Auxiliary fuel tank

[Giblet]

I've been eyeing one of these sold by MotionPro but couldn't bear to part with the $50 hey wanted for theirs. So, I was standing in my local O'Reilly's Auto Parts one day while off for Christmas, looking at carburator cleaner and it hit me. Here was a small coolant overflow jug for about $10. Wandered over to the lawn mower section and found a cheap plastic petcock for about $5. Those two items with the fuel line & clamps I already had made a dandy little rig I can hang from a hook in the ceiling of the garage. Haven't tried it out yet but I expect it will work every bit as well as the $50 one MotionPro sells.

 

[duaneage]

I'm about to make one from a 1 gallon fuel container I have. I agree it should not cost 50.00 to come up with something like this. As long as it is properly vented at the cap it should be OK.

 

[Giblet]

I'm about to make one from a 1 gallon fuel container I have. I agree it should not cost 50.00 to come up with something like this. As long as it is properly vented at the cap it should be OK.

Good point. Neglected to mention that. I made a vent hole in the hose port sticking out of the top.

 

[tone]

I use a washing up liquid bottle plugged directly into the fuel line so you get no weight of fuel pushing down the floats & screwing things up as you do with a large amounts of fuel in a container held high up

The best thing is its free

 

[tas850g]

I've been thinking about that recently too. Did you drill a hole into the container about the same size as the petcock? And what did you use to seal around that? I'm sure i could go the trial and error way but I hate screwing up.

It looks great! I'm doing that tomorrow.

 

[woodman]

I use an old snow blower gas tank hanging from the handlebars. Cost - $0.00 for the tank and a few bucks worth of hose and adaptors to fit my bikes

 

[Giblet]

I use an old snow blower gas tank hanging from the handlebars. Cost - $0.00 for the tank and a few bucks worth of hose and adaptors to fit my bikes

Geeeze! I knew I should have kept that snowblower !

I just made an 1/8 inch hole for the vent. I'm not sealing it because I don't expect to keep gas in it unless I am actually workng on the bike. My "large" amount of gas pushing down on the floats will never be more than a pint or two so I don't think it will suddenly come spewing out like Lake Meade would if the Hoover Dam ever failed . I looked for an old tiller or lawn mower gas tank to use but kept coming up empty. Not too many snow blowers just lying around down here.

 

[rudy]

My "large" amount of gas pushing down on the floats will never be more than a pint or two so I don't think it will suddenly come spewing out like Lake Meade would if the Hoover Dam ever failed .

Fluid pressure has to do with height and specific gravity of the substance in question. Commonly expressed as inches of water column, or similar expressions of fluid pressure. The pressure is directly tied to the ELEVATION of the surface from the measured point, not the volume as a whole. And, yes, air is also considered a fluid and works in the same way. That's why air pressure is different at sea level as compared to the top of a mountain. You have less air on top of you, therefore less pounds of air pushing down on each square inch (PSI).

You could have the same pressure with 4000 gallons of a fluid at the same level as 2 pints, as long as the measured pressure is taken at the same depth from the surface in both containers.

Gosh, I guess I did learn something in college. I did well in instrumentation class. Now my head hurts.


Long story short, don't put your aux. tank in the rafters if you're worried about head pressure pushing the float valves open. Keep it closer to what the level of the actual tank would be.

 

[bwringer]

I use the same thing (universal aftermarket coolant tank), but I made a little clip out of coat hanger wire to hang it from the handgrip.

As noted earlier, it needs to be near the level of the tank.

I also helped Larry D sync his carbs a few weeks ago, and he came up with a way using a few boards to secure the tank inside a ladder set up next to the bike. Some extra fuel line and a few plastic connectors, and it worked like a charm.

I have no idea why the Motion Pro tank is so flippin' expensive.

 

[Larry D]

Here's what Brian was talking about. You can see the tank on the ladder, held down with a bungee cord, it's very stable, although it may not look like it is.

Here's the fuel/vacuum line connections. The hardware store only had "T" connectors that would fit the vacumm line, so I melted and squished the unneeded one.

 

[Giblet]

Show off! There's no need for you to start cluttering things up with scientific facts and such . Now we both have a headache . I was planning on hanging it from the power lines out side but I suppose I'll need to move it down a bit .

Actually, my hanger puts the tank at about gauge level. I just figured I needed to keep it low enough that I wouldn't forget it was there. I ordered elbows from McMaster Carr (www.mcmaster.com). I'd have to look at the invoice but I don't think they were terribly expensive. I thought about using the bike tank too. The ladder setup is just a recipe for disaster when I'm involved .

You could have the same pressure with 4000 gallons of a fluid at the same level as 2 pints, as long as the measured pressure is taken at the same depth from the surface in both containers.

Long story short, don't put your aux. tank in the rafters if you're worried about head pressure pushing the float valves open. Keep it closer to what the level of the actual tank would be.

 

[focus frenzy]

Geeeze! I knew I should have kept that snowblower !

I looked for an old tiller or lawn mower gas tank to use but kept coming up empty. Not too many snow blowers just lying around down here.

well if you talked to your friends once in a while you could have gotten a snow blower tank for free. (they work great for spreading mulch)

 

[rudy]

Show off!

He he!! It's always fun, and I do it with a smile on my face!

Now, don't get me started on the dangers of power lines!

J/K, wouldn't confuse you with that.

 

[tone]

Guys this is wrong wrong wrong in so many ways just about every manual ive ever read (lots believe me) says fit your fuel supply as close to the carbs as possible, some even say turn the tank round & fix it on the seat area, there is a very good reason for this

cheers tone

 

[Giblet]

well if you talked to your friends once in a while you could have gotten a snow blower tank for free. (they work great for spreading mulch)

Bite me, buddy :lol: .

 

[Giblet]

Guys this is wrong wrong wrong in so many ways just about every manual ive ever read (lots believe me) says fit your fuel supply as close to the carbs as possible, some even say turn the tank round & fix it on the seat area, there is a very good reason for this

cheers tone

No way am I putting the tank on top of my seat or on the frame where it could come into contact with battery terminals. Not worried about fire etc as much as sparks and loud pops really upset me. However, "fuel supply close to the carbs", that makes sense.

 

[tone]

No way am I putting the tank on top of my seat or on the frame where it could come into contact with battery terminals. Not worried about fire etc as much as sparks and loud pops really upset me. However, "fuel supply close to the carbs", that makes sense.

I agree hence my simple solution thats been working well for 30 years, no point in changing something that works & does not cause problems

 

[Old Colt]

I have been using a brake fluid reservoir for my temporary fuel source. It sets between the frame rails and plugs right into the fuel line.

 

[Giblet]

Very interesting.

I have been using a brake fluid reservoir for my temporary fuel source. It sets between the frame rails and plugs right into the fuel line.