For quite a while I’ve been kicking around the idea of having additional fuel tanks on my PC. Sure, the PC can go 200+ miles between fill-ups, but sometimes you want the ability to carry more gas. On several occasions, I’ve been spotted riding around Oregon with a two gallon jerry can strapped to the passenger seat. Thus, it would be preferable to have an auxiliary fuel storage solution that is removable.
I obviously could go for a fuel bladder or RotopaX-style tank. However, that’d be too darn easy! Plus the RotopaX tank is entirely too square for our streamlined, curved bikes. And the fuel bladder solution seems to be less-than-ideal from a DOT perspective. Perhaps there is a DOT-approved bladder available, but I haven’t found it yet. That makes me think that I’m going to have to find someone (or do it myself) to mold a custom plastic tank or two.
Placement of the auxiliary tank seems most logical in the trunk. I would have two tanks — one on each side of the wheel. Depending on what I want, I will either fill the trunk completely, or only have the tanks come up partway so some storage room is left. I will want the tanks removable as well for the 99% of my time when I don’t need extended range.
Me being me, I want the auxiliary tanks plumbed into the rest of the fuel system. That way I can fill everything at once (ideally) and transfer fuel between the tanks as needed during the ride. Also this means that I will be able to have additional switches and knobs to play with on my dash. Maybe even a couple extra fuel gauges 🙂
A pump such as a Mikuni vacuum pump might work nicely to slowly transfer fuel around. It would also not require any electricity to operate — a big plus.
This project will be on the back burner to my fuel injection project. Eventually I’ll get it done though. As I have updates or notes to remember, I will post them in this category.
