2 Strokes Down Under

Hi all a bit of a long shot but I am trying to sort a base methanol setup for racing use (to help me and others seduced by the dark side) and also would love to test E85 107 oct(ahh the worlds ending according to many). I dont want any purge this it will rust that stuff just jetting, carbs set up and lessons learned.Anything from any two stroke bike. old drag racers, road racers, sand drags, land speed etc. Anything that you may know or have written down would be great. There is a lot of interest in E85 and a lot of big power engines in the snowmobile world which is very similar characteristics to methanol so lets see who knows what. If you are happy to post your findings whack them up. If you dont want your secrets out there pm me and Ill never pass it on. photos of blown up bits are cool too lets see them, rusty cranks melted pistons, whatever race fuel related . Link


What I have so far meth and e85 need castor based oil or specific alcohol oil such as maxima 927, Klotz supertechniplate ,Coolpower blue. theres a heap of them. Both can run high comps and timings far beyond petrol and both cool components very well and have the ability to produce far better power and a lot more torque in most two strokes. And BIG jets far beyond what you can buy.

Hi Link, since the post-classics allow methanol, as do speedway, you'd be best to confer with the 2T runners there.
Ian Williams (of IWT ) in South Australia may have some suggestions too.

Oddly enough, E85 tuning does not appear to closely co-relate with methanol.

& if you want a shock, look up the bulk price of industrial methanol..

Hi James I run in period 4 and most have helped with settings but no one wants them shared around. Meth is $260 for a 200l drum and $55 for a 20lt drum around here. E 85 is not similar jetting wise but mixes well with methanol oils and corrodes the same bits. Also eats fibreglass tanks if untreated. As for as I know e85 is not allowed in racing except for v8 supercars however a lot of top guys want it for there early superbikes and are pushing hard to have it allowed.Link

I've had limited experience with methanol. One thing I'd stress is checking the available fuel flow of the entire system from the tank through to the needle and seat. It's not uncommon at all to find that it simply can't keep up with demand so it's easy to cook pistons even with appropriate jetting. You may need to open up fuel taps and lines and run a bigger seat, and/or add a pump.

Try Alan Cotterel in Benalla, he's helpful & he & his brother have a fair bit of 2T methanol racing experience.

FYI, I checked the Methanex NZ site for the current price, how's US 80c a gallon ( ~Au 25c Ltr) sound?
Bit like a rip-off here?

E85 is half way to a methanol setting ,the old petrol to methanol conversion factor was 1.5X with e85 it's about 1.25X

2TInstitute wrote:E85 is half way to a methanol setting ,the old petrol to methanol conversion factor was 1.5X with e85 it's about 1.25X

2T, how does the cooling effect of e85 compare with that of straight methanol?

same same you don't even need the full E85 to get the cooling effect , E15 (mix your own still does the trick)

If you chase down the speedway guys (solo/bikes) you should be able to get Elf methanol for $2.00 a litre if you bring your own drum. It's the best to buy. They have a completely dedicated transport system for their race methanol so it never gets tainted with petrol.
Suggestions for people with the knowledge. Beach race guys often run 2 stroke methanol, the various forms of speedway like older Formula 500 ran methanol. Older flat track guys ran methanol illegally a lot of the time.
Heard of/seen many many many blow up and melted pistons from methanol vs 2strokes, seems to be an extremely fine line between running perfectly, and a 2 degree ambient temperature change resulting in holed pistons and seizures......