Adding a fuel cell

After doing my first Iron Butt ride in June 2001, I quickly realized that while the ZX-12R is a pretty good long distance bike, it's fuel capacity / range left something to be desired.  I actually ran out of gas during the Saddlesore 1000 and had to push the bike to the nearest gas station.  Very luckily it was only about 300 meters away from where I was stranded.  During the summer I ran out of gas two more times.  Is this guy dumb you may ask ?  Why doesn't he simply fill up more often ?  The problem is that when you're out on some longer one-day rides, sometimes gas stations that are open 24 hours are hard to find.  When I attempted to do a Bun Burner 1500 in August, the gas stations before entering the 'Parc de la Vérendrye' in western Québec were all closed at the time I was passing through (around 4:00 AM).  At first I thought there would be a gas station somewhere in the middle of the 150 or so km park, but I was wrong.  Luckily I got a flat tire just before running out of gas so I couldn't blame my fuel range for that DNF :-)

I decided that if I wanted to do some serious LD Riding, I'd need to supplement my gas tank.  This soon became my "Winter Project".  I started hunting on the web and had quite a bit of trouble finding some fuel cell FAQ's and swore that when I'd finish my project I'd write something up to help others who share the need.  In all fairness, I did get some good advice from the LDR mail-list.  While this is a frustratingly low-tech mail-list, the amount of wisdom and experience gathered there is fantastic.  Highly recommended.

Problem # 1:  What kind of cell to buy ?  Where to get it ?

I wanted to get as close as possible to the Iron Butt's 11 gal limit in total fuel capacity (in case this Long Distance Riding gets very serious and I start entering some rallies).  As my gas tank has 5 gallons, I'd need a 5 or 6 gallon cell.  A quick search on the internet made me go for the "Jaz" model.  At first I was going to order from Summit Racing and sent them an email enquiring about adapters to fit the fuel cell.  The next day I got an automated answer telling me that someone would be answering my email within 24 hours.  This was over 2 months ago and have yet to receive my answer.  Out of spite, I decided to buy elsewhere :-).  

Here is a photo of my fuel cell, upside down, along with various adapters I had to buy.  You'll notice that where the pickups are the cell is deeper by about an inch (sump).  This makes mounting it a bit more difficult.  I also elected to not use the fuel pickups included with the cell because I wanted to mount it where the passenger seat goes.  If I used the pickups which are facing forwards, I'd have to mount it too far rearwards to allow the plumbing to go underneath my seat.  I went to the local Canadian Tire and bought some brass fittings and washers and drilled a hole in the bottom of the cell.  I then had to order 2 AN caps to seal off the pickups.  I also ordered an -AN 6 to barb 90 degree fitting for the vent on top of the fuel cell.

The adapters are hard to find.  If you live in a large city there's a chance some performance auto supply store might have them is stock (Earl's or Russell fittings).  I had to order them and they are really expensive.  for the two caps and the 90 degree vent fitting, it cost me about $ 75 CDN, including shipping.

 

 

Problem # 2:  How do I mount this thing on the bike ?

This was not an easy answer to come by.  All sorts of ideas with varying amounts of cleverness crossed my mind.  One of the semi-finalists was to buy an extra passenger seat, remove the upholstery and bolt the cell directly to it, so I could remove it with just my ignition key.  With the weird shape of the underside of the cell, that idea didn't seem very feasible.  I finally decided to make a mounting bracket in a U shape and somehow affix that to the frame.

This was the first idea that came to mind.  I decided to insert the mounts it in the little hooks that the passenger seat uses and use a single bolt in back.  The limitations of this system were quite obvious when I put the tank on it.  It wobbled like mad.  I'm sure it would have been sturdy enough, but I wanted something that would be solid and not all jiggly.  This idea was trashed.

This was the second and final prototype.  I decided to replace the bungee hook bolts with more conventional ones and use a "L" bracket to hold onto the rack.  In the rear I'm still using the single point which bolts directly to the frame.  I do have a bit of concern about the bolts holding up on bumpy roads from the weight of the tank (lateral load on the bolts).  When it is full, it probably weighs about 45 lbs.  With the 3-point mounting system, there should be about 12 pounds of static lateral pressure on these bolts, as the rear of the mounting bracket should be supporting about half the weight.  At any rate, this system is very solid and has no movement whatsoever.

Continued on Page 2

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