Kawasaki Vulcan Forum banner

Ethanol

4K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Scott_in_TX 
#1 ·
I bought this bike about 3 weeks ago and the guy that had it said he only put 100% gas in it. So I was riding the other day and I needed gas but there were no gas stations near that sold 100% gas so I had no choice but to put ethanol in it. Does anybody run ethanol and should I put some kind of additive in my tank to counteract the ethanol?
There is a station about 5 miles from my house that sells pure gas but what about when I'm out ridin' and none is to be found?
Will ethanol have any effects if i run it occasionaly?

98 1500 custom.
 
#2 ·
You can run ethanol in that bike just fine. Some marine engines can't handle it because it was built with the expectation that ethanol free fuel would always be available at marinas. But even an 'older' bike like your 98 was built to handle ethanol in fuel. I wouldn't bother with additives or anything like that.

The only thing that I would treat 'differently' is storage. If it's going to be more than a couple weeks before you get fresh fuel (riding sporadically, storing, etc.) I'd add some fuel stabilizer to the tank (seafoam, sta-bil, etc.). Ethanol attracts water which can corrode parts, but the fuel stabilizers neutralize water. Ethanol fuel also seems to varnish much quicker (clog things up), which the fuel stabilizers fix as well. With sta-bil or seafoam in the tank, used per instructions, you could leave that gas in for a year if you had to.

I'd also drain the carbs in extended storage (more than a few weeks). Just as an extra precaution against the fuel gumming things up. There are drain screws under the carbs, drain the carbs out, and then spray some fogging oil into them to prevent rusting. If it's less than a few weeks (like maybe just sitting through a cold spell) then just running a fuel stabilizer and running the engine long enough to work it through the fuel system is more than adequate.

Good luck!

-John
 
#4 ·
Many states and local jurisdictions are mandating it now. Since the ethanol itself is made from corn, the idea is that 10% ethanol could, in theory, reduce oil dependancy by 10%. Although that's a very synthetic number since many vehicles seem to get poorer fuel economy with ethanol fuel so that kind of bites into those savings a little.
 
#10 ·
Romans 5:8,
You have articulately stated what I have been screaming for years. Diesel-electrics power the biggest vessels in the world(locomotives, tankers, freighters) because they are the most efficient method of producing power available, yet it has not been implemented on a smaller scale. Why. . . (insert conspiracy theory here)...
 
#11 ·
Romans5.8 and all, Interesting thread. And I am in general agreement with all that has been proposed. I would also like to offer another twist. If we really want to reduce our fuel consumption in North America we also (IMHO) should look at what we drive in terms of size and some of our habits. One habit that I would propose should be outlawed is the use of Drive-throughs. Now to some degree I am going to generalize, however for most successful brands in both Canada and the USA, I imagine the scenario is the same. The drive-through targetted stop time (time you are at the window) is say 50 seconds. And on average through the day there are 5 vehicles in line. So if everything goes well then each car is idling, pulling forward and braking for a total of approx. 250 seconds or 4 minutes and 10 seconds. I wonder how many millions of cars will be in a drive-through today. That's a lot of gas to go no where. On the size of vehicle front; hey we are leading by example with scoots. And if you look at other parts of the world (europe, asia) you see that most drive compacts and a lot more bikes. Frankly, most of us could live with a compact, I think. I would have to make some adjustments. Like maybe have some marina haul my boat and keep it in the water all summer. But at the end of the day convenience is why I "need" a bigger vehicle. I believe if we get the price of fuel high enough it will force us to ask the correct questions and we will see more bikes and compacts on the road. There may be one other significant benefit. When we know we don't have a lot of metal wrapped around us, maybe we will become better/safer drivers. Kind of like most bike riders do. Papa Smrph
 
#14 ·
I believe if we get the price of fuel high enough it will force us to ask the correct questions and we will see more bikes and compacts on the road.
Sorry Smrph; but if you are talking about policies that artificially or unnecessarily increase fuel costs; well, that is a load of B.S.!

There is a lot of benefits to reducing oil consumption; but they do not outweigh the benefits of affordable energy/transportation.

Yes, people should make more efficient choices on how they use fuel. That goes for people doing 80 in their smart car, as well as people driving their F250 to pick up groceries.

But, fuel at $5 a gallon, unnecessarily, is economic strangulation, and will result in a lower standard of living for everyone who is not wealthy.

Scott
 
#16 · (Edited)
And if you look at other parts of the world (europe, asia) you see that most drive compacts and a lot more bikes.
Yeah. However, I bet if asked, many would rather be driving something larger if they had the space and fuel prices we do. Not only is fuel much more highly taxed there, many of the places to drive and park are much smaller. Big vehicles just aren't practical in many of these places just due to size alone. It's not that they necessarily like driving 125cc motorcycles and dinky little cars with 1.2L engines.
 
#18 ·
Cost is a factor too. Drivers licenses are expensive and taxes on automobiles are huge. It's also a dense urban environment. The whole of europe is not unlike our big cities. Look at New York City. That place is crawling with small scooters, small compact cars, and people who have never owned a car in their life. I remember a few years ago at a place I used to work there was a guy who had some intense culture shock when he found out that a LOT of people out here drive cars for hundreds of thousands of miles, and how he couldn't believe how hard it was to find a used car with less than 50k miles (or even 100k miles). He lived in Manhattan, and he and his wife, his parents, AND his maternal grandparents all shared the same little old buick that they paid a couple hundred bucks a month to park in a garage. He said out of all of them, it might get driven once every couple of weeks. Here, you drive everywhere. To the grocery store, to work, to school. Mass transit doesn't exist in these rural areas and most places are too far to practically bike or walk. In big cities, and in europe, you can get to most 'typical' places by foot. It's not hard to walk down to the grocery store and get stuff for dinner, or ride your bike to work, or even hop on a bus. Those of us who spend a lot of time in our cars might want something a little more reliable and comfortable. I've owned several compact cars though and would gladly do it again. For going to work you can't beat it. Great gas mileage and they do everything you need them to.

But, as I've said before, their compact cars are better! Those little 1.2L engines are turbodiesel engines putting out as much horsepower as our 4 cylinder sedans are. And not every asian country is a third world country riding around on a glorified golf cart! There are some really good cars over there, made by OUR manufacturers, that aren't being sold here because we don't want them, mostly because they use things we don't understand (diesel engines) or have things we would never buy (like no automatic transmission option. In europe, an automatic transmission is like a trike is to many bikers... it's something you only get if you aren't physically able to drive a 'normal' one)

-John
 
#13 ·
I pull up to the gas station, there are six pumps, two of which have the green or yellow diesel handle. Both have a gas car or pickup filling up at them. One time it was a Honda Accord filling up with diesel. I think I stopped him at six gallons. If other pumps are open, please don't block the diesel pumps.

I use a small amount of biodiesel to improve lubricity and some cleaning effects on my diesel engine. However, beyond that biodiesel is every bit as much a waste of resources as fuel alcohol.

In my opinion, the biggest problem in America is people are trained to expect too much power. My VW TDI has more power than I need, although I like it. Same with the Vulcan. I could get by with less, although I like having what is there. Everytime the automakers come out with a fuel efficient car, they keep making it bigger and more powerful. A Prius should be able to get 70 mpg, except it is loaded with excess power so liberals can go 85 mph on the freeways. (As they preach to us we must conserve resources and stop man caused global warming, which is a myth.)
 
#23 ·
Just as a clarification, I did not advocate an artificial raising of the cost of fuel by anyone, government or otherwise. I simply suggested that if a price point is reached that is high enough, it will cause people to evaluate what they need in the form of transportation.
I don't know what that price point is, however it seems logical to me that if we could get folks to downsize where possible, an overall reduction in fuel consumption would occur.
 
#24 ·
Glad to hear that Smrph!

People do start to change their views when it hits them in the pocketbook. And we did get some changes for the better the last time.

However, we also got a lot of other problems.
Price increases for all durable goods for one; then an economic strain on the middle class had terrible repercussions.

Check out this graph of fuel prices from 05 to 10. There is a lot to be learned from that spike in the summer of 08!

Scott
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top