The Des Moines Register reports that Orange County Choppers has agreed to build a motorcycle that runs on E85 for the Iowa Farm Bureau.

E85 is a type of fuel consisting of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline...

The Iowa Farm Bureau has commissioned the building of the E85 motorcycle by the Orange County Choppers, a New York-based company known for its television show on TLC.

The full article here...
http://desmoinesregister.com/..../70514043/1029/BUSINESS

The Iowa Farm Bureau is planning a statewide marketing campaign touting the superiority of E85 over standard gasoline, and this OCC motorcycle is part of the blitz. Of course, the whole State of Iowa is known for its corn industry.

The report doesn't say if this motorcycle will be "flex fuel" capable, meaning running on either gasoline or E85.

There's been some discussion online about the viability of motorcycles running on E85. E85 is higher octane, and can run on higher compression engines. But it's not as efficient as gasoline, meaning vehicles will see lower gas mileage. On a motorcycle, you'll need larger fuel tanks to maintain existing ranges.

On the other hand, E85 is a cleaner burning fuel, meaning that motorcycle manufacturers can easily overcome existing state and federal laws on emissions.

Labels: E85 Motorcycles, Iowa, Orange County Choppers

There was a question submitted to the Muscatine Journal, the newspaper for Muscatine, Iowa, by a reader about loud motorcycle pipes...

Why are motorcycles in Muscatine allowed to break the law (city noise ordinance and state code) with their illegal mufflers or straight pipes when cars are not? Legally, they are disturbing the peace, according to the police department.

The newspaper goes to explain the actual police protocol with concern to loud vehicles and what the police has done in the past about it. It also goes on to say that police will be cracking down on loud vehicles, though not exclusively motorcycles.

However, the newspaper didn't really answer the crux of this person's question, and that is, "How come the cops haven't been busting more bikers with loud pipes?"

Now, I don't know Muscatine, Iowa. But I will say that "loud pipes" is a relative term. Let's consider this question, "How come cops don't bust garbage trucks for making excessive noise at 7:00 in the morning?" Or, "How come semi-trucks are allowed to roll through neighborhoods while people are sleeping?" It seems motorcycles are not the only thing that's loud.

The answer is that cops have other things to do, like busting speeders and setting up sobriety check points. If Muscatine, Iowa is like any other municipality, it doesn't have enough cops to adequately address EVERY single law violation that goes on.

So, if you want cops to spend more time busting bikers with loud pipes, then I guess all of Muscatine, Iowa should step forward and volunteer to pay double the taxes they are already paying, to afford more cops.

Labels: Iowa, Loud Pipes