Only twice on the last rally would a bigger gas tank had come in handy. I only had two gas stops in Ed's Last Resort Rally 2011 that were just gas stops, and not documenting where I was, or required for a bonus. But skipping those 2 stops could have saved me +/- 15 mins. Not a huge deal, but considering I came in 15 mins early, and add those 15 mins in... thats 30mins that possibly could have led to one more bonus stop. And on the SS1000, it also would have saved me 2 gas stops in between mandatory stops. But almost all veteran rally riders have an aux tank, and since dad was offering one up, I jumped on it. Even if the tank was full of gremlins and left dad out of gas on the side of the road, 15 mins from the end of a rally.... WITH GAS STILL IN IT.
The Concours already has a 7 gal fuel tank... one of the largest on a motorcycle... but an extra 4 gals increases the the range another 50%. Luckily it came off of a Concourse, so all the mounting was easy as can be. I had to loose my top trunk, which is a huge storage loss, but I probably carry too much crap with me in the other bags anyway. I removed all the trunk hardware, and added the mounting hardware for the tank. Easy as pie. Bolted the straps around the tank, and to the mounting platform... a few bolts short. No problem... Fuel lines too short!! It was late so I quit for the night, and went to get the new lines and a T fitting the next morning. Tried a few different routes for the line, so all the bodywork would work without crimping the line anywhere. Finally got it all routed, tie wrapped, and ready to test. I went to the gas station with a gas can (the main tank was emptied for the install) and got 2 gals of gas. I poured it all in the aux tank, since it should flow into the main tank. Luckily there is a see through filter where it comes out of the aux tank. I saw it was half full of gas, and half full of water!! I turned the valve off and dumped the water out of the filter. All good right! I get it cranked up, and warmed up, and start down the road to go fill up the tank. It dies 50 ft from the house. Cranks up, but dies with any throttle input. WTH. I figured water made it into the carb float bowls, so I drained them and started it back up. Within seconds, the filter was full of water again! I checked it before I installed it... nothing poured out of it so I figured I was good. Apparently, there was a lot of moisture in the foam inside the tank. So few sloshes, and more filter / carb dumps I was off again to the gas station, with a gas can, for more gas. This time I put a gal in the main tank, and the other gal in the aux tank. I was hoping to see the gas gauge move up to "see" the gas fill from the aux to the main tank. I took it out for a ride, and watched the gauge. Nothing! Gauge stayed on dead empty. I'm thinking I inherited the gremlins that were in the tank before! I ran the bike with the fuel petcock on ON, RESERVE, PRIME... nothing. Dead empty. The kids were outside playing, so I took a break to play with them, and think about what is wrong. When I get back to it, gas was leaking all over the bottom of the bike, onto the ground. WTF. Oh... I left it on PRIME. Gas was flowing out of the carb, into the air filter housing, and leaking out. I turned the petcock to ON (there is no OFF.. OFF is On with bike OFF.. got it), aux tank OFF, and let it air dry for a bit. I took it back out for a ride to be sure it wasn't flooded too bad with gas. Seemed to be fine. I parked it for good that day... outside in case something else decides to spring a leak. My thoughts at this point are... the 1/4" fuel line from the aux tank is small, so the fuel is flowing SLOW. Barely faster than what the bike was using. And the gas was so low in the main tank, that it wouldn't show any changes on the gauge even if all the fuel made it into the main. It shows empty at about 5 gals used, not 7. So that makes sense I didn't see it move.
The next day after work, I suit up for another test ride. A longer ride this time. I drove it to the gas station, filled up the aux tank to the top, and filled up the main tank until the gauge read about 1/2. That way I could watch it move. Off I went. I took it out for about 30 - 40 mins, and the gauge moved a bit to the plus side, but nothing drastic. But when I got home, the aux tank was more than half empty, so I know it was working, most likely just feeding the motor more then filling the main... but at least its working!! Still a hint of water in the fuel filter so a bit more maintenance/full tank runs will be required. But now I can ride 325 - 350 miles before I go on reserve, and then I have another 50 miles to go. But thats well over 4 hours in the saddle, which is probably long enough without stopping. Time for a BBG1500!!
Miles
