol over Ethanol. You still have to purge the bike. Cars/trucks designed to run on E85 have special fuel system that resist the corrosion...your 20 plus year old banshee motor does not... You will not get the same cooling and power increase of methanol by using E85. That being said... I'm thinking of putting my mini 50cc quad on E85... Just because if I F it up, I can buy a new cylinder, piston, head, bearings and gaskets for about 60 bucks. I can't even buy a piston for my banshee for that much... If you live in an area where Methanol is hard to come by or VERY expensive, then I say what the hey...go for it. Just make sure you use a castor based oil that is methanol compatible for the E85 and for your purge gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadarRacing Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 You luckily have one of the best E85 tuners close to you. Kevin Gigot of Gigot Performance Engineering in garden city has done a lot of testing with E85. He has done both 2 and 4 strokes, turbos etc. Give him a call he even has a dyno. That was good info about starting at 40%. It should be close to 35 to 40. With those carbs I'd try like a EEG needle and you may have to run about the second leanest clip. You can't run real rich like methanol at all so you'll need to tune it well like gas. It does run a little cooler and allow more comp or timing and you'll gain just a bit but for $1.70 a gal its good. The biggest problem with it is in the winter it can be as much as 30% gas or E70 so you'll have to retune. If its tuned on E70 the winter version then the 85% summer stuff will be very lean. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadarRacing Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Correction we used DDA needles in 35mm pwks those are really odd needles so the mainjet was close to the same as gas in the 155-165 range with those needles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camatv Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 dang that needle must look like a push pin on the end.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadarRacing Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Ya DDA needles is what we used. I have an extra set I was gonna use before switching over to meth.I think most people could tune for it but I would recommend big bowls if you are gonna go wide open throttle for more that 300ft. I'm gonna try tuning the 90cc dragbike on it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupelx Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Other than the price and you can buy it at the pump instead of a 5 or 55 gallon drum, I'd run Methanol over Ethanol. You still have to purge the bike. Cars/trucks designed to run on E85 have special fuel system that resist the corrosion...your 20 plus year old banshee motor does not... You will not get the same cooling and power increase of methanol by using E85. That being said... I'm thinking of putting my mini 50cc quad on E85... Just because if I F it up, I can buy a new cylinder, piston, head, bearings and gaskets for about 60 bucks. I can't even buy a piston for my banshee for that much... If you live in an area where Methanol is hard to come by or VERY expensive, then I say what the hey...go for it. Just make sure you use a castor based oil that is methanol compatible for the E85 and for your purge gas. rather than comparing e85 to methanol, think of it as cheap 115 octane race fuel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboBanshee420 Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 rather than comparing e85 to methanol, think of it as cheap 115 octane race fuel. Ok who is going to try this? I just blew an o-ring out of my head and its drinking coolant, so I decided since I have to take the head off to buy a set of 18cc domes and go for broke on e85. Anyone know what size to start with on the main? I was told to drill out the main to .116 and .086 on the pilot to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajogejr Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 It's going to depend on a lot of things. .116 is what a some methanol guys run, keeping in mind...if the dump tube isn't that big, it doesn't matter how big the main is. And there is no reason to drill the pilots, you can buy big enough pilots for E85 and Methanol. I'd say go up two to 3 sizes from a gas to E85/Methanol bike pilot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupelx Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 (edited) if you have keihin carbs they makes jets all the way into the 200's i believe so for most i dont think you would have to drill jets. in my case i was going to start with a 195 and go from there since i have 140's now. have a look here. http://www.keihin-us.com/list.htm maybe ill wander down to the atv shop today and see what they have for jets since im unemployed right now and dont have anything better to do. Edited September 28, 2009 by Coupelx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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