Honda Fireblade - do I have water in the tank?

[Bass]

No - not a P-Lab ..

Private message sent - hope it helps - curious about what you are up to.

[Madness]

...curious about what you are up to.

Agreed. Come on Bandit, give us the good oil on what you're up to eh?

[Bass]

Seems I had the wrong end of the stick - right industry, wrong product - and a lot of tongue (in cheek)

[Banditbandit]

Methylated spirits is mostly ethyl alcohol - the booze stuff. However it has a few percent of methyl alcohol added to make it undrinkable as the methyl stuff is poisonous.

Pour it through a thick layer of bread ... like through the long ways of a bread roll ... then it's drinkable ...

[Banditbandit]

Agreed. Come on Bandit, give us the good oil on what you're up to eh?

'twas a joke .. enough people will understand. But no, I'm not up to anything ...

[MrMarko]

Damn i was hoping for some oil...

[IronPawz]

try mixing meths in a cup with water and see what happens,

Woot a science like test! Love it I am going to go do that right now. Ahhh testing, evidence, reason... BRB.

[IronPawz]

try mixing meths in a cup with water and see what happens,

Right a wee bit (half as much as water) seemed to mix with half the water and sit on top but twice the amount as the water mixed both even like. So.. What is it like in petrol because I would think it needs to mix well in which case less would be available to find the water at the bottom. If the meths went to the bottom it would not help. So it would seem something like a cup full to a full tank to clear out little water (that line under the pipes that feed out petrol) might make sense but a few cap full in a full tank to clear out a few cap full or water would seem a stretch. I'd have to play about with more including some petrol but that would take more than my glass some meths and some water.

Still interesting test. Now what to do with the result? Sock in some paper and put it in the fire see what it does...

Interesting it burns absolutely fine. I think alcohol needs to be more like 60% to burn cleanly (not that my test was perfect) very interesting. Good suggestion.

[IronPawz]

Methylated spirits is mostly ethyl alcohol - the booze stuff. However it has a few percent of methyl alcohol added to make it undrinkable as the methyl stuff is poisonous. The resultant meths doesn't attract excise tax as a consequence.

Both ethyl and methyl alcohols are used as fuels. Ethyl is a direct petrol substitute and widely sold at up to 10% substitution. Methyl has a different stoichiometric ratio and if you are running big percentages, the mixture must be

substantially richened.

Ethyl alcohol is MUCH more tolerant of moisture than methyl - in fact very small water percentages will prevent methyl alcohol from mixing with petrol so it's as well that meths doesn't have much of it.

Ethyl should mix in a few percent of water OK but Isopropyl is much better.

If your bike is reasonably modern and is OK for fuels containing ethyl alcohol then meths will do no harm.

Excellent remarks. Interesting that at what seemed 50/50 (not perfect) mix with water it burnt so well As for Methyl is that like methanol and therefore evaporate at a lower temp (60 something degrees) verses Ethanol being higher (I think 80 something these are old memories) and therefore you could distill your Meths to get rid of it? That would seem like cheap booze to me (I'll stick to beer).

[IronPawz]

Agreed. Come on Bandit, give us the good oil on what you're up to eh?

People turn weed into oil with Iso. At least they did in my day. I use it (have tiny amount in little jar for years) to clean my mirrors from tape residue after track days. Soak week in Iso and evaporate Iso to leave oil.

[IronPawz]

As for the bike another over two hours of riding with no more glitches. I've replaced the bulb and it seems fine. So for now I just ride on.
I will however after reading this put say half a cup of meths through from time to time. Seeing as I now have a new bottle and all. As I rode with it down my jacket half way home I though, be extra good not to crash today (though the times I have done this with glass bottle of vodka made me think this even more so). Vodka bottle would be some pretty nasty accident companion (probably sterilise things well though).

[hayd3n]

People turn weed into oil with Iso. At least they did in my day. I use it (have tiny amount in little jar for years) to clean my mirrors from tape residue after track days. Soak week in Iso and evaporate Iso to leave oil.

ethanol works a treat tooo (well thats what they say )

[Bass]

Excellent remarks. Interesting that at what seemed 50/50 (not perfect) mix with water it burnt so well As for Methyl is that like methanol and therefore evaporate at a lower temp (60 something degrees) verses Ethanol being higher (I think 80 something these are old memories) and therefore you could distill your Meths to get rid of it? That would seem like cheap booze to me (I'll stick to beer).

Yes, you could distill off the methanol. Not sure about the dye that they also add to mark it as poison.

Your comments about what mix will burn is also the derivation of the term "proof spirit". Back in the day when sailors were issued a daily tot of rum, the captain was also responsible for the ships accounts. If he watered the crew's rum, he then had extra to sell on the side for a nice little earner. However, the crew devised a test - if the rum was poured on gunpowder and the gunpowder still burned, the rum was deemed proof spirit.

Proof spirit (or 100 proof as we call it today) turns out to be 50% ethanol.

I missed Madness' hint about "good oil" completely - thick as 2 short planks it seems and a chemical engineer to boot. No hope for me at all.

[Banditbandit]

People turn weed into oil with Iso. At least they did in my day. I use it (have tiny amount in little jar for years) to clean my mirrors from tape residue after track days. Soak week in Iso and evaporate Iso to leave oil.

You clean your mirror with cannabis oil?

[actungbaby]

Pour it through a thick layer of bread ... like through the long ways of a bread roll ... then it's drinkable ...

yeah heard the bread crumps u just reminded me oh yeah nahhhh is right to much meths me thinks

I always have mental picture dude stubing out a smoke and answering the phone quite line roger here ;-)

guess i dont like being told what to do . thats why where Motorcylist ;-) right and i quit smoking years ago