Aux fuel tank yes or no.

Ahamay

The Joker
IBA Member
#21
I had a BMW GSA and could comfortably do 300 miles between refills and was glad to get off the bike,
I take shawn K's point about value I currently run Yamaha T7 that will do 220 miles per tank although 200 is a more practical range with a 2 ltr can as a back up.
Camel ADV have a 5 ltr aux tank £ 369 from Rugged roads a nice piece of engineering and will give 75 miles you would not want any more extra capacity is it worth it??
 
#22
I like to stop when I want to stop not when I have too for fuel.

I live in Texas so in some areas there can be a long ways between fuel supplies. I like to ride in places where fuel stations are few and far between.

If I lived in the northeast US, and only rode up there, I probably would not consider an auxiliary.

Once I get in the riding mode I don't like to stop until my body says to stop.

A 1.8 gallon auxiliary plus the stock 4.8 gal (I can get 4.9 to 5 on the right slope) on my Honda VTX1300R is enough to get me comfortably to 200 miles. I would like 300 for an IBA Gold ride.

My Yamaha Royal Star Venture S has a 5.9 gallon stock tank but 4 thirsty carbs. I bought a used 5 gallon tank mounted in place of my pillion so I could achieve 300+ miles on a fill. 5 gallons extra is overkill but nice to have extra. I purchased a new 3.5 gallon (takes less room) yet to be mounted in place of the 5 gallon. It should work just fine, especially for extended touring. For anything over a SS1000 I'll use my 5 gallon.

This was my learning curve, my experience with my prefered riding area, and personal requirements. Each person must decide for themselves.
I'm also in Texas... I completed my first ride a week ago... Last time I did 1000 miles in 24 hours it was when I was in the Navy and being transferred between bases... Let's just say that it was a lot easier 40 years ago... Getting old sucks...

My wife is in Europe for the month and I guess I was just trying to prove to myself that I wasn't OLD yet... Not so sure how successful I was at that and I suspect I proved the exact opposite... :(

I chose to do a loop ride through South Texas -- basically, Houston -> McAllen -> Laredo -> Del Rio -> San Antonio -> Houston... That way, if anything went wrong, I wasn't TOO far from home... I was concerned about gas availability also since I had never tested my Harley FLHP-I to see exactly how far it would go to COMPLETELY empty... Normally, I would just look for a gas station immediately when the low fuel light would come on, so I didn't know how many miles I could get by before it truly ran dry... So, I carried a 5g plastic gas can with me with 4g in it... Unfortunately, the vent cap on it had gone missing and the vent hole had been plugged with a Torx machine screw -- which did a great job of sealing it, but made it impossible for me to open up the vent when I needed to transfer gas from the can to my tank... Without the vent, pouring the 4g into the main tank was VERY slow... As it turned out, I was able to get 168.6 miles on the tank (after which, I need to either have a spare gas can, be sitting in front of a gas pump, or I'll be pushing it).

A cold front had come down right before the ride, so I could not use the entire range on my tank anyway... I needed to stop often and put my hands on the engine or exhaust to thaw them out... Because the route was basically a triangular loop, I needed to be concerned about whether the IBA would claim that I was cutting corners, so even it it hadn't been cold, I don't think I would have gotten much benefit out of really long fuel legs on this particular ride... As the ride progressed, I was cold, shivering, and basically having to crawl off the bike at each fuel stop... It ended up taking me 23 hours to do the 1033.7 (odometer) / 1040 (Google Maps) mile route...

I'll probably end up plumbing in an aux tank one of these days since I like the flexibility that it gives me...

So, what does a windshield look like after 1033.7 miles of South Texas bugs?
th-640-ss-1000-20221022-234805633.jpg

Assuming I did my calculations right, I used 30.9702 gal and had a fuel economy of 33.3772 mpg.
 
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#23
Congratulations on the ride.

I just returned from a ride with two buddies to Ft. Davis, Marfa, Candelaria via the 2810/Pinto Canyon Road (30+ miles mostly roller coaster & rocky), The River Road (170) to Big Bend and the Old Maverick Road (dirt and gravel), the the Twisted Sisters (335, 336, 337). The bugs were terrible.

As of June I am on a Triumph Tiger 900. I sacrificed the comfortable seat of my Royal Star Venture and shaft drive for a lighter motorcycle. At age 73 the RSV was getting to be a bit of a beast.

Do not let the number of birthdays you have had make you think you are old. I qualified for the Mile Eater Gold and another Silver in June. My latest IBA ride was the Fall Equinox Saddle Sore 1000 in September, turn 74 in January. Planning to ride the Trans Labrador Highway next summer.

Don't let the old man in. Must keep up the activity. I admit I get tired easier.
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#24
sacrificed the comfortable seat of my Royal Star Venture and shaft drive for a lighter motorcycle.
I don't know if you've ever tried a Russell Day-Long saddle or not, but they make a fine product. The RDL on my ST1300 was better even than the seat on my Gold Wing (and that's a fine seat in its own right).

RDLs are pricey, but worth it if you're a long-distance aficionado.
 
#25
Congratulations on the ride.

I just returned from a ride with two buddies to Ft. Davis, Marfa, Candelaria via the 2810/Pinto Canyon Road (30+ miles mostly roller coaster & rocky), The River Road (170) to Big Bend and the Old Maverick Road (dirt and gravel), the the Twisted Sisters (335, 336, 337). The bugs were terrible.
Which brings up something that I've wondered about... If you've plotted out a ride and all the possible highway routes suggested by Google Maps result in an indirect route to get between the two point, but you discover after the ride when you are submitting your documentation for the ride that there was a dirt road that was quite a bit more direct, would the person doing the certification for the ride claim that you could have taken the dirt road instead and thus decrease your total mileage? I noticed something like that after my ride when I was writing it up. Going from Laredo to Eagle Pass by highway was 121 miles (1h58m) whereas if you went on the dirt road, it was 114 miles (3h5m)... It doesn't make that many miles difference in this case, but I could see how it could make more of a difference sometimes...

It's not like I would have been driving on THIS road in the day, much less at night, on MY bike:

x.jpg
 
#27
I
I don't know if you've ever tried a Russell Day-Long saddle or not, but they make a fine product. The RDL on my ST1300 was better even than the seat on my Gold Wing (and that's a fine seat in its own right).

RDLs are pricey, but worth it if you're a long-distance aficionado.
Thanks. I have heard of them. I'll have to check into it.
 
#28
Which brings up something that I've wondered about... If you've plotted out a ride and all the possible highway routes suggested by Google Maps result in an indirect route to get between the two point, but you discover after the ride when you are submitting your documentation for the ride that there was a dirt road that was quite a bit more direct, would the person doing the certification for the ride claim that you could have taken the dirt road instead and thus decrease your total mileage? I noticed something like that after my ride when I was writing it up. Going from Laredo to Eagle Pass by highway was 121 miles (1h58m) whereas if you went on the dirt road, it was 114 miles (3h5m)... It doesn't make that many miles difference in this case, but I could see how it could make more of a difference sometimes...

It's not like I would have been driving on THIS road in the day, much less at night, on MY bike:

View attachment 9201
Looks interesting.

I never thought about it if the shorter way was a dirt road. I don't think they would zap you for it. Ira may have some input on that question But be sure to document the corners.

There is a dusty SS1000.
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#29
would the person doing the certification for the ride claim that you could have taken the dirt road instead and thus decrease your total mileage?
This is why running a satellite tracker or an app like Bubbler is so valuable. You're not evaluated on what the IBA thinks you *should* ride, you're evaluated on the ride that you DID ride.

The IBA is essentially a records-keeping organization. That's why DBR's, trackers, and proper document submission are paramount. As has been said on this forum many times over the years, no ride was ever declined because of too much documentation, but they have been declined for TOO LITTLE documentation.
 
#30
This is why running a satellite tracker or an app like Bubbler is so valuable. You're not evaluated on what the IBA thinks you *should* ride, you're evaluated on the ride that you DID ride.

The IBA is essentially a records-keeping organization. That's why DBR's, trackers, and proper document submission are paramount. As has been said on this forum many times over the years, no ride was ever declined because of too much documentation, but they have been declined for TOO LITTLE documentation.
I guess I'll find out how picky they are... Probably not on the example that I posted above since I did have a gas receipt on the normal paved highway, but there was one place where there was a lot of road construction around Corpus Christi and confusing road signs that had me headed to Corpus and the coast and I did not realize it until I saw the USS Lexington... I had GPS Logger app running on a spare cell phone and put the GPX file in the documentation... Using the online GPX viewer at https://gpxviewer.1bestlink.net it is possible to see exactly where I went though... That cellphone's battery did not last the entire trip. but it lasted the first half of it which had the most corners that could be questionable... The slowest the app can log the coordinates is every 3 seconds which is probably why the battery did not last the entire trip...

1667189108035.png

This is how much the GPX file logged:
1667189217471.png
 

Shawn K

Professional Cat Confuser
Premier Member
#31
The slowest the app can log the coordinates is every 3 seconds which is probably why the battery did not last the entire trip...
You may already know this, but in case you don't, there are multiple solutions on the market for USB connections that can be wired directly to your battery. No more dead phones!
 
#32
You may already know this, but in case you don't, there are multiple solutions on the market for USB connections that can be wired directly to your battery. No more dead phones!
I haven't even decided on a cell phone mount that I would trust yet... :)

I was originally thinking that I would mount one of the marine 12V lighter / power ports on the handlebar and use a USB power adapter like you might use in a car that did not have a USB plug. I did see this unit the other day and was thinking that it could be modified to provide a bit more security for the phone:

1667222642796.png

My concern on many of the cell phone mounts is that they have the fingers on the sides that only tighten in one dimension (e.g. horizontal). I would want ones that tighten in the other (e.g. vertical) dimension also and not just be relying on the friction of the rubber pads on the inside of the fingers to keep it from sliding out in the other dimension. I've had a few phones come out of their holders in my Jeep when off-road (even though I was going slow), so I'm a bit paranoid about this. Pretty mild off-roading...

 

Stephen!

Flivver Flyer
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
#35
My concern on many of the cell phone mounts is that they have the fingers on the sides that only tighten in one dimension (e.g. horizontal). I would want ones that tighten in the other (e.g. vertical) dimension also and not just be relying on the friction of the rubber pads on the inside of the fingers to keep it from sliding out in the other dimension.
How about criss-cross with pockets on the corners and a mechanical ratchet lock that keeps everything closed until you squeeze the levers to open them? Requires a slight modification of the arms if you have a thick ruggedized phone like mine, but it will not let go until you want it to...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B088KKNXDX
 

Terrywerm

Active Member
#36
Here is another vote for the RAM Quick Grip. I have one on my Goldwing and have gotten rid of my old X-grip in the semi truck and replaced it with a Quick Grip as well. Worth every penny!!

Whoops - I meant to put this in the Cockpit Layouts thread. That's what I get for having two threads open at the same time!
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#37
I went to Rokform locking mounts on a couple of my bikes and am happy. I prefer a physical clip in/engagement for retention over friction grip. Lost a GPS unit to a friction mount once. Never had an issue with any of my clip style engagement even when I just had a ram ball mounted to the back of an otter box belt case (with the belt clip removed).
I hear the Quad Lock stuff is also quite good but I was already invested in Rokform so I have stuck with it.