aux tank !

[firestarter1977]

hi all

ive been thinking about fabricating an alloy tank that could possibly carry another 4-5 ltrs of fuel.

i have read on here of people using a fuel pump so thought i could fit one and pump fuel back up to the carbs so the main tank would syphon into the smaller tank.

anyone ever thought about this for doing some touring??

i dont have the bike here at the moment so finding a place for it could be an issue? maybe beneath the oil cooler ??

any ideas chaps or am i wasting my time


mark

[tony.mon]

A little belly tank if you have a bellypan fitted would work....or in the fairing "wings" above the rads.

Mind you, if you fitted a single central rad as some people have, then you could put two aux tanks in the sides where the rads normally sit.

You'd have to let the normal tank drain directly into any tank you fitted lower than itself under gravity (so taking out the vacuum operated tap) and then using a pump take-off from the lowest point.

Depends on how much work you want to do, I suppose.

But then I don't mind too much stopping every hundred, as by then the old legs could do with a stretch.
The question is, does the tank range bother you enough to go to expense and trouble in fabricating something?

[firestarter1977]

Tony

The alloy would be scrap from work I guess the biggest expense would be the pump and fittings for the inlet and outlet on the aux tank

I'd not thought about hiding one in the belly pan !! I like that idea

normal uk riding I want to stop after 80 miles or so but when I was in Spain the limited miles per tank was annoying really. Would be nice to get another 20 miles or so

That coupled with the comfort kit I plan to fit and better front brakes should make a half decent all rounder

Only ideas at the mo but it might happen

[Wicky]

bungee a 5L fuel can to the passenger seat



...or hook up for in-ride refuelling from a fuel tanker (simultaneous ciggie break not recommended)

[firestarter1977]

Hahaha

Fuel can is easy but looks poor and I think it's a puller in the uk ain't it ??

[warby221]

I know some of the BMW use an under seat tank
If you clear the gubings from under their you’d probably get 3-4 litres in there and if you use snap connectors you could have it removable

[firestarter1977]

I've got a few bits under the seat already unfortunatly

I think belly pan area could work plus there are mounting point too

I thought about making it removable, a bit of a pain if it's hidden under the pan tho

Some more thought required I think



Mike

Love the disguise !!

[benny hedges]

just fit a 19L tank off a later model, or a 24L vfr tank.
no complaints about the range on mine at all

think you might find it gets a bit hot under the belly pan.
if you insist on adding an aux tank, you could chop the seat to a single seat, then you could easily mould in a 5L can under the pillion hump.

[firestarter1977]

Heat had crossed my mind fella !!!

I didn't realise a vfr tank would fit is it a bolt straight on job ?looks like a problem solved eh !!!


I thought about the 19ltr tank but thought they were hard to come by ? So thought about making a 16ltr tank wider ! Then decided to go bespoke lol

Not enough research on my part to be fair vfr tank sounds promising

[sirch345]

Mark, Paul (Stratman) fitted one to his bike. He tells you how too here:-

http://www.easternriders.net/vfr_vtr.htm

Chris.

[benny hedges]

bit of a radical suggestion - found this by accident lol...
after crashing a x1 - 50cc suzi and putting a bad ding in the tank, i blocked the vent by trapping a carrier bag under the filler cap, then attached a footpump to the fuel tap and merrily pumped away, expecting the dent to pop out.
it did. but it also massively expanded the tank lol.
it looked great, kept the same profile but was a LOT wider.
only problem was it secured with rubbers that located onto the frame so i had to wire it in place.

just suggesting if you get hold of a spare 16L tank, as the storm tank attaches front & back, you could blow one up with a footpump to get much more capacity.
probably best to do it insitu so it will still fit round the airbox.

or if you want to go a step further, remove the airbox & fit 2 k&n bellmouth filters, then you have all that extra space to play with.
it would pop out the recessed parts of the tank too - bet there's at least another litre a side there...

[benny hedges]

and wonder if a varadero tank would fit???? they're 25L aren't they?

[Stratman]

The trouble is that you always compromise something. The VFR tank I fitted never did look right and was too high for me to move across when cornering, although it had a notional 200 mile range. I also managed to fit hard luggage, but the bike was never designed for all this extra crap.

So, I bought a TDM900 as a second bike - I know that isn't possible for everyone, but it was only £3950 at 15 months old and I've done thousands of miles on it. Hard luggage, comfortable riding position, handles much better than it should and 60mpg on a tour. 230 miles to the tank if careful.

Storm is now back to standard tank and nice loud cans for local blasts and I really do have the best of both worlds.

[tony.mon]

Heat wouldn't be a problem I would have thought, because after all the standard tank is mounted directly above the engine, and heat rises, so you'd expect that if this would cause a problem it would have happened already.

As long as there's expansion room and a vent at the top of the system, all you get with warm fuel is a tiny loss of power, and it takes up a tiny bit more space; hence GP bikes having refrigerated fuel put in just before they go to the grid on v hot sunny days.
If you were really concerned about that you could run the fuel through a small intercooler between the pump and the carbs, mounted near the headstock.

A basic heat shield between the bottom of the engine and a small tank mounted below would lower the C.o.G as well as helping with the tank range.
Don't go riding up and down kerbs too quickly, though

[firestarter1977]

Thanks for the replys chaps

I'll keep looking for a 19ltr on eBay otherwise I'll expand one using the benny hedges method