Legalities regarding the carrying of a Gerry-can full of fuel on a motorcycle in EU?
 

As the title says, I need to carry extra fuel to increase my range. Does anybody have any suggestions or warnings?

The population density of the EU being what is, I find it hard to imagine any circumstance in which you would need to carry extra fuel with you unless your bike has an unusually small fuel tank or unusually low fuel efficiency. There can't be many places in the EU where petrol garages are spaced more than 100km apart.

Safety warnings: common sense really. Isolate it from sources of heat or ignition and from places where it could get puncture. I had mine in my top-box, but we never actually needed to fill it. As for legalities, I don't really know. I sus[pect that if it is a petrol can (plastic 5l jobbies ) or the like you should be OK. I had heard that metal ones were no longer allowed. Don't know for sure

Like said earlier - in mainland EU I wouldn't have thought it necessary to carry any extra fuel. However, if you did I would tend to go for the plastic green (unleaded petrol) as that seems to be the EU standard now.

German rollers can be assy....

on my trip from Berlin heading north, just outside around Oranienburg, the cops stopped me for no reason as well as some more bikes after me, did ask the cop for what reason he stopped me, he answered they are checking regarding an investigation with a big smile in his face, turned over in to a stupid excuse to do a bike control with an even bigger smile, poking around the bike for 1/2 hour, just being anointing and keen to find just anything they could blame me for, at the end they made a note for a missing rear reflector....
well I had a MSR-water-sack strapped across the fuel tank and one of the cops asked me if that would be my "spare fuel" !
It' was just water so he was happy for that... well a proper plastic jerrycan is no problem as long you are not appear like a "tank-lorry-bike-driver"..... and or the fuel-can is not in direct view.......

On the other hand German cops are may a bit more relaxed if confronted with "Western-foreign-biker" regarding there poor school-English knowledge.... any way, dangers trap-hotspots are Motorways and bypasses, main roads leading in to industrial estates in the morning hours..... and mainly bordering areas to the north-east and south-east of Germany..... as a hint the rollers stopping eastern national vans, lorries and slow cars mainly accusing for smuggling fags.......

Try riding across rural France on a Sunday afternoon....

In Denmark (member of EU) you can transport maximum 10liter gasolin(in a car) and only in approved containers marked: "for gasolin only"

But you could camouflage it. Put the can in a pannier or in a throwover bag, BUT I didn't tell you to do so, when you come back after crashing and your a... was set on fire ;o))

Very true, I prefer the little roads, but when pressed for time will use motorways because you can guarantee to find fuel there. Unless there is a strike :)

For this reason I often carry 6 litres in a 5 litre can in one of my panniers :) I wish the tank was as generous, supposed to be 22 litres, but I have never managed to get more than 18 in it.

I metthe owner of this bike at lastyears diesel bike rally in Germany. He had had noproblems with carrying fuel ina plastic container. Then again, the fuel was diesel.

http://www.dieselbike.net/farymann.htm

France
 

Nope - well I'm not 100% certain on this, but as it's not legal to drive round with 5litres of fuel in your car in an approved can I can't see it being Ok on a bike. I will check to be 100% if you'd like though.

But even in rural France you're not too far from a town where you can find a 24hr pump you stuff your card in. Or a bar-tabac with some rusty old pumps outside where the scooters fill up. Or even a bar-tabac where you go in and ask and someone takes you round to the 24hr pump and fills up for you and you give them cash because you find your card doesn't work.

Gas in Europe
 

On a Sunday, getting fuel in some parts of the Netherlands and Belgium may also be a problem. There are some gasstations opened but they are mostly unmanned and work with a local kind of credit card only and don't accept VISA or MasterCard.

Last year, on a Sundaytrip in Belgium, the tank of my GoldWing was almost empty before I could find a gasstation that would accept my creditcard. (http://192.168.199.10/new4all/trips/ard07/index.shtml)

I've personally never had a problem using my Barclays Visa Connect Debit Card in any unmanned petrol station in France, Belgium or the Netherlands. Not sure if that was because I was using a debit card as opposed to a credit card though...

Since my cards have gone over to chip and pin, they have worked wherever I have tried them, before that they never did.

Carrying petrol in steel jerry cans is fairly common on sidecar outfits. Seen plenty of outfits carrying jerrycans in holders bolted or welded to the outside of the chair.

I myself carry a 20litre jerrycan on my own outfit, and in the UK and in continental Europe have never had anyone pass comment, other than petrol station attendants surprised at me filling up with 40litres on a bike.

The Ural on the Bonneville will hold three ten litre cans, plus another on the external rack. The kid at the petrol station did a proper double take when I bought 55 litres for my test run (for Morocco) with this set up :clap:. I think I was just at shocked at the cost mind :(

I've also never had any hassle anywhere in Europe and have met plenty of German sidecarists with the same sort of set up.

That said, with the exceptions of rural France and Northern Scandanavia (where you'd be daft not to carry a can), you don't really need one. For German cities where they are most likely to enforce the rules, I'd leave the can at home or drop down to a 2 litre E-marked plastic job. It weighs less and takes up less space too.

If you are worried, get a petrol camping stove and 1.5 litre fuel bottle or two. I'm sure the paperwork to charge you with carrying camping gear in a manner likely to result in extended motorcycle range would be too much for your average copper :confused1:

Andy