Dave wrote on 02/15/18 at 08:25:40:kojones wrote on 02/15/18 at 08:01:48:Because it's better for the environment. The E85 they sell in Finland is made of waste. Marginally cheaper to use than gas, too.
Converting your Savage to run on ethanol or E85 is far beyond the ability of most of us on this forum. I feel that trying to run E85 in an engine with 8.5:1 compression is going to significantly reduce the power and mpg you can expect....and it will likely start and run poorly. (I have a friend that runs 100% ethanol in his drag race car - and he and all the others in his class need to squirt gasoline down the carb to get the engine to start). You would probably need to raise the compression ration up to the 14:1 kind of numbers that start to make ethanol performance reasonable. I seriously doubt the stock starter motor can overcome that kind of compression......on my 10.5:1 compression Savage engine the starter can't get the engine over TDC if the engine happens to be on the compression stroke when you hit the starter button.
The other issue that is of concern to me - is that ethanol is corrosive to aluminum and steel. Cars/trucks that are built to run E85 have fuel systems that are not bothered by ethanol.....your Savage does not have anything to protect the fuel tank or float bowl from ethanol.
If you want to continue down this path....you need to do a lot of reading and planning, and you might want to get a second bike so you have something to ride while you are experimenting.
Do a search...and you can find a lot of reading material.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ccrp-0611-e85-ethanol-fuel-test/http://www.onallcylinders.com/2015/11/20/ask-away-with-jeff-smith-what-is-saf... Mine with a 10,5 to 1 CR turns fine, even without the decompression solenoid. Not going to do any further modifications to the engine, but if all it needs is some new jets then I would give it a try.
However, corrosion of the aluminium and brass parts is something I'd like to avoid.