Another reason to go electric

[Richard230]

I just heard on the national news that some branch of the government will be approving the use of 15% ethanol in gasoline in the US today. That amount of alcohol is really going to screw up the fuel systems of all IC motorcycles. It will cause driveability problems, reduce fuel mileage and rot and corrode fuel system parts - potentially resulting in leaking fuel that could catch fire. Right now the 10% mix is about all most internal combustion motorcycles will tolerate, even the latest models.

At least electric motorcycles will not be affected - unless the government can figure out some way to insert corn ethanol into electricity.   

[protomech]

I can't imagine any way that the E15 push won't die a natural death. Gasoline stations don't want to sell it, automakers don't want it, consumers don't want to buy it .. and it'll be elective, since the EPA has only given it the nod for MY 2007+ vehicles (or 2001+, as I'm reading now). Motorcycles and MY 2000 and previous cars are excluded, which means E10 at worst will be available. For now, anyhow.

[Richard230]

Unfortunately, it will be up to state regulators to determine if E15 ends up at your local gas station. I sure wouldn't put that past the California AQCB. They just love anything that dilutes gasoline and refineries love any product that they can charge more for and blame the regulators for requiring it.  I won't have to worry about any of that once I get my Empulse.

I just noticed protomech, that you have a Suzuki GS500F. My daughter had a 1990 GS500E and she put 85,000 miles on that bike in only 4 years. She had it while she was attending UCSD and would ride back to my home near SF on the weekends. Later she moved to Seattle and would ride from there to my home 17 hours non-stop to visit me on the weekend, too. Eventually, she sold the bike to a fellow from Mexico for $800 and he planned to ride it back to Mexico City. I hope he made it.

It was a great bike. All it needed was a washer under the carb needles to smooth out the power curve and at 45,000 miles. I have to to replace an oil seal behind the ignition pick-ups with a Honda item, as the original seal wore a groove in the shaft. The Honda part was a double seal and it rested against the shaft to either side of the area that was worn. That permanently solved that oil leak problem.

[Kelly Olsen]

Corn is the single largest crop grown in the U.S. and the corn lobby is powerful. They are pushing ethanol. However, there are new technologies being developed to make ethanol out of all kinds of other waste products like corn husks and other non-food crops like switch grass. When that can be done and it not take more energy to make the fuel than is gotten out of the fuel, then I'd be interested in it. For instance, a electric plug in hybrid that has an ICE that runs on a crop waste product fuel. A car like this would be practical until batteries can get you the same distance as an gas car. San Francisco has municipal buses that are electric with a biodiesel running a ICE to power the electric motor.

But I still desire to be fully electric and have all my needs met by an EV that is supplied by 100% solar, hydro or wind or any combination of the three without having any fossil fuel involved such as coal or natural gas.