The Americas w/ IMS 4.9G tank?
 

How much of a pain would it be to do a N,C,South America trip with this tank?:confused1:

I am looking at this or the Safari 8G tank...the price difference is significant. So, I am trying to find out how often I would have to carry additional fuel doing this trip (i.e. - 5 times on the trip or 55 times)???

Appreciate any help; especially input of those who have done it with a similar size tank.

Cheers,
Chris

Hey Chris,

Depends on your precise route, but a lot closer to 5 times than 55. An additional 5 litre gas can strapped to your luggage will cover you for these gaps, costs about $10, and has the added benefit of weighing practically nothing when empty. Happy riding.

4.9IMS for me.
 

I leave in 6 weeks with a 4.9gl IMS tank on my 2007 Dr650. So many others have done this before that I just could be bothered with adapting the 8gl (or whatever it is) Acerbis tank to fit my bike. And like MountainMan mentioned, an extra 5 liters container can be found for cheap if need be. Enjoy!
--Alex

What is your range with the 4.9 gal tank? That is kind of important.

The most you will ever need will be about 500 kms and thats for a couple of the high passes between Argentina and Chile, otherwise with a 400 to 450 km range you should be able to do everything else comfortably.

If you do the Andes route through Peru you could have issues, but if you are doing the standard pavement route to Ushuaia that wont be an issue. If you like to take the route less traveled, get the big tank.

There are a couple of places in Patagonia where the station you are depending on for fuel could be out. Actually, stations being out of fuel is quite common in southern Argentina Also, a couple of months ago in Entre Rios I did a 600 km stretch where all the fuel stations were out of fuel. If you have bad luck, you might have to wait a few days for some gas, or try to scrounge some off the locals.

If it were me, I would put that 8 gal Safari on the bike and not have to worry about it all. It gives you lots of options and IMO is well worth the extra cost. With that smaller tank you could be in a situation where you want to take a certain route off the gringo trail and cant do it because of your fuel range. Like I said, that big tank opens up options if you like to explore and have a little adventure. If youre not into doing that, then the small tank with an occasional extra 5 liters should be fine.

range with 4.9 on dr650
 

Thanks for all the replies so far...good advice all around!

To answer the above question...I get about 55 miles to the gallon so I would guess about 250+ miles so about 400kms as a pretty conservative estimate.

You make some good points about route and destinations. We definitely want to get off the gringo path and that might be stressful with only a 5gallon tank. Also, I lived in central america for 6 years and know that times and distances in more rural areas are often underestimated by the locals when giving directions.

We may just have to bite the bullet...we just wish it was not such a BIG bullet ($550) and we didn't need TWO of them :).:eek3:

Well, you can always buy a 10 liter can and carry it. Same effect, different and cheaper method. Like I mentioned, if you dont get too far off the beaten path, you wont have to worry too much about it and a little extra gas will do, even in the remote high passes of the andes.

I just threw that out there because I dont like worrying about fuel. For me the piece of mind that I dont need to think about fuel for 500 miles is worth a lot to me.

I agree with Crash on the routes and Mountain Man re frequency of use regarding the spare 5L tank - my KLR comes with a 6.1G tank but I still needed the 5L on two occasions - and on another SHOULD have used the spare but instead chose to run out of gas!

The running out was down to underestimating the impact of Patagonian wind on fuel consumption. The typical 450km range on the KLR tank dropped to 330km!

BTW - met up with quite a few riders in SA running DLR's with the 4.9G tanks (and spares) if that helps!?

Having ridden about 20 thousand miles in Central and South America (either on or way off the Gringo trail) I don't recall any time where there was more than 100 miles between gas stations (ok maybe once between San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and Uyuni town in Bolivia). I would definitely go with a smaller tank and if necessary tie a cannister or cola bottles or old oil containers on the back. Save your money for beer or fuel.
cheers
Chris

You must have ridden in a different South America than I ride in. :mchappy:

DId you do the altiplano Ruta 43 in N. Argentina, or Ruta 40 for that matter, the altiplano to Paso Sico, Paso San Francisco, Paso Agua Negra, Paso Pircas Negras, the Lagunas route from Uyuni to San Pedro, not to mention about half a dozen other routes in Bolivia, Tres Lagos to Chalten to Calafate, numerous Andean trails in Peru, not to mention going up through Entre Rios Argentina where there are plenty of petrol stations but few have fuel? Lots more than 100 miles between fuel stations. Rarely more than 250 miles though.

The inexpensive way is to take a can, it all depends how much its worth to you not to drag around a gas can.

Without wanting to appear to get into some sort of contrived p!ssing competition the answer to your question is predominantly "yes".
Kind regards
CHris

For my purposes...
 

If the answer is 100 or 250 it is all the same to me...since I am definitely changing the stock tank to AT LEAST the 4.9Gallon (giving me 250mile range).

So with that established, it sounds like I would probably need to carry b/u fuel about a 1/2 dozen times, as well as, anytime I was heading off the beaten path into unknown environs. Hmmmm...

Further 2 cents are appreciated - and appraised much more highly than face value :)

If you happen to show up during one of the periodic fuel shortages in one area (Bolivia) or another (Patagonia), or if you favor long stretches through the altiplano, of which there are many, you'll definitely want more fuel storage than the 4.9 tank. The precise form this added carrying capacity takes--an expensive aftermarket tank, strap-on coke bottles, a couple of gas cans bought in La Paz, fully-plumbed auxilliary tanks bought in Europe or North America) is up to you.

If you stay away from the long altiplano routes, somehow miss out on the howling Patagonian winds and don't happen to show up anywhere during regional fuel shortages, 4.9 will be fine.

FWIW, my maximum was about 300 miles/500 km between fillups. There were a couple of places where I was really, really glad to be carrying almost 7 gallons. Mostly it was just added weight, awkwardly located.

I don't doubt Chris's report, and I know he went some gnarly places. However, my experience was more like Crashmaster's, and I didn't go half as far afield as he did.

Hope that helps.

Mark