Calling The Prof

[xud]

I ride an off-road motorcycle and would very much like a bit more power for I frequently find myself in a cloud of dust behind my mates bikes. I have done a bit of research on Avgas racing fuel. As far as I know this is just for piston engined aeroplanes requiring highly leaded, high octane fuel. I think it is also banned in most forms of motorsport but an engine will run satisfactorily on Avgas and produce more power. What I am looking for is a fuel that will give me more power, since I am not racing. The words Acetone, Toluene, Methanol, Nitromethane are all familiar to me, however I would like to be enlightened on how they give you more power.
Also, on a slightly different note. I was wandering around my local car spares shop last week only to be confronted by a bewildering array of fuel additives, all of which claim to boost Octane levels, clean injectors, improve fuel economy etc. What chemicals are in such items and do these really work, or are they simply gimmicks - a bit like a placaebo.
Thanks in advance

[Teddio]

When the fuel-air mixture is ignited by the spark plug it burns rapidly, but not explosively, producing a high pressure gas which forces the piston down. The greater the gas pressure the greater the force on the piston and consequently the greater the engine power. Avgas has high anti-knock properties but I wouldn't expect to see a significant increase in engine power on your motorbike. On a newish engine, oil and petrol additives are a waste of money. If your bike is a two-stroke it is essential the exhaust baffles are clear and the engine exhaust ports are de-coked.

[xud]

Thanks for that. For the record, my bike is a 400 cc four stroke.
I am very suspicious about the fuel additives. I remember about seven years ago when they banned the old 4 star leaded fuel in UK. I had a performance car at that time, for which unleaded fuel was not recommended.

It was suggested that I used unleaded fuel plus the 'drugs'
It made no noticeable difference whatsoever - hence the scepticism

[Toureman]

Your bike has been designed to run on a particular fuel, ordinary petrol, if you use any exotic fuel in it there will be very little gain and a risk of destroying the engine.

Using exotic fuel needs a lot of expensive tuning and parts so the engine can make use of it.

[EDLEE]

Sorry xud, if you want to keep up with or leave your buds in the dust you will need one of two things: 1. cubic inches, 2 higher skill level. One only takes money , two takes time and practice.

You can buy the displacement, but you'll have to work for the skill.