Topic: ethanol powered sohc?

[orkid1989]

i was wondering  about converting  my 71 cb750 to ethanol. obviously i will probably be using a blend but im wanting to turbo it and from what ive heard is ethanol burns cooler (better for turbos) also it will make my bike more unique. i was wondering if anyone has tried it or if it just wont work

[Duke McDukiedook]

Ethanol burns hotter, you have to worry about more overheating with ethanol blends.
Superchargers are better for internal combustion engines because of the heat.

[TwoTired]

Ethanol burns hotter, you have to worry about more overheating with ethanol blends.

You sure about that?
As a pure fuel, actually ethanol burns cooler than gasoline in internal combustion engines that are mixed in the proper ratio with air/oxygen.

Blends of fuel where the A/F ratios are not readjusted, burn hotter because of lean burn conditions.  Usually this is caused by introducing a fuel to a metering mechanism that is not calibrated for ethanol fuel specifics. (Like most of the vehicles in use today.)

Superchargers are better for internal combustion engines because of the heat.

I would not make so broad a statement.  Superchargers compress the air, which generates heat.  There are a lot of variables with both superchargers AND turbochargers.  Either will work fine if the variables are properly balanced.  One of the variables is "where used".

For the OP...
You certainly CAN convert your 750 to ethanol, and you can probably run a higher boost than with gasoline fuel (which will allow it to make far more power).  But, the devil is in the details which you have either not discovered, or have not shared with us.

Cheers,

[flopshot]

my limited time with alky in a drag car showed it to be much cooler, (no way you can burn down and alky car staging) and they take longer to warm up to make a pass.   they're tough on fuel systems and some flush with and aux tank of gas between races.  takes almost twice the volume to get a  bit more power.   on the plus side, since you're burning twice as much fuel the variance in air temps and pressure tends to improve consistency and predictability for bracket cars.   

[Duke McDukiedook]

I meant blended gas burns hotter in nonadjusted engines.

As a general rule turbos work better with diesel engines and superchargers work better with internal combustion engines.

There are always exceptions to the rules. 

Sorry about the generalities, the orginal post was not too specific in details.

[faux fiddy]

EA 85? It's cheap but not as good gas mileage.

I wondered this myself, whether it would be as easy as re-jetting.

I know some of the turbo guys try to lower their compression ratios mechanically.