Why Do Speedway Bikes Run on Methanol?

[IainB]

And have they always done?

[ch958]

is it to do with temperature of the motor?

[steve roberts]

I remember Paul Gachet riding a trial petrol driven bike during a second half event at White City...not sure what became of it?

[IainB]

I wonder what would happen if you ran a speedway engine on petrol? Would it even start? Would it blow up?

[Pieman72]

Speedway bikes can run on petrol or methanol but the engines are different. Methanol engines run cooler so they need a higher compression ratio and would not be adaptable for petrol. There have been many trials Honda and Kawasaki engines ran perfectly well. If speedway was more flexible there could be an amateur class for petrol powered bikes probably be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain if you could use a cut down stock engine.

[steve roberts]

I also remember that Eric Boocock was part of a team that was experimenting with Honda engines with a view of standardising/cutting costs?

[steve roberts]

5 minutes ago, Pieman72 said:

Speedway bikes can run on petrol or methanol but the engines are different. Methanol engines run cooler so they need a higher compression ratio and would not be adaptable for petrol. There have been many trials Honda and Kawasaki engines ran perfectly well. If speedway was more flexible there could be an amateur class for petrol powered bikes probably be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain if you could use a cut down stock engine.

...you beat me to it!

[IainB]

53 minutes ago, Pieman72 said:

Speedway bikes can run on petrol or methanol but the engines are different. Methanol engines run cooler so they need a higher compression ratio and would not be adaptable for petrol. There have been many trials Honda and Kawasaki engines ran perfectly well. If speedway was more flexible there could be an amateur class for petrol powered bikes probably be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain if you could use a cut down stock engine.

 

52 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

I also remember that Eric Boocock was part of a team that was experimenting with Honda engines with a view of standardising/cutting costs?

I remember the Booey Bikes, I went to a "test" match at Peterborough I think... they kept breaking down if my memory serves me right

[old bob at herne bay]

I was always told this was about safety - methanol has  much lower flammability than petrol.   But it burns witha clear flame which when it does catch light makes it harder to spot. 

Methanol also has a high octane number allowing the use for high compression ratio engines as used in speedway. Conversely it is less enegy dense than petrol hence more fuel is needed and the "mpg figures" for a speedway bike are so poor.

Indy carts used to use Methanol after a number ofpetrol fires , but now use  ethanol fuel.

 

 

 

I

 

 

[OveFundinFan]

Does methanol burn cooler too.

[Tsunami]

2 hours ago, steve roberts said:

I also remember that Eric Boocock was part of a team that was experimenting with Honda engines with a view of standardising/cutting costs?

1998

[Rich]

Speedway / Grasstrack engines are designed to run on Methanol as, together with the heavy  flywheels used,. it gives the best type of power delivery required for the sport, that is the explosive acceleration from a standing start with a single gear. They can run on petrol with a lot of modifications internally and to the timing and carburation, and quite a few Pre 65 Scramblers / MotoX riders use 2 valve Jawa engines. Engines designed to run on petrol can also be modified to run on Methanol, but many of the 1000cc Sidecar Grasstrack bikes using multi-cylinder Japanese road bike engines, although tuned, still use petrol.

[Pieman72]

Hopefully the was Speedway is morphing petrol could well become an option. Who would have expected Grasstrack bikes on a Speedway track?

[Rich]

23 minutes ago, Pieman72 said:

Hopefully the was Speedway is morphing petrol could well become an option. Who would have expected Grasstrack bikes on a Speedway track?

Nothing new, I rode in the South West Speedtrack Championship (for Grasstrack bikes)  at Exeter in 1990 and my son rode in a couple of Meetings at Stoke in 2004/5. Next round of the World Longtrack Championship is at Rzeszow Speedway track in Poland. 

[steve roberts]

55 minutes ago, Pieman72 said:

Hopefully the was Speedway is morphing petrol could well become an option. Who would have expected Grasstrack bikes on a Speedway track?

Those were tha days...second halves at Cowley when the likes of Julian Wigg, Ken Matthews and the Drewitt Brothers would ride their grasstrack bikes!

[Pieman72]

50 minutes ago, Rich said:

Nothing new, I rode in the South West Speedtrack Championship (for Grasstrack bikes)  at Exeter in 1990 and my son rode in a couple of Meetings at Stoke in 2004/5. Next round of the World Longtrack Championship is at Rzeszow Speedway track in Poland. 

Yes I can remember seeing them at Wolves but the recent meeting at IOW put it on a firm footing. They tried it at Stoke (Grassway Challenge) a few years back and it was cancelled in the end. There is definitely a place for different classes capacities and combinations in a wider format Speedway Meeting that could support the current set up.

[OveFundinFan]

Back in the 70’s I think Crewe had Saturday morning sessions for grass track bikes. Cheshire was a good area for grass meetings and by holding open sessions Crewe were no doubt benefitting from the potential. Maybe how Barry Meeks came to be riding for them, he was good on grass.

[KIRKYLANE]

Slightly off topic but…

Belle Vue rode during the Second World War even though industrial  methanol could not be used due to the war effort.

Wood alcohol was produced for the meetings which was still methanol .. just not produced industrially.

[IainB]

5 minutes ago, KIRKYLANE said:

Slightly off topic but…

Belle Vue rode during the Second World War even though industrial  methanol could not be used due to the war effort.

Wood alcohol was produced for the meetings which was still methanol .. just not produced industrially.

Moonshine 

[OveFundinFan]

Was it one of the Boococks, perhaps Nigel, that was testing out a BSA B50 engine (500cc) in a speedway bike.