Can I pour fuel into the frame?
 

Hubby breaks out in cold sweat whenever I mention carrying spare fuel in jerrycans/canisters/whatever for my trans-africa trip.

This is probably because I spend rather a lot of time not actually on the bike, but flying over the handlebars / landing with bike on top of me / flying with bike but not quite landing etc. etc.

He is obviously having nightmares of me exploding into a fireball like something out of Charlie's Angels, which will be cool to observe, but since no-one will be with me to watch, it may be a bit of a waste.

Sooo. He mentioned something about using the frame as a "fuel tank"?! :confused1: :confused1: He is taking the mickey, isn't he?? Is this at all possible?? Why haven't anyone done it then?

I've tried to google it, but searching words like "hollow frame fuel tank" just comes up with rubbish.


PS - and dont laugh - if it wasn't for girls asking stupid questions, you guys wouldn't seem so clever.:nono:

I have heard of people putting spare oil and spare fuel in the frame and on competition enduro bikes, I have seen people use the frame as a high pressure air reservoir to inflate tyres! It depends on the bike, whether it can be easily done. Some bikes have every part of the frame with a breathing vent somewhere so they don't rust on the inside. So it may be able to be done on the DR650.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

Both my overlanding bikes use their frames as oil tanks with the areas around the headstocks built up to act as a reservoir with filler caps etc. The problem is that they don't hold much oil - 2 to 2.5 litres.

This is ok for lubricant that goes round in a closed loop but for fuel it hardly seems worth the effort - and you'd be restricted to using the part of the frame above the carb unless you were going to use some sort of a pump / manually tip it out.

Triumph did a oil in frame Bonneville years ago:thumbup1: But these bikes were designed from the outset to be oil in frame, not a after-thought.
It would be easier, safer, cheaper and less hassle to carry spare fluids in spare fluid approved vessels:clap: ie: cans!


Trophymick

You can always just carry fuel in those standard 5L water bottles (the same that you buy drinking water in). I found we only needed extra fuel very occasionally and the one time I did buy a proper fuel container, it bloody leaked!