advice needed - fuel needed for stans and mongolia
 

I need some advice. I'm planning on travelling up through the stans and across Mongolia to ulan Bator. I have a BMW 800GS which only has a 16 litre tank with a range of about 150 miles. I'm also planning on carrying another 5-10litres in fuel cans.

Does anyone know how easy it is to pick up fuel in these areas? What will be the greatest distance between sources of fuel?

If your route is Iran-Turkmen.-Uzbek-Kyrgyz.-Kazak.-Mongolia

If the situation has not changed

for Iran .............. Tehran -Mashad ........ probably
Kazakhstan .... Almaty -Mongolian border .. definetly

short for 150 miles range ...

i guess the longest distances between fueling will be in Mongolia and i'm hoping an extra 10 litre can will cover the distances inbetween petrol points.

150 miles?
 

Hi, i was surprised at your quoted figure of about 150 miles range on your 800GS, these bikes are incredibally frugal generally and i am getting nearly 200 when ridden pretty hard on mine... when i take it easier i will get about 225/235. Also, if you fill the tank from empty you will find that it actually takes just over 17 litres. Even another five litres should give you a range of 250miles pretty comfortably and probably closer to 275+.

Have you run your tank all but dry, filled it completely and then run it again till empty to check what your true range is? if not, could be worth doing.

I had a 200 mile range on my Burgman (15 litre tank) and had no problems. The burgie even did well on the 76RON fuel in Kazakhstan (all you could get between Astrakhan and Oral).

Garry from Oz.

I would never get on the bike with a fuel range less than 250 miles (400 km) for such a trip ! If the tank is small, you must look for carrying extra fuel on bike imho. :oops2:

Samy

Translation of my previous post .... :(

150 miles range is a bit short for Almaty-Mongolian border and Tehran-Mashad .... of course if the situation is the same as 2003 ...

10 lt jerry can would definetly be necessary ...

It's probably more like 160 commuting in London as there's a lot of first and second gear action. I'm expecting more on the open road.

I'm measuring it on the trip metre at the moment and it's looking like it's going to come in around the 160 mark. I'll probably repeat this a few times.

Gary,

Thanks for the useful info.