All your long-range fuel solutions

[Chris Scott]

Going on a big trip? Gonna need a bigger tank or extra fuel storage – at least once in a while. Then again, some modern efi bikes like a CB500X (17.5L tank) are so economical you can manage 250miles/400km.

I've written a post listing most of the obvious solutions; bigger tanks handmade or off the shelf, enlarged tanks, auxiliary tanks, fuel bladders, coke bottles, jerry cans, riding slower or on a smaller bike.
Got any more? Add them here.

[caminito]

Planned trips can make use of hidden or buried fuel containers
(Someone goes ahead, works out the route and leaves fuel for the bikes , taking exact gps coordinates helps, 7 of us spent 3 hours looking for the container in patagonia
Ps in your next edition could youadd a section on food and drink, eg the water in Ecuador is not drinkable anywhere..
Thanks

[Chris Scott]

We cached it in 2003 for Desert Riders and I have some more waiting for me in Western Sahara near a lone tree if it hasn't evaporated yet.
I've learned that if you don't DIY it's very important to have a landmark or two + '10 steps north of the tree' (for example) as back up.
In 2003 we were expecting GPS anomalies as Iraq 2 was about to kick off. As it happened GPS was spot on. Time before, looking for tyres from a previous trip - hours of digging but we got them.
Thanks for Ecuador tip. Must be bottled sold there, no?

[caminito]

Yes bottled and a recognized brand, like made by Coca Cola bottlers.
Big bottles (20 l) in hotel entrances are no good, they are often filled from tap and placed on cooler machine. Biggest problen is , food is washed in tap water, so if it isn't peeled by you, fried or....
" crema de bismuto" bismuth works ok

[oldbmw]

It does not have to be a modern bike, My Enfield 500cc avl engined bike is good for 240 miles on a 13 litre tank. If I think I need to carry extra fuel usually carry two 2.5 litre plastic oil cans. Only fill them for the tricky bits, Easy to carry empty.

[maria41]

Hi,

In all our trips we never really bothered with changing the fuel tank. Except this time with one bike (TTR 250).

We found most time we don't need extra fuel. On the occasions we required it we took:
For South America, ( 2 BMW 650gs single) we used disposable flat packed one gallon fuel packs. Not sure they exist anymore. It was in 2007/ 2008. We used them once.

For our ride to Mongolia, in 2014, on two Xr 125, we had a fuel bladder of 8litres. We only used it few times in Mongolia, Uzbekistan and maybe Kazakhstan. We had 12 litre fuel tank. Enough to do about -80 / 200 miles.

This time round, we are travelling across Russia and Central Asia on a TTR 250 with an Acerbis fuel tank (22litres).
I ride an XT250 with only the basic fuel tank, just under 10 litres. I have a range of 300 kms at least. I did not want the extra weight of carrying lots of fuel I really do not usually need!

The Acerbis fuel tank already has caused problems, coming loose on gravel and dirt roads.
I carry a fuel bladder of 5 litres. I may use it at some point, but so far 45 days across Russia north, we never needed it. Maybe in Kyrgyz or Tajikistan. We will see!

[Johnbroers]

Hi used 5 ltr jerrycan at the passenger footrest at the non exhaust side of my Transalp 600.

Regards John

[reggie3cl]

Desert Fox fuel bladder. Don't often need it as my GS has a range of 350 km, but on occasion (Tanzania, Bolivia spring to mind) it's been reassuring to have that extra gallon or so. I empty it at 100km, roll it up and store it in my Mosko Backcountry 35s 'beavertail' . Weighs next to nothing.

[Tomkat]

Interesting thread resurrection, and one of use to many I suspect. It's certainly one that I've given some thought to as I bought my current bike (790 Adv) with Central Asia in mind, where fuel supplies may be some hundreds of kms apart. I calculated from actual fuel consumption that I should be able to get 430 kms on the road just from the fuel tank, and carrying a 6.6L Rotopax brings me up to 580 kms, which should see me through for most purposes. I reckon I could stretch that to 600 kms on a flat road keeping the speed down.

I've mounted the Rotopax on the left pannier frame (soft bags) as this makes the width on the left the same as on the right, where the frame sticks out to clear the exhaust. Conveniently this leaves some extra space on the inner side of the left pannier frame to add a Givi S250 tool box. One of the nice things about this arrangement is it keeps the fuel weight low.

[Chris Scott]

Fyi, the OP from this thread gets regularly updated as I come across new ideas and solutions.

https://adventure-motorcycling.com/l...-motorcycling/.

[FDC75]

What is your opinion on the Desertfox and Armadillo fuel bags, have you ever used them?
I was thinking of buying a 6L or 2Gal one for my next trip.