Converting a 6.5 clone to E85

[Frank Bullitt]

Anyone done this? What ould have to be done to convert to E85? I thought it might be cool to run this fuel since the station down the street now carries E85 and it would be cool to shave the head for compression and run the E85 to keep the evil detonation away.
I know I would need a carb setup to run more fuel than stock but what about the fuel line and fuel pump and stuff.

[superior]

Whatever you do, just make sure that you run the carb dry after riding. Alcohol will do a number on aluminum.

[Darvin Jahnke]

Also carb rubber parts,depending on the composition. The company I work for has a small engine division,lawn mowers,chain saws etc. I've seen a lot of carb parts and hoses turned to mush,courtesy of E85.

[Offy22]

Originally Posted by Frank Bullitt

Anyone done this? What ould have to be done to convert to E85? I thought it might be cool to run this fuel

Cool maybe but certainly not practicle. Alcohol has about 1/2 the BTU's of gas so it takes twice as much to run at the same power. You will have to open up the jets, fill the tank nearly twice as often and risk ruining your rubber seals and plastic parts and even with Stabil it dosen't store well.

[Frank Bullitt]

I was asking what had to be done to convert.
I wouldn't try to run it on a stock motor!

[Nitrohorse]

Frank,
You can switch your clone engine to alcohol by enlarging the main jet 1.5 times as a base line and go from there. You would also need to advance the timing.
Alcohol really isn't practical for daily riding though. If you have a one gallon gas tank, you'd need a 2.5 gallon tank to do the same amount of riding. And factor in the cost for alcohol and it's simply not worth it. Additionally, you need to flush an alcohol engine after each use and since there's always fuel washdown in a piston bore, the oil has to be changed in shorter intervals. Alcohol also draws water from the air, so contamination is very common.

Alcohol is good for racing though. It cools the charge (air/fuel mixture) and also burns cooler. Cooler (latent evaporation) equals more horsepower. You could also take the plastic "parasitic" cooling fins off the flywheel since you do not need addition cooling on an alcohol fueled engine. And alcohol has an octane rating of +110 so detonation is no longer a factor in higher compression engines. Alcohol contains oxygen, while gasoline doesn't.
Hope this helps...

[Frank Bullitt]

You know I thought it might be pretty practical thing but I guess not. I thought I could get by with replacing the fuel lines with something that alcohol doesn't like to eat and change the jetting. there is a gas station which carries E85 not more than a 1/4 mile away. plus it would be kind of cool to run it instead of gasoline. Just not worth it unless I am running a ton of compression!

[Nitrohorse]

I agree that it would be different, but you will be burning nearly 1.5 times the amount of alcohol (E85) compared to gas and that alone gets expensive.