Big Tank?

**Stretcher Monkey** · #1 19 May 2006

My mate seems to be obsessed with the capacity of adventure bike fuel tanks, and this seems to be the deciding point in his future purchase. What bike has the biggest fuel-carrying capacity, or who makes the biggest replacement tank and for which bikes? I think I have seen a plastic 50 litre tank on a Twinky. Any information/links greatly appreciated as this is becoming his obsession.

**Simon Kennedy** · #2 19 May 2006

Can I be the first to say that it is not necessary? Most places in the world are full of fuel stations. There are some stretches that require extra fuel, but gerrycans are the best solution.

To address your question more directly, I met a good number of guys riding big old BMW GS things with huge white plastic tanks on them. They looked pretty cool to my eyes.

Each of these guys, to a man, told the same story: it holds so much petrol you just forget about filling up. They ran out of fuel regularly.

I think the lure of the big tank is more about the look than the practicality.

If you are going to put an aftermarket tank on your bike, then remember that you should upgrade the front suspension accordingly.

Simon

**Stephano** · #3 19 May 2006

Another point to consider if traveling as a pair or in a group is that you are limited by the shortest range in the group. Unless you both get huge tanks, your friend will have to pull in for petrol when you do or share from his tank. (Obviously range is also affected by other factors such as riding style and engine size, not just tank size.)

Speaking from experience of desert riding, I rarely fully filled my aftermarket 4-gallon tank on my XR400 because everybody else was on bikes with smaller tanks. Your friend might find himself in a similar situation, carrying extra weight for nothing.
Stephan

**BCK_973** · #4 23 May 2006

I think personaly about this issue that when it comes to the point of riding with no worries of coming too short on gas.Put something biger but not too big!
I don´t know wich bike your AMIGO has.
There are 56 liters tanks for the Africa,69 for the old GS. And in between too.
I ride with an 40 liters Acerbis tank on a XR 650 L.The bike is trong to carrie it.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5...1600/141.1.jpg

You dont need to change the front suspensions.
If i like to ride light i put 10 liters only.Now if i take the full thing i can do over 800 km with it. And it doesn´t feel to heavy on the front.And better balanced if i use the panniers.
I think the best better equiped bike in this matter was the first Tenere.
I loved this bike.
There is nothing more disturbing then riding out there and thinking all the time"where is the next gas station" or "will i make it?".
My experience
KH

**Grant Johnson** · #5 23 May 2006

I've been told by more than one rider with a big tank on an 1150GS that it was way bigger than needed and more weight that wasn't necessary.

I've got a 40 litre tank on my R80G/S and it was needed once on our entire around the world trip! That was in Nicaragua during the Contra wars, and it was a three day wait to gt the ration coupons to get in the line for fuel - so we just skipped it and left, did the whole country on one tank! But that is a huge exception to the rule - you really don't normally need that much.

In the VERY few areas where you will need it, you'll find there are locals there selling jerry cans or milk jugs - because EVERYONE needs extra!

Some say it's nice - but arguably, the weight ALL the time of the bigger tank, full or not, against the once-in-a-blue-moon time you need it ... it's you call!

Oh yeah, and you can travel for about a month on the cost of one...

But they do look the part...

**Sean Kelly** · #6 24 May 2006

Hi

Just my 2p. I love the 43L tank on my GS, but it's not so much about long distances between petrol stations in out of the way places.

I like it because it's only heavy if I fill it all the way up. And when I do, I enjoy the freedom of chosing to stop where and when I want without interruptions for fuel. With a more restricted range, I wonder how many of us end up eating at petrol stations instead of that nice little cafe in the next village.

Sean

**RogerM** · #7 24 May 2006

We've got a 32 litre tank on a R65 BMW and I've needed all of the fuel plus about a litre of cooking stove metho on a few trips on Outback roads in Australia - Birdsville Track and also some runs over sand dunes South of Innaminka. There are also some great tracks with no publicly available fuel - the Gunbarrel Highway and the Canning Stock Route being the two most famous. I'd prefer to have the fuel in tank rather than in jerry can strapped onto the bike somewhere.

The distances are not that great but the track conditions hit the fuel consumption. We've got an acquantance who has/had a Heinrich tank of about 50 litres, we always joked that he delivered the fuel.

With the big variation of fuel prices in Australia its easy to pay for a large tank quite quickly if you travel frequently from the coastal areas inland where its possible to pay upto a $1 more per litre than on the coast.

As far as needing to beef up the suspension thats a non event, 30 litres of petrol weighs about 20kgs, why bother doing anything for an increase in weight of say 10kgs over a standard tank.

**Matt Cartney** · #8 24 May 2006

Depends what you call big!
I replaced the standard circa 15 litre tank on my XT for a 23 litre one and have no regrets. However, the 23 litre one is more than adequate, I never have to worry about fuel. Also, not having to stop every five minutes to fıll up is a real bonus. I'd say any bigger than that would be unecessary though, unless you're really goıng off the beaten track!
Matt
PS: I know people advocate jerries as cheap etc. but they take up a lot of space on a loaded bike and I reckon they are a VERY second best optıon.

**Bill Holland** · #9 24 May 2006

There are currently 3 Acerbis tanks on ebay UK, Dommie, XR650R and TX600e, type acerbis in the search box.
Bill

**oldbmw** · #10 24 May 2006

Really we are talking about range, more than fuel quantities...and for that perhaps checking out some more fuel efficient bikes ??? I dont know how, but when I was young, bikes were fuel efficient, as they were designed mostly for cheap transport... nowadays many saloon or hatchback cars do more mpg that bikes of half their size..... perhaps we need a true tourer. maybe abike that will do 80mpg plus, weigh less than a quarter ton, and can be ridden by people who do not have metre long inside leg measurements?
I must confess to gravitating to the new enfield electra with a twenty litre tank...would give 320+ mile range.

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