What Did You Did To Your Motobrick Today ?

[jakgieger]

Sorry-had to chime in :hehehe , but, as thetoken farmer and corn producer here, I feel I must defend the consumption of hydrocarbons equally  : .  My opinion on ethanol is divided.  I do not like to import oil.  I do not like Canadian tar sand oil or various other oil sources.  My approach is rather simple.  I use ethanol in machines that are used regularly.  On intermittent use machines, I use the good stuff.  I have not experienced the problems mentioned here.   Regular maintenance and frequent usage cannot be over-rated.  I am glad to say that none of my corn goes into ethanol  (all food for people or animals) and that 45+mpg beats the hell out of 20 mpg.   The world is changing and perhaps ethanol is a part of that change.

[Laitch]

It's one of the reasons your fuel economy drops as much as 10% on this stuff.

That could also be stated as "fuel economy decreases 10% or less." I haven't tested that assertion but it's certain that if users don't adapt to a fuel's characteristics, disappointment will be likely to follow. If people want easy access to straight gasoline and pork tenderloin, Iowa sounds like the place. Fuel economy will decrease as weight is gained though.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Jack, I should probably specified an Ethanol farmer, I live in the middle of a couple thousand acres of corn that is grown to feed dairy herds, I respect farmers because I see on a daily basis the hours and effort they put into their businesses.  It is easily one of the hardest ways to make a living. 

Working in the marine trades for the past 12 years, I have seen and had to deal with the results of ethanol in fuel.  It's a shame that the damage I've seen usually has to be borne by the owner who purchased fuel in good faith that destroyed his boat.  In some cases, owners have been successful in getting insurance to cover their loss, but not always, and even with insurance, all owners pay increased premiums to cover the damage done.

Ethanol may have been a good idea 20 years ago, but with modern drilling techniques and discoveries, the U.S. has actually become a net exporter of oil and oil products.  In constant dollars, crude oil is cheaper now than in the 1960's.  Without the subsidies, ethanol is actually more expensive than crude oil by a fair amount.

[woodgeek]

Without the subsidies, ethanol is actually more expensive than crude oil by a fair amount.

Ethanol is a also head scratcher because it takes more energy to produce it than it returns during combustion—sort of like eating celery. 🤷‍♂️ Personally, I’d rather see the corn be used to fatten pigs, chicken or beef. [emoji23]

I need to move to Iowa so I can get me some pure gas. [emoji106]

[Chaos]

There is no corn free gas here in Ohio short of av or racing.  I try to keep all my engines in fresh gas but it's difficult with some of the yard stuff that only gets used a couple times a year.  One reason I heard it is still subsidized is since the primaries start in Iowa, any candidate who wants to have a prayer of a chance has to kiss up to the ethanol industry.  No idea if that's true but it would be nice not to have to worry my old chipper & rototiller disintegrating.

[Laitch]

No idea if that's true but it would be nice not to have to worry my old chipper & rototiller disintegrating.

Worry would only be a hobby if stabilized fuel were used in those engines, it's good for about a year. That's been my experience anyway. After that, the fuel should be drained out and put in the Ural. :giggles

If the last filling of stabilized fuel in my snowblower hasn't been used in the winter, it gets mixed with the fresh fuel in my F250, which runs well regardless. I put fresh fuel in the snowblower's tank for warm weather and start it once a month. The same for the generator only it gets run for 15 minutes semi-monthly. I store only gallon batches of stabilized oil-mixed chainsaw fuel. They are always used within a month. The only engine parts I've needed to replace are fuel filters, spark plugs and starter ropes.

Adaptation is all it is—candle-lighting instead of darkness-cursing.  :yes

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Most Marinas now sell corn-free gasoline.  It's not cheap, $4+ a gallon.

https://www.pure-gas.org/

[John Lang]

According to Michael Pollen in Omnivore's Dilemma, USDA should be renamed the Department of Iowa. Cattle are ruminants, evolved to eat grass, not corn. The shift began after peace broke out in 1945 when munitions plants switched from producing explosives to producing nitrogen fertilizer, an easy tweak. But this required a larger market so USDA subsidized corn -- the crop neediest of fertilizing -- and the removal of cattle from grasslands to feedlots. Hormones made a non-grass diet workable; antibiotics controlled disease that would otherwise result from crowding. Today practically everything McDonald's sells comes from corn. McNuggets contain 6 different corn-derived products, including artificial flavoring and coloring and, of course, the chicken itself. And now the Department of Iowa makes the public put corn in their fuel tanks. Time to arise sheeple!

[jakgieger]

All good points John...unintended consequences of war.  One of my cousins left the farm (4 generations) for the great war (II), never came back and wound up a lead engineer for Phillips 66.  He is now buried in Oklahoma instead of his family plot next to my farm.

[RobP]

I can only get gas with ethanol in my area.  Does Stabil or any other additive address the ethanol corrosion issue?   I have a couple of yard tools used infrequently where the carb gets gunked up with corrosion.  I'd also like to keep my K100RS tank clean.

[Laitch]

According to Michael Pollen in Omnivore's Dilemma, USDA should be renamed the Department of Iowa. Cattle are ruminants, evolved to eat grass, not corn.

Iowa is the largest producer of hogs in this country—for good or ill, John.  41% of the Iowa corn crop is used for ethanol fuel but 26% is used for animal feed. Of that percentage, hogs consume 2.6 times more corn feed than either cattle, or chickens. It all gets complicated when animals are killed for humans to survive, and even thrive.

10% gasohol works well in machinery if it's used like gasohol and not gasoline. All the sanctimonious hand-wringing and ineffectual whining in the world won't make a difference in the outcome, especially when some of the hand-wringer/whiners are receiving dividends from petroleum stock in their retirement portfolios.

What will make a difference is a First World mandate to its citizens that bicycling be the sole mode of mechanical transportation, vegetarianism be the sole mode of sustenance and virtual reality be the sole mode of travel. After that, the resulting wave of suicides will reduce consumption, conserve resources and redirect production to less chemically-based products—except the production of embalming fluid.

Maybe green burial should be added to the mandates. 

[Laitch]

Does Stabil or any other additive address the ethanol corrosion issue?   I have a couple of yard tools used infrequently where the carb gets gunked up with corrosion.

Yes, Stabil works well but it is still up to you use the fuel within a year regardless of its being in a machine or in a container. Machines are tools to be used; they aren't storage vessels.

[bizzaro]

I can only get gas with ethanol in my area.  Does Stabil or any other additive address the ethanol corrosion issue?   I have a couple of yard tools used infrequently where the carb gets gunked up with corrosion.  I'd also like to keep my K100RS tank clean.
[/quote

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=IL

Here Ya Go. I Don't know your state well, but I hope this helps.

[Martin]

There is a bit of an uproar in OZ, service stations are being accused of price gouging. E10 and Unleaded can be up between $1.35. to $1.50. Au a litre, Premium 95 $1.46 to $1.61 Au, Premium 98 $1.60 to $1.75 Au.  To put it into perspective there is 3.78 Lt to a US gallon so at the cheapest $5.10 Au per US gal at the dearest $6.61 Au for a US gal. I've been thinking of converting the Brick to either solar or wind power.
Regards Martin.

[blackie1]

1991 K75 44,000kms


a couple more spline pics for general consumption


last owner from 20k to 40k was unaware they required greasing


and looking at the condition of the driveshaft to final drive i may guess they have not been lubed since leaving the factory
i forgot to take pic of final drive splines but they looked ok the only real wear is at the rear of the driveshaft


re lubed with 50% moly grease

[John Lang]

U-joint splines rarely wear much. The splines at the other end of your driveshaft show considerable wear, getting near the end of life I would say. Are the final drive splines they mate with in similar condition? Mine stripped out when they looked only slightly worse than yours. When all gears are neutral you'll know why. A new spline collar for the driveshaft is fairly inexpensive but the FD pinion, if replacement is needed, will set you back a bit.

[bizzaro]

There is no corn free gas here in Ohio short of av or racing.  I try to keep all my engines in fresh gas but it's difficult with some of the yard stuff that only gets used a couple times a year.  One reason I heard it is still subsidized is since the primaries start in Iowa, any candidate who wants to have a prayer of a chance has to kiss up to the ethanol industry.  No idea if that's true but it would be nice not to have to worry my old chipper & rototiller disintegrating.

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=OH

[John Lang]

Blackie1 i forgot to take pic of final drive splines but they looked ok the only real wear is at the rear of the driveshaft
[/size]
[/size]Your DS splines are definitely worn. You say their FD mates are in better shape. Here is a photo of my FD splines just before they stripped out their mates on the DS and all gears became neutral.[size=78%]

[/size]The U-joint splines don't wear very much.  [size=78%]

[woodgeek]

Installed a new fan. The old one sounded rough so this was a preemptive install.

[woodgeek]

Repaired a broken piece of the tail cowel with JB Weld. I still need to sand it down and prep for painting.

The previous owner didn’t have the seat stay affixed properly so the seat hinge snapped off a piece of fiberglass. He’d tried to glue the fiberglass and of course that didn’t work. I had to rasp off his old glue to get the pieces to fit together anywhere near flush.

[bizzaro]

Out of Winter Storage, to begin a very early season! :riding:

[Laitch]

Out of Winter Storage, to begin a very early season! :riding:

That's a steep incline, Biz. It's a good thing you maintain your brakes.

[bizzaro]

Yea, and I carry a "drogue" parachute in the top case that deploys with the push of a button!! Safety first.


Tried to flip the photos, but it doesn't seem to take from an iPhone!? :dunno2:

[Laitch]

Tried to flip the photos, but it doesn't seem to take from an iPhone!? :dunno2:

Try this fix.

[woodgeek]

Tried to flip the photos, but it doesn't seem to take from an iPhone!? :dunno2:

My iPhone’s photo editor lets me rotate photos.[emoji106]