XT600e.. Long distance without the 23ltr tank?
 

Hi guys,

I'm very close to leaving for a long distance trip, from UK to Thailand and I seem to have a never ending list of 200 quids to spend. There seems to be a drought of Acerbis tanks on ebay at the moment so I'm looking at another £280 to buy a new tank.

Has anyone done any real long distance with the stock 13 litre tank? How inconvenient was it? Or was it inconvenient?

I figured when in remote areas, I could carry extra fuel in bottles/cans when needed. But trying to gauge how viable, or how much of a pain in the ass this would be and wether I should just spunk the £280 and get it over with.

For reference, I've only had the bike around 5 weeks and longest ride has been 200 miles, so I'm still gauging the fuel economy of it. Am I right in thinking you should get around 130 miles on the stock tank?

Hi fraserbyrne,

my advice: use your hard earned squids to get some more out of your trip, don't waste them not an extra fuel tank.

A big fuel tank helps IMHO manly only one person, the seller. For an overland traveler it comes on the contrary with some downsides. Here a quote from our book why I think so:

A bigger tank comes with 4 major disadvantages:
- heavy
- usually higher center of gravity (thats a bad thing)
- bulkier (bad for riding, especially off road) and
- pretty expensive

Why do you need a bigger tank in the first place? Our guess is that you don't want to run out of gas. But here comes the trick: It's much more important when you get gas then the total amount of gas you can eventually carry. Lets say you have a gas reach of 700km. But if you wait till you have reached 600kms you still got only 100km left. If you have a reach of let's say 300 km but you fill up every 100 km you have 200kms of safety.
We found a mileage of 300+ km is enough. If you really have to cover a bigger stretch, take some water bottles, fill them with gas and afterwards throw them away. Problem solved :-)

We did South East Asia on 125 ccm motorcycles which come with a 3.7l gas tank, that gets you about 100km far. We never ran out of gas :)

Enjoy your trip!
Patrick

Haha, I meant quids :D sorry

haha. Quids, squids. Same difference.

Yeah I presumed it would handle like a pig with an extra 10 litres dumper over the front end.

Thanks for your input!

Plus carrying the extra fuel in cans on the back runs the risk of cracking your subframe with all the luggage on there as well, if you need the extra go with it in the tank.

Mezo.

4pt model has 15 liters total, should give you a range around 300km when touring.

3TB model, I get 120-130 miles (around 200 km) before reserve, and reserve has about 30 miles/50 km max. That's with normal riding - deduct as appropriate for slow/difficult conditions. If I could guarantee fuel every 100 km, I would be happy with the stock tank. If not, I would load up 5 litres of extra capacity and fill as necessary. That would give an extra 60 miles/100 km approx.

It all depends on how confident you feel about the fuel supply on your route. Others will know about this better than I do.

Thanks for the info guys. Will be Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand for reference.

I have a white 23 litre tank on my '03 XT600E.

It's wasted now i am back in London, i may as well sell it and put the standard one back on,

At a steady pace on-road coming back through Russia i got very close to 300 miles on a tank numerous times, which i feel is good.

While i agree when brimmed to the top it does compromise handling to an extent, that said, it was nice to have a 23 litre capacity in the main tank and underfill it when you expect an offroad section, then if you wanted to get somewhere faster you have the range to push on.

If you are interested in the tank send me a email/PM

Cheers

-Don

The definative answer to your sensible question is:

It all depends where exactly you intend to tour.

The stock 13 litre tank is not of concern if you intend to stick to urban (built up areas) including main tarmac roads.

Problems start when you tour rural areas where fuel points are rare!

If you intend to tour Europe or USA then the stock tank is fine (but sometimes a pain as you have a 130 max range). If you intend to get off the beaten track then the Acerbis tank is an absolute must (from a safety point of view).

I can easily get upto 70 miles per gallon from both my XT6E's if I am careful. This means keeping to a maximum of 60 mph in top (5th) gear.

I wish you well. Stay safe.
bier

I am sure you can get away without the 23l. Doesn't mean you shouldn't think about getting one though.

I took the 23l tank off my XT after I came back from a long trip in 2006 as it was a white one and looked very stained and scruffy and I figured I no longer needed it. I was also toying with selling my bike anyway.

Shortly afterwards I bought another one (black this time!) because I missed having all those carefree miles of not planning my petrol stops. I just ride in the UK at the moment (when I can!) on pretty short rides, but the acerbis still feels like a bonus.

On my long trip I was really glad of just being able to fill up when I got lowish and not worrying about distances. It was great for piece of mind knowing you had loads of range.

Of all the mods to do to a bike I reckon this is one of the best. JMHO, but I'd rather have a 23l tank and cheap or soft luggage, than expensive luggage and a standard tank.

They are not cheap, though. If you can get a second hand one it would be well worth it.

As an aside, I've never really noticed any difference in handling when riding with the acerbis. If you are bad-roading and know your next fuel stop, you can always only half fill the tank. The 'wings' are pretty low on the acerbis 23l and this keeps the weight fairly low.

Matt :)

I totally agree with Matt, thats my exact experience aswell :thumbup1:

On the standard tank you will not make it across the last part Iran first part of Pakistan amongst other places. Having said that you will be able to buy fuel from the hawkers by the road side at inflated prices and dubious quality, I don't think it's a question of whether the OE will do it won't, the question is how are you going to carry the extra fuel when you have to:
Bigger tank or Pepsi bottles.

Cheers
Pete

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all your input. I scoured ebay for weeks and sods law no second hand ones turned up.. so I bit the bullet & bought a new one. Should arrive today funnily enough.

I have a wishlist of things I needed before I leave, but I figured bigger tank isn't a luxury I need to feel guilty about spunking ££ on. The GoPro on the other hand... haha.

Cheers.

Fella,
The list of ticks must be getting longer by the day :)

Cheers
Pete