Anyone running Methanol on a 350X?

[350XBigbore]

Well I came across a smoking deal on 30gallons of VP racing methanol so I am wondering what mods need to be done to the carb to make these bikes run smoothe and make great power. My 350x engine has the 393cc Powroll kit, 11.5.1 compression, race grind cam, ported head, custom 2inch exhaust pipe currently running a 150 main jet in a 400ex carb and the bike runs great on 93 pumpgas. I was always told you need to enlarge the jets to double the size to run alky so I went ahead and drilled an old jet out to 300 and I have the bike running, It runs ok WOT but it's missing something probably need to go ahead and double the pilot jet also. Just wanted to see what other people are doing on alcohol setups. TIA Clint

[ridetrikes250R]

wow... u actually got it to run on the stuff... you probablyneed a bigger carb in my opinion... like 40MM.

[NOS_350X]

I dont know ANYTHING about it LOL :demon: :D PM sent

[azjay]

alcohol needs to run at 7:1 gasoline should be 12:1 or there abouts, so idle, mid range, and top end need to be set up for MORE fuel. compression should be 12:1-14:1(11:1 may be close enough), my dad raced 2.5 liter modified hydros for many years, all alky motors in that class.

[NOS_350X]

You MUST purge your system after EVERY ride. Your bike runs cooler, burns cleaner and plug chop readings are opposite from gas.

az, what years did your dad race hydros? my grandfather rebuilds the wood decks the old v-drives (hydros and flatbottoms). He raced himself in the earley 60's.

[azjay]

You MUST purge your system after EVERY ride. Your bike runs cooler, burns cleaner and plug chop readings are opposite from gas.

az, what years did your dad race hydros? my grandfather rebuilds the wood decks the old v-drives (hydros and flatbottoms). He raced himself in the earley 60's.

he's been racing his whole life, 50s-early 60s mod-a runabouts in so.cal (he barely weighed 100# then), then sprint cars and midgets in the 60s, sportscars in the 70s, back into boats in 80s. after the 2.5 mod hydro(the class kinda died BIG$$$$ and few boats), they campaigned a 2.5 stock hydro for a few years, less $$$ and more boats to play with.
his strongest campaigns were mid 80's, '85-'87 western divisional points champion 2.5 mod hydro, '86-'87 runner up national champion 2.5 mod hydro. the gremlins got him at both national champion races (he had the faster boat,evidenced in the heat races), one race, the manual fuel cut off valve closed itself, ("WOW it never did that before").and the other time, it was something equally odd, i cant remember now.

[3wheelergod]

I have never ran it on a 350x but a few other things. You do need to purge your system every time after riding.

Now to run alky you need to UP your compression. Say as high as you can. 17.1 maybe even. You need everybit of help to burn it thuroughly. Alcohol burns way slower than gasoline. Even slower than 120 octane. Most application require a new needle jet ( bigger) new needle, WAY bigger main jet (like from a 300 to a 1200(mikuni jet, I dont even deal with keihins!)) and a power jet in the bell of the carb. Some people claim to get a 30% boost but I have more often seen an increase of 10-15%. Major pain unless you are going to be flat dragging or strictly racing. WAY to big of pain to deal with every time you ride. I would sell it to a racer that can use it! And yes the bigger the carb the better. ( I prefer 38 mikuni bored to a 41.5) :thumbsup:

[bryan raffa]

how old is the stuff? it has a real short shelf life. I only buy what Im gonna use in one month.. if not stored in a metal sealed can .. it will attract water and go bad even faster..

[350XBigbore]

The Methanol is in a sealed steel drum and it's only about 6mos old. I am in the process of modifying the carb to run the methanol. Thanks for the help NOS350x. Later