Goldwing-Specific Hydration Setups

kwthom

=o&o>
Premier Member
IBA Member
#1
I'm getting a bit of inspiration from the thread in the BMW sub-forum on hydration systems as well. The 'Wing has similar challenges for mounting locations...so separated this thread for this bike. Be sure to use the Beemer thread for some inspiration, however:

https://forum.ironbutt.org/index.php?threads/hydration-system-questions.585/

I made a piss-poor attempt prior to my 48 State ride last year of rigging something up; it failed miserably.



Two straps and nothing that restrained the bottom. Since the seat isn't flat there, noting for it to sit on, even with the weight of a gallon of fluid.

My Goldwing has to be capable of being able to haul SWMBO in the same general space as the hydration source, thus it needs to be removable quickly. She's done a couple of LD rides to this point, so the hydration is for when I decide to need to be a little smarter at this (more fluids, less dehydration...). I've given up hope on foot peg mounting; she's got Kuryakyn Transformer Passenger Floorboards installed & I'm not about to mess with them.

As noted in the photo above, I have the Utopia backrest on my bike. I've requisitioned an 8" aluminum round pan from my wife for that same Igloo® jug to sit in - which was problem #1 in that setup above. With only a single retention spot, the jug was prone to side-to-side movement at the bottom of the jug.

I think a 1.5" or 2" wide strap of aluminum bolted to the side of that pan that will also secure to the backrest riser will keep the bracket in place *and* allow for the quick extrication of the jug as needed. I'm considering a single 2" wide nylon strap to restrain the top of the jug to the bracket.

Time to go do some fab work.
 

kwthom

=o&o>
Premier Member
IBA Member
#2
I really wish I would have come up with this idea a little over a year ago...





The cake pan idea has been used by others in the past. I needed the piece to physically attach it to the seat, yet have the jug be easily detached for refilling.



I don't have a sheet metal brake - the type that'll assist in bending metal. The 1/8" thick aluminum was a b!tc# to bend by hand; there's enough to clear the pan edge.



With the jug removed, the nylon belt material gets laced through the slot in the strap. The top hole is for a plastic cable tie strap, if needed, to loop around the backrest top pivot mount. The screw and the clear spacer (made from an X-acto knife cover) is what I have here for material. Better hardware (stainless screw? correct nylon spacer?) will be procured.



I need to get some sticky shelf-liner, attach to the pan both the bottom (contact with seat) and the inside (contact with jug) to keep things from getting beat up with use.

With it mounted here, I can still access the trunk on the bike for items stored there.
 

DJFriar

Premier Member
#3
This reminds me to finish my hydration system for my 2018 Wing. I have the jug and the mount, just need to do the tubing and such.
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#5
Good of you for sharing the pictures from your efforts last year. For someone else working on their own system, look for pots at the thrift stores or Walmart. Often a pot can be had for less than $5 and is rigid enough to bolt directly to a foot peg or will allow a simple L bracket fabbed from steel to mount to the side of the bike, (crash bar, shock mount, etc). Every bike and rider faces different challenges, but hydration systems don't need to cost a lot of money. I found the standard Coleman 1 gal jug to be too high for my needs, so popped on ebay and found an old school short/wide 1 gal jug for $5 that was new in the box, old stock. Even had free shipping. Some of those are getting collectable now, but there are enough brands to give you options.

I have used cake pans as well, but if you can find a pot that fits your jug, it makes a more secure holder and has the rigidity to bolt to something w/o the fatigue cracks that typically occur in thinner material. The last one I made up for a foreign IBR rider used a $7 pot from Walmart that was on sale and I ground the rivets off to remove the handle, (instant mounting holes!), and went from there. On my cake pan mount, I sandwiched the cake pan between aluminum flat bars to deal with the cracking at the bolt holes that occurred over time.

Tractor Supply, Ace or other hardware stores or farm stores carry steel spacers as well as nylon. Steel would allow for a more secure mounting. Remember water is about 7 lbs per gallon, plus the weight of the jug, mounts, pan, etc.
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#7
Another option (if anyone still reads this thread) is a MotoJug setup - www.motojug.com

It's based on the 1-gallon Coleman jug (not supplied), and is a large, collapsible bag for the cooler to sit in. The floorboard version of MotoJug is designed with Velcro loops on the bottom to go around the floorboard (the whole unit sits on the floorboard instead of the seat), and also has two 3-foot straps that thread through loops built into the collapsible bag and go around whatever attachment points you choose. Once you place the Coleman jug into the MotoJug bag, there are two straps that go over the top of the jug and hold it in place.

In addition to that, it comes with the necessary drinking tube and bite valve, a retractable cord and Velcro strap for the tube, and a couple of stickers for people who like to decorate their bike like a sponsored athlete.

The build quality is quite nice! My understanding is that they're hand-made a batch at a time by a nice lady in the U.S.
 

Auburn

Premier Member
#11
I ride 2up 99% of the time, we do participate in LD riding and rallies. This is our current solution (after seeing Paul Tong's wing at Provo). You could easily take the RTIC 1 gal jug and the Yeti holder and adapt to your rear foot peg. The quick disconnect is a double check hydraulic hose fitting (M & F) in 1/4" NFPT thread with a Male 1/4" NFPT brass barbed connector on each end. I did use a stainless steel washer on the inside of the lid with a rubber o-ring under it to seal everything. I just close the small lid and then open a quarter turn to break the vacuum. I use 1/4" clear tubing with insulating foam over the tube and 1/2" wire loom webbing to cover and protect the tubing. Then took 1/2" epoxy sealing shrink tube to seal over the webbing and to the brass barbed 90 on top. I got all the fitting and quick disconnect from Grainger.

Note: Paul wired up a generic windshield washer pump to his so he can spray the water. I may do that in the future too.



 
#12
I ride 2up 99% of the time, we do participate in LD riding and rallies. This is our current solution (after seeing Paul Tong's wing at Provo). You could easily take the RTIC 1 gal jug and the Yeti holder and adapt to your rear foot peg. The quick disconnect is a double check hydraulic hose fitting (M & F) in 1/4" NFPT thread with a Male 1/4" NFPT brass barbed connector on each end. I did use a stainless steel washer on the inside of the lid with a rubber o-ring under it to seal everything. I just close the small lid and then open a quarter turn to break the vacuum. I use 1/4" clear tubing with insulating foam over the tube and 1/2" wire loom webbing to cover and protect the tubing. Then took 1/2" epoxy sealing shrink tube to seal over the webbing and to the brass barbed 90 on top. I got all the fitting and quick disconnect from Grainger.

Note: Paul wired up a generic windshield washer pump to his so he can spray the water. I may do that in the future too.
Very elegant. I would be very interested to know more about the fab work required to build the platform. Did you buy or build it? The fuel cell installion and plumbing is also a good idea - I like that the weight is low and would not sitting directly behind me on the bike as with other solutions. Guessing this is all mounted on a hitch bracket of some kind?
 

Auburn

Premier Member
#13
I built everything. Welded up the tank with 16 gage steel for the sides and top, 14 gage for the bottom and tabs to bolt down. There is a vertical 16 gage baffle inside the tank. I sealed the inside with Tank Kreem to ensure no leaks. I added two additional bolts on the side of the receiver like the one on the bottom to adjust any play out of the hitch. Total fuel on board is 11.4 gallons - 6.6 gallons Stock tank, aux tank volume is 4.8 gallons which leaves 0.1 gallons for the fuel lines, filter and pump volume.

Here are some more detailed pictures for underneath. The hitch is a 3" drop 1-1/4" turned upside down. The steel plate welded with multiple passes to the receiver is 1/4 plate steel. The Aluminum plate bolted to the steel plate is 5/16" 6063 ALU. The ALU plate is bolted to the steel plate with pan head 5/16" stainless steel bolts with nyloc nuts. The 4 bolts that bolt through the ALU only are the fuel SS tank bolts.

The fuel line (suction side of pump) exist the bottom of the tank. You can see the waterproof connector to the fuel pump and ground connection on the tank.



Back shot - shows the fuel filter (foreground) and fuel pump mounted to the tank, the double check quick disconnect for the gas line rests just above the receiver. Fuel lines are 1/4" fuel rated lines.



Another bottom shot
 

Auburn

Premier Member
#15
Impressive. Thoughts about mounting lights on the box or on the jug covers? How much does the setup obscure your lights?

BTW - some pretty neat welding. Mine would be all over the place!
Not necessary to add additional lights. They don't obscure the brake lights, plus the gold wing trunk lights and the spoiler have brake/turn signals built in.