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Alky/Race gas Tuning Tips

45K views 76 replies 30 participants last post by  phatboyz 
#1 ·
well, im still goin back and forth on if i want to throw this new 4 mill cub on alky or race gas ....
what s the pros and cons of both...

i know some of u run alky ans=d some run gas....
should i start it out on gas, since its new and then convert to alky ??
ill be runnin 39 pwk carbs...
 
#2 ·
upside to alky, is alot more power.

down side is little harder to find, and it has gottn alot more expensive. Plus it is very hard on metals, so you need to make sure you purge after your done. Cant let it sit in your carbs like you can with gas. Alky is a little more tmpermental. Little harder to tune, and when in really cold areas its damn near impossible lol. but the trade off in power once you get dialed in is substantually improved

PWK's are good carbs but i wouldnt run them on alky. once you convert them you have to drill the dump tubes and cant change them. with mikunis you can change them out. and go back to gas if need be
 
#3 ·
Greg...you might want to wait till you get on alky to make a few of those statements...


It's easier to tune than gas. With gas, you go to rich...it fouls plugs. Alky, it just blows raw fuel out the pipe. And a lot of alky setups love to run pig fat.
I leave my carbs the same year round. I run the same settings on the ice as the dunes as the drag strip.
I've richened it up for the ice, didn't need it.

A purge routine is simple if done right. Quick disconnects are the way to go.

PWK or Mikuni (or Lectron) for that matter makes no difference. If you don't like alky on a Keihin, sell it...get gas carbs.
Lectrons are easier...nothing to drill, change a needle and close the power jets and you're done.

My buddy is convinced that a motor runs great if you break the pistons in on gas, then run it on alky....not sure if he has dyno slips to proove it...but hey, we all believe in things with nothing to back it but our own beliefs.

Once you learn how to tune alky and get used to looking at plugs and how the motor sounds, you will never go back to gas on a drag bike.
 
#7 ·
I have seen alot of bike's running PWK's on alky and they Scream just us them Rico and just make sure there rich and put them on it and adjustem them from there.

I talked to Kim @ K@T and he said he dont worry about breaking the bike in on gas just throw some alky in it and go.

I broke mine in on race gas thought, sorry forgot to add that...lol
 
#8 ·
QUOTE (dajogejr @ Jun 30 2008, 09:50 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=4075Greg...you might want to wait till you get on alky to make a few of those statements...


It's easier to tune than gas. With gas, you go to rich...it fouls plugs. Alky, it just blows raw fuel out the pipe. And a lot of alky setups love to run pig fat.
I leave my carbs the same year round. I run the same settings on the ice as the dunes as the drag strip.
I've richened it up for the ice, didn't need it.

A purge routine is simple if done right. Quick disconnects are the way to go.

PWK or Mikuni (or Lectron) for that matter makes no difference. If you don't like alky on a Keihin, sell it...get gas carbs.
Lectrons are easier...nothing to drill, change a needle and close the power jets and you're done.

My buddy is convinced that a motor runs great if you break the pistons in on gas, then run it on alky....not sure if he has dyno slips to proove it...but hey, we all believe in things with nothing to back it but our own beliefs.

Once you learn how to tune alky and get used to looking at plugs and how the motor sounds, you will never go back to gas on a drag bike.
i ran alky when we raced. and it was anything but easy imo to tune the gas. yes its great that you wont foul plugs as easy, but tuning the motor was much more difficult. And when it got cold. wasnt even worth it. and we dont live anywhere nealry as cold as you
 
#14 ·
I prefer alcohol too now, for me, it's real easy to tune. Once you have the right needle in there all you have to do is adjust the power jets. Once you get used to the temp changing throughout the night you learn just how much more fuel is needed and there is no more guesswork...Different tracks will vary but not by a whole lot, nothing more than adjusting the powerjet. I run Keihin PWK's, so far they are getting it done!
Expect a 7-10hp gain, or roughly a tenth off your time when it's tuned in, and you'll notice more difference the hotter it is outside...and yes, it's normal for your intakes to sweat...only reason I mentioned it is because I've had people at the track ask me what the heck was causing that, lol

It's $5.00 a gallon here, which isn't too bad considering VP110 is 11 bucks a gallon!
 
#15 ·
QUOTE (bigboybanshee @ Jun 30 2008, 11:49 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=4118I prefer alcohol too now, for me, it's real easy to tune. Once you have the right needle in there all you have to do is adjust the power jets. Once you get used to the temp changing throughout the night you learn just how much more fuel is needed and there is no more guesswork...Different tracks will vary but not by a whole lot, nothing more than adjusting the powerjet. I run Keihin PWK's, so far they are getting it done!
Expect a 7-10hp gain, or roughly a tenth off your time when it's tuned in, and you'll notice more difference the hotter it is outside...and yes, it's normal for your intakes to sweat...only reason I mentioned it is because I've had people at the track ask me what the heck was causing that, lol

It's $5.00 a gallon here, which isn't too bad considering VP110 is 11 bucks a gallon!
i guess i should have mentioned the motors we raced didnt have power jets. just a straigh bore carbs that has a buttefly throttle in it.

thats insane that 110 is 11 bucks a gallon there! we get it for like 7 here. and alky is going for 6.50
 
#17 ·
QUOTE (bansh-eman @ Jun 30 2008, 11:02 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=4122i guess i should have mentioned the motors we raced didnt have power jets. just a straigh bore carbs that has a buttefly throttle in it.

thats insane that 110 is 11 bucks a gallon there! we get it for like 7 here. and alky is going for 6.50

Oh, wow...I see exactly why you had no fun with the alcohol...you'd be amazed at the difference the power jet makes!!!!
 
#18 ·
QUOTE (bigboybanshee @ Jun 30 2008, 12:18 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=4127Oh, wow...I see exactly why you had no fun with the alcohol...you'd be amazed at the difference the power jet makes!!!!
it was great once they got tuned. but what sucked is we raced down in south texas all the way to oklahoma, from louisiana to arizona, and at all differant times of the year. so between evel changes and temp changes it was a PAIN
 
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