Fuel cell to use or not to use. Is the question.

[EricV]

I might have ride to Vegas to go site seeing .yeah thats what I'm going to do. Site seeing.

Zion NP is just up the road. Good breakfast places in Boulder City, then wander up the side of Lake Mead to Overton before going back out to 15 if you have a parks pass. Don't forget to stock up on some cheap liquor while you're in Vegas, or in Mesquite at one of the Lees.

 

[MtyQuinn]

Zion NP is just up the road. Good breakfast places in Boulder City, then wander up the side of Lake Mead to Overton before going back out to 15 if you have a parks pass. Don't forget to stock up on some cheap liquor while you're in Vegas, or in Mesquite at one of the Lees.

Always need whisky

 

[Patrick Ford]

Thank you Eric for another great tip. Bulkhead sounds like the best choice . But concerning about drilling and future leaks. Another is actually drill and weld a new bung the paint.
Just worried about aux tank being higher when full as not to overfill the main lower tank. But I guess that avoided by running the main empty the opening up aux when needed.

My daughter and I just did a bulkhead fitting on her FJR. Also we did one on her Wee Strom. Both used copper 90' fittings from Ace Hardware. 5/16" with rubber fuel line hose.
After getting photos from UTube I drilled a correct sized hole with a cone drill. (Not the correct name but I forgot it)
After making sure of the outlet position we cheated a bit on both bikes. We JB Welded them in place using lots of that messy stuff on the joints with a lock but on the inside. No leaks. You can find photos and directions on u tube. Be sure and put a inline fuel filter on the aux discharge line.

 

[EricV]

The "cone drill" bit is called a Uni-bit or step drill. You can get them in various sizes and they are a great tool for drilling clean holes in thin wall sheet metal like gas tanks. Harbor Freight sells them too. Much better than a hole saw bit and makes a lot less mess. Tape a paint spray can lid under the hole before drilling to catch most of the chips.

@Patrick Ford - Cletha and I say Hi and give Becky a hug for us. FJR and Wee, way to go grrrl!

 

[Patrick Ford]

The "cone drill" bit is called a Uni-bit or step drill. You can get them in various sizes and they are a great tool for drilling clean holes in thin wall sheet metal like gas tanks. Harbor Freight sells them too. Much better than a hole saw bit and makes a lot less mess. Tape a paint spray can lid under the hole before drilling to catch most of the chips.

@Patrick Ford - Cletha and I say Hi and give Becky a hug for us. FJR and Wee, way to go grrrl!

I will tell her. She loves that FJR more everytime she gets on it.

 

[MtyQuinn]

My daughter and I just did a bulkhead fitting on her FJR. Also we did one on her Wee Strom. Both used copper 90' fittings from Ace Hardware. 5/16" with rubber fuel line hose.
After getting photos from UTube I drilled a correct sized hole with a cone drill. (Not the correct name but I forgot it)
After making sure of the outlet position we cheated a bit on both bikes. We JB Welded them in place using lots of that messy stuff on the joints with a lock but on the inside. No leaks. You can find photos and directions on u tube. Be sure and put a inline fuel filter on the aux discharge line.

Well the best of it is you don't have leaks. And the drill bit is a Unibit. Thank you for the tip.

 

[ibafran]

I bought a similar aluminum tank from Summit Racing thinking that if it was sold for racing that it would be excellent equipment. Mounted it like a top box with gravity feed. What could go wrong? Took it to Deadhorse and Eagle Plains and a lot of Far North gravel road. Basically, the mounting tabs fractured. There was a thin sheet of roofing rubber between the whole of it and the mounting plate. The idea was to eliminate/dampen any vibration or scuffing between the two pieces. This worked great for a road bike. But failed on the Haul Road. IF...I was to do such a thing again, I would make a set of cross-straps to fit over the the tank to keep it in place (fore-aft-vertical) when the tabs fractured. Maybe lined with some hard rubber for some tension.

The alternative is some sort of poly tank properly bracketed which I suspect might actually work much better than aluminum for our purposes.

I would schedule a regular and careful inspection of these mounting tabs at least daily if not at every fuel stop while the tank has fuel. I was very surprised to find 2 broken and the other 2 well on their way to separation one morning in the Far North.

ALSO...I would mount the tank in such away that in a crash it would not drag directly on the gravel/pavement. The aluminum is very soft and abrades thru in less than 20 feet of its own weight plus fuel. (Makes me wonder how such a thing ever got past any kind of race tech inspection/testing?)

As a personal preference, I hate giving up the pillion place to mount aux fuel. But that area does seem to be a location that minimizes mounting problems.

And as an extra special hint for those running aluminum tanks having any kind of cap that can't be replaced at the nearest auto parts store or big box store, tether the cap real well. If it is a weird cap, carrying a spare could be a good idea even if the original is tethered. If it is an ordinary cap and one is on a big (rally? Cert?) ride, carrying a spare is still a good idea with the original tethered. Ask at any fuel stop if they have collected any lost fuel caps? There is usually a box of 6-8 that they give to customers who have found theirs missing and hoping one of them might fit.
fran

 

[Donald Lowrey]

Yes, that makes a good aux tank. How are you planning to tap into the main tank on the FJR? I have been testing for 30,000 miles the BMW method which is to use the main tank vent line and the fuel pump pulls the gas from the aux tank. I have some information on my website on how I did it. If you are interested in using the method I am using let me know and we can talk.

http://www.gregrice.com/bike/fjr.html

Hi Greg
How did you secured the aux tank to the FJR? From the pictures on your site, it looks like the tank is on or over the pillion seat. Is there a fabricated support to the subframe? Do have a picture that you can share?
Thank you
-DL