| Author | Message | ||
     Sub65chris |
I'm a little behind the times and want a larger capacity fuel tank for my xb9sx . does anyone have sugestions on how to or has anyone welded the snorkle hole shut to increase tank size? Also has anyone made and auxilary fuel tank , like slung under the tail etc.? later | ||
| Cataract2 |
Can't say that I know of anyone doing this, but planning on going on the Iron Butt?  | ||
| Aussie_buell |
Have you thought about an auxillary tank, like an aftermarket genetic one or the one they use on the V-rods. That might get you out of trouble???? | ||
| Slaughter |
I think an aux tank of some sort makes more sense - but you have to run lines in a safe/secure way so they're not vulnerable in normal wear and tear - or in a tip-over. My "gut" tells me to stay away from modifying the existing tank/frame unless you know an awesome aluminum welder. You also have to remember that you're going to burn the liner in the welding so there's more work than just cutting the snorkel out and welding the holes shut. You're going to have to look at feathering back the liner before welding and then either ignoring the bare aluminum on the inside or trying to get some sort of sloshing compound to coat the bare metal - but that's a whole science project in itself. IF I were doing it, I'd just leave it bare and once in a while look inside with an inspection mirror just to make sure the existing coating wasn't peeling back around the exposed edges (but I'm an aircraft kinda guy and prolly more anal-retentive than most folks) The welding itself is probably not too expensive but tearing the whole bike apart, draining, solvent cleaning and purging the tank BEFORE welding aint easy or simple. If you find a welder willing to weld it with the frame on your bike, RUN AWAY!!! | ||
| No_rice |
there are people out there that have closed the hole in the frame to get more fuel. cant remember names off the top of my head. there would be alot of work involved in doing it though u realize. i have talked about pulling mine in the shop and sealing it up, but never seem to get around to it. | ||
| Sub65chris |
I think that i will just make a aux tank for under the tail . maybe just replace the under tail tray with the top of the aux tank and make a natural curve so the tire doesnt hit with full swing . I also work with aircraft and know a few really good sheet metal guys . i'll have them fabricate and then I'll take it to the weld shop . Slaughter said something about a coating, where can i get that to coat the aux tank ? The other thing is can anyone see a problem with plumbing the aux tank through the drain plug ? mabye put a petcock valve under the tank to keep it closed until its needed . coments?  | ||
| Glitch |
coments? I have plenty of range. I guess where you live the gas stations are more than 150 miles apart, and therefore you need the extra tank? | ||
| Sub65chris |
i dont like stopping every 150 miles especially when the guys I ride with are getting 200-220 miles a tank on their r6 , etc . later | ||
| Bomber |
over on the Uly thread, a guy named BienHoaBob has plumbed an aux tank into his Uly for Iron Butt runs -- great data over there --- it's an easy walk ;-} | ||
| Sub65chris |
Thanks Bomber that i exactaly what i was looking for , only for the lightning and under the tail. Thanks a bunch later | ||
| Slaughter |
Chris - if you're working aircraft - you can probably get sloshing compounds from Aircraft Spruce or Wicks aircraft supply houses - though it might create more problems than it's worth since you're trying to get a coating to stick to both the original coating and to the bare aluminum. The aluminum surface itself is really pretty durable as a tank interior (there are some OLD aluminum tanks still out there) - and the only concern I'd have would be that the exposed edges of the original liner might peel away over time. No bad experience or bad news that causes me to say that - just a thought. Again, you need to talk to your welder to see how far back around the weld he'd need to have the liner removed because it's gonna fry and bubble with the heat. Probably ought to consider re-routing your induction cooling intake air (bunches of info here elsewhere on that) I am really curious about the undertail tank - we'd considered something like that for endurance racing. | ||
| Ulendo |
to weld it up 'clean', make sure the welder plumbs the tank with argon ( pressurising the tank would be even better) Finding somone who can TIG weld it would be better still, but then you're talking real $$$ you can re-coat the inside of the frame using the the same compounds as the 4x4 guys use to coat the inside of old military gerry cans. ( IIRC, its some sort of 2 part plasticoat, or epoxy, but dont hold me to that)You can buy it from any of the on-line 4x4 supply places. either way, probably not worth the cost if you have to pay someone else to do. For that matter, I do aluminum fab work, and for safety's sake, rather than welding into a structural section of the frame, I'm only planning on building some sort of bolt-on tank wrapped around the tail section / rear spring. what I havent figured out yet is whether it'll require a seperate fuel pump, or if it'll sit high enough to cross-plumb to the main tank. I'll post pics when I get into it - still wrangling the financing for my ride though. | ||
| Cruisin |
I do know a guy (Charlie) who had two metal tanks fab'd into saddle bags on his xb9s. He had a set of switches mounted under his leg for an aux fuel pump...when he was low enough he'd reach back, loosen the cap to vent, and flip the switches. The fuel pump would drain the cans into the main tank. After a few minutes he'd shut the pump off and close up the tanks. He'd have two extra gallons of gas very easily... | ||
| Blazinc5 |
An under tail aux. tank would be sweet but even if you could get something fab'd up I wonder about capacity.. half gallon///maybe a gallon?? I never looked under my undertail to see what kind of room a guy would have.. I would stay away from welding on a frame that has had fuel in it... Even if ya wash it out it still will have residual fumes that can still go boom. To wash it out rite, it would be VERY expencive, time consuming and do you realy wanna trust a guy to potentialy weaken or warp your frame.. Very possible due to the fact that you first have to pre-heat aluminum to get it to properly weld... I just figured for myself I would maybe go and buy a couple of the liter sized "white gas" cans ya can find in any outdoors and camping supply shop.. only takes a minute to put some fuel in and even if the people I rode with didn't wanna be nice and wait,, I could catch up... But hmmm,, a saddle bag mounted aux. fuel tank settup would be a pretty good idea too. | ||
| Ulendo |
<quote>Even if ya wash it out it still will have residual fumes that can still go boom<endquote> thats why you back-fill with argon - INERT gas = no oxygen for combustion ( and no carbon residue, or other slag on the inside of the weld) its the structural aspect that I'm concerned with: too much heat will physically change the strength in the alloy, and depending on the specific compound will either leave it brittle, or too ductile (soft). My ballpark guess for a rear wheel arch long-range auxiliary tank is ~8 ( ~2.1 US gallons) wont know for sure until I get my bike, and work into the project, but the shape is going to take some serious work - I've got a draft model on the computer at work for cutting on the C.N.C. table, and it comes out as 14 shapes, seam welded, and some of them will need working through the english wheel to get a 3d contour .... definitely a 'pet project' kind of thing, not what you want to be paying someone else to build. c. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I don't think this will yield as many positive gains to outweigh the negatives. They're stacking up quick. I personally couldn't swing a leg over a bike with a questionable tale of 'frame welds' which also happen to be on the fuel tank. I say ride until you need to fill up and smile as you make your buddies wait knowing you made a better decision. Keep us updated either way. | ||
| Ulendo |
Kowpow225 - I guess the issue is 'where do you drive'? for myself, I'm up in the BC interior, and like to go backroads adventure touring. There are times when I'd have to go out of my way / backtrack just to stay in range of a gas station, and no few places I'd like to go where the there-and-back trip is too far for a single tank run. thus the auxiliary tank I'm working up. I'd like to see 500km (312 mile) range or better | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I understand. It REALLY is an issue for you then. 312 mi. is going to need quite a tank for that haul. 6 gallons of gas or so....  | ||
| Ulendo |
I'm talking 500km combined range, not just from the aux tank, but even so, a built in tank, mounted low will have far better balance than any top mount tank, or gerry can solution. c. | ||
| Zxzer04 |
I read through this thread and seems like your friends on the other bikes need to stop and get a drink when you refuel, cheaper and easier on everyone. But if you do need a tank coat will the product that Kreem makes for that very application not work well? | ||
| Galloper |
Trading in on a SS is no option ?  | ||
| Jimincalif |
Look, if you know anything about metallurgy, you'll realize that having somebody weld on an aluminum frame is a really scary idea. I'm suggesting flat-out: don't even think about it. Accessory add-on tanks are a whole 'nother story and a lot more sane. I would start with something like a Givi box behind your seat. Inside that look at a small fuel cell meant for go-cart racing or something - they're available down in the 1gal to 2gal range and would still leave you some packing room on top of the cell. Some of the cells have a side filler system that could be capped through the Givi bag - in other words, the bag itself would have the cap externally available to one side rather than opening the bag to get at the filler. Under-tail is the other option. There are various shapes of critters available...start at: http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=115+%2D128260&D=%2D128260 This looks promising: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=RCI%2D2010A&N=%2D 128260+115&autoview=sku Here's something odd: 1qt fuel cells from "Jr. Dragster" racing?: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2D290196&N=%2 D128260+115&autoview=sku You could use an array of 'em in a Givi bag... Here's a 5gal, 12"x12"x8" tall. Also a Givi or similar possibility. Serious long legs there. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM%2D290204D&N=% 2D128260+115&autoview=sku 4gal, same as the 5gal but 10" wide. Here's a 2qt, nice shape for undertail, you could probably run a pair end to end under the rear seat. Anyways. You could probably whip up some rough measurements for either the undertail or Givi-innards concepts and then call Summit, see what they have that's close. | ||
| Stretchman |
Make a bracket and put it over the headlight. It'll be easily accessible, out of the way, and would prolly center the weight better. PLus, it would be closer to the real fuel tank. Might even make it bolt up to where the flyscreen is. Stretch | ||
| Ulendo |
JiminCali - not sure if you were talking to me, or not, but here goes with my $0.02 I'll be building my own trek luggage ( gotta figure if I can build a fuel cell, I can do luggage )and it would certainly get a decent capacity, but I don't plan to run the heavy set all the time, and quick-clip fuel connections all seem to leak sooner or later: having a fuel drip somewhere over the tailpipe seems like a really bad idea. balance is also something of an issue, albeit, with heavy luggage on, thats a non-starter anyway. ( I also have 'other' plans regarding my trek luggage, but thats for another thread) one thing no-one has mentioned is fuel slosh. Using a sponge filled tank is one option, building custom tanks with internal baffles is the other. the more fuel you add, the more it becomes an issue. centering the tank below the seat will minimize the potential for problems. Galloper - the Ss doesn't have enough extra capacity to make it worth the effort for me. Also, the cityX is lower geared - doesn't make any difference if you only ever ride on roads, but on backroads, you realize pretty quick that the slightly lower 1st gear can make a difference. $$$ is also something of an issue for me - I'm a single parent, and I'm pushing my budget to get the cityX... | ||
| Buellfirebolt31 |
Speaking of welding the frame, is there frame sliders that you can weld on? i thought i read something about that on here....thanks, Bradley |
