Muffler Heat and Ethanol

[RockBottom]

Had a strange experience yesterday--did a nice 60 miles through the country but was noticing an uncomfortable amount of heat rising from the muffler and par-roasting my left butt cheek. I had on jeans so it wasn't painful, but still noticeable.

I'm trying to figure out why this hasn't happened before. Here's my theory. I normally use only Shell premium gas which, I think, is not blended with ethanol (at least in my area). Over the weekend I rode to visit my kid at college and had to refuel at a convenience store where the pump was marked 10% ethanol.

Is it possible that the fuel was making my muffler produce more heat than usual?

[Scott58]

doubtful

[HYPERR]

Do you have a cat?

[dr_bar]

Do you have a cat?

Are you hinting that he might not have a cat anymore??? Maybe it climbed into his exhaust...








Yes I know you meant a catalytic converter...

[HP12C_Guy]

Do you have a cat?

Perhaps HYPERR is referring to this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26525157/?GT1=43001

I can imagine going 70 miles with a cat on the spare in a pickup truck. It's harder to imagine having a stowaway cat on my bike.

[HYPERR]

[mydlyfkryzis]

Had a strange experience yesterday--did a nice 60 miles through the country but was noticing an uncomfortable amount of heat rising from the muffler and par-roasting my left butt cheek. I had on jeans so it wasn't painful, but still noticeable.

I'm trying to figure out why this hasn't happened before. Here's my theory. I normally use only Shell premium gas which, I think, is not blended with ethanol (at least in my area). Over the weekend I rode to visit my kid at college and had to refuel at a convenience store where the pump was marked 10% ethanol.

Is it possible that the fuel was making my muffler produce more heat than usual?

[snarky comment] Hard to tell, was this on a motorcycle? [/snarky comment]

What kind of motorcycle?

Fuel injected or carbureted?

A carbed bike probably would have little difference, though still alittle. A fuel injected bike, especially a newer closed loop ECU type, might have an issue, at least for a short time, until the ECU compensated for the different fuel. You need a little extra fuel with ethanol (mixture) and you may have been running a little leaner which might account for a slightly hotter exhaust temp.

[RockBottom]

Had a strange experience yesterday--did a nice 60 miles through the country but was noticing an uncomfortable amount of heat rising from the muffler and par-roasting my left butt cheek. I had on jeans so it wasn't painful, but still noticeable.

I'm trying to figure out why this hasn't happened before. Here's my theory. I normally use only Shell premium gas which, I think, is not blended with ethanol (at least in my area). Over the weekend I rode to visit my kid at college and had to refuel at a convenience store where the pump was marked 10% ethanol.

Is it possible that the fuel was making my muffler produce more heat than usual?

[snarky comment] Hard to tell, was this on a motorcycle? [/snarky comment]

What kind of motorcycle?

Fuel injected or carbureted?

A carbed bike probably would have little difference, though still alittle. A fuel injected bike, especially a newer closed loop ECU type, might have an issue, at least for a short time, until the ECU compensated for the different fuel. You need a little extra fuel with ethanol (mixture) and you may have been running a little leaner which might account for a slightly hotter exhaust temp.

It's a 2008 BMW F800ST

[xyz]

I don't like ethanol either. My dealer told me to try and use as little as possible in the bike when I bought it. My local 7-11 has gas that isn't blended and so that's where I fuel up.

[MMO]

Just use the fuel you've been using previously, that outta solve the problem.