Afternoon all

Ok, we did a milage check the other day (when my bike was going).

We decided we wanted know how far the bike would go till reserve, I do not know what the reserve capacity of the Safari tank is so if someone does know please let me know.

So ..... riding the bike the speedo reads 60 mph, Mrs.Garmin shows 56/57 mph corrected.

That gives a correction value of approx 5%.

I travelled 441 miles so 709.7 km (approximately ) when is spluttered and I changed over to reserve.

Correction of 5% on Speedo would be around 419 miles or 675 km till reserve which is not too shabby.

We have yet to bend our fuel lines horizontal on the carb to get the last of the fuel out which I will do when we do the main valve service.

Anyway, hope this info is useful for someone ponding the merits of a larger tank for your DR 650.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

By way of comparison, I get a little under 350km from my 20L IMS tank to reserve.

Thanks Andi & Ellen,

That's useful info for me as I prepare for my trip next year.
When you start bending that fuel line it wil creak and groan quite a bit. I heated mine up and slapped it in a vice for this procedure. It creaked over in one move but scared the living daylights out of me in the process as I thought I'd busted the thing off!
It was great to meet you two in Nakusp this year.
Wish we could have spent more time chatting

kindest ergards

Nevil

Just make sure you fix the bolts that screw in up under the tank securely. They say no to loctite so I put siliconesealant over the head, once tightened. Do it, otherwise they fall out!!
Big tank = big miles and looks cool

Cheers

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www.wollongongtowoolwich.co.uk

Most of the speedos that I have owned in the US are optimistic on the speed part but the odometer is usually pretty close to accurate.

Totally agree with that! I kept loosing them until I stuck a stripe of duct tape across their heads.
I also broke the original aluminium cross brace once in a fall. Good to bring a spare one if you still have the aluminium version with your tank. Apparently since last year Safari tanks come with a steel cross brace!?!?

I once intentionally tried to run my 30l Safari Tank empty on my 2010 DR650SE. Having the taps in 'On' position the bike stopped after 629km (speedo reading). Switching into 'Res' position did not do anything, the tank was really run empty! Good I was near a petrol station. To my surprise there I filled up with almost 32l of petrol and still not being at the rim of the tank inlet! I also never turned the metal inlet of the carb around. Maybe that would have enabled me to tap into some 'Res' fuel or not, I don't know.

However, in almost 40000km of travelling, buying good fuel and bad fuel, with luggage or not, on good roads and bad roads, I found nothing makes a huge difference for the fuel consumption. Very consistently my bike used 5.0l/100km.

Good luck with yours!

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no risk - no fun

My Safari tank held 36 liters after using it for a year or two and being left out in the Spanish sun. Must have blown up a bit but luckily no fitment problems.


Very surprising to hear this, I would guess you have never ridden at full throttle on the highway? Trying to hang with a R12GS and a 990 doing 140-150 km/h my fuel consumption went up about 50% from just cruising the back roads at 100 km/h.

My experience on DR650s has also been spot on 20km/l. On anything under 100km/h and under 3000m

Mine would drink a little more over 100km/h, but funnily enough my girlfriend's didn't.

__________________
Vladivostok - Denmark 2008... Finished.
Denmark - South Africa 2010-2011... Finished.

OEM fuel tank of the DR is 13l of which 3l is reserve. Gives a range of 200km 'til reserve and 260km 'til dry.
Less if you go balls to the wall, into a howling headwind or through thick sand and muck. More, sometimes much more on dirt roads at 60kmh - 90kmh. (I managed more than 25km with a litre whilst riding with the missus & her Djebel 200)

We have Clarke tanks on our two DR650SE's.
They only hold 16l (13l plus 3l reserve) but have a number of advantages over all the other tanks:
The Clarke is the one and only which delivers true OEM part quality. It fits like a glove, the finish is flawlewss, it takes the automatic vacuum operated OEM fuel tap, does not restrict access to the engine and is removed just as quickly and easily as the OEM tank. Knee fit is perfect, the tank is sleek and narrow.
If it would come with two little steel tube spacers to fit the rear tank mounts it would be perfect. (Cut from 10mm x1.5 hydraulic pipe)

As mentioned it's only 16l which translates into 320kms until you're on the fumes. You'll hit the reserve after 260km.
Sufficient range with a little bit of planning here in SA.
Advantage: There is little slosh when it's half full.

Comparsion with advantages and disadvantages of the competitors:
IMS: You buy 3l of extra fuel with shoddier finish, a flimsy fuel tap (you have to trim the mounting hole in the tank and cut a bit off two ribs off the cylinder head if you want to use the OEM tap, recommended) and a brittle filler cap which unlike the Clarke does not use the "standard" cap thread making aftermarket purchases a bit more challenging. It's more expensive than the Clarke too and the need to buy a decent filler cap like a Tusk will add some 30US$ to the price tag. 380km 'til dry, 320km 'til reserve

The new Acerbis is - as usual - not famous for its finish. Italian tanks always came with poorly cleaned mould flash and this one does not make an exception. The fuel tap is as flimsy as the one supplied by IMS and the tap o-ring does not seal. Gotta love them Itailians
20l gives pretty much the same range as the IMS. Reserve seems to be a tad more (4l). Reserve after 320km, dry after 400km.

The Aqualine Safari - erm - is I'd say a bit cntroversial:
The fit is pathetic. Yo have to trim the tank mount rubbers else you won't get it onto the bike at all.
The aluminium cross brace looks as if someone welded it up next to the taxi rank in Khayelitsha. The way it attaches to the tank and braces against the frame show only the lack of a basic understanding of engineering principles. Nothing else. Expect to break stuff in a fall or redesign it.
IMHO a very poor product even more if you look at the atrocious pricing. Fuel slosh is a problem. An aprupt stop on a half full tank will have the bike rocking back and forth and the weight of 30l of juice don't make the ride handle like a mountain bike. Consider tank foam.
Tank removal for maintenance is a major mission.
Poor you if you need the range. Gravity feed will drain some 32l towards your carb giving you a range of 640km. Two taps give you two reserves. Can't remember when you hit reserve.

Is there an aftermarket tank that has a locking gas cap? Or a tank that accepts the stock Suz locking gas cap?

Procycle seem to sell a locking cap that is advertised as fitting all the aftermarket tanks except Clarke. It is about half way down this page. I don't have any experience with it....
Suzuki DR650 Parts, Accessories, & Performance - ProCycle

Don't bother.

After awhile there is an internal "bladder" ball that expands. According to Procycle due to fuel additivies. Once this happens, bike won't vent and you will stall out (took me a week to figure out what the heck was happening)

Called Procycle and after many failed fixes they had me puncture the ball so air would pass...downside - fuel comes out the cap during quick accelerations and stops

Stick with the IMS cap. Or buy a different tank.

Cheers,
Chris

So the Safari tank keeps getting bigger, it now holds 37 litres!

running a 16 tooth front sprocket and doing a full tank of gas the DR did 4 L/100km...riding 110-120 kmh loaded on highway for 400 kms, 400 kms at 100 -105 kmh and 100 kms at 60 - 80 kmh kmh on backroads, giving a range of 900 kms...

this is in North America though, so real world overlanding elsewhere with 15 or 14 tooth sprockets and different jetting/elevation/use of WOT/headwinds/load/piste surface I think 600 -800 kms is realistic depending on your tanks volume.

If you fit the Safari tank the cable retainers on each side of the frame can rub on the back of the tank, trim them down, also the cross brace can rub on the tank just by the petcock especially when the tank is full, add some extra rubber washers so it separates them more.

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca