I Did "The Big Drill"

I took another step towards LDRhood today. At the Iron Butt Rally I met Bill McAvan who makes various Top Gun goodies and went ahead and ordered up a fuel cell.

It arrived a couple weeks ago and was on my long list of things to do including Spieglers, the Wilbur Shock, spark plugs, etc.

Today game the very important part.....drilling the tank for the custom fitting.

You get one shot at this....and there isn't much margin for error. In fact, I got Warchild to come over and offer me moral support. Actually he did a bunch more than that, but boy was I glad he was there.

Some pictures so it makes more sense.

FJR Auxilary Fuel - Bulkhead Fitting Placement

First you have to take off the fuel pump assembly and pull that sucker out. Wow, there's at least a quart of gear in there!

Then with the gas all out I taped a cup on the inside where I was going to drill. No need for metal filings in my tank if I can avoid it. Then find the magic spot--which is an indention like the factory meant this spot to be tapped. Drill a pilot hole first and then a uni-bit. I had pre-measured the fitting and new the 9/16" hole would be just right.

But before you go and put the fitting in there were burrs on the outside and a bunch on the inside. It looked like a monkey humping a football, but one can get a remote dremel and hand in there.

Turns out an exacto knife from the outside worked better.

Then, the hard part.

Putting the fitting on means you gotta torque the crap out of the thing. Warchild held on to the tank and fitting with a 19mm end wrench and I tried to torque left handed inside the tank.

Then we got the angle of the fitting just right and thought we were done.

With the fuel pump back in I then couldn't remember what orientation I had taken it out. 10 minutes of back-and-forth with the website, tanks over our heads, and squinting I figured out the Japanese were smart when they made the FJR.

The pump and retainer ring are indexed so that they will only go back on one certain way. Mind you it looked different than the web picture, but it ended up being right.

Put fuel in the tank and nary a leak.

Thanks Warchild!

.........I'd say the job is done and I have 400+ mile range now, but there was a small build defect on the tank and need to get it fixed first.

.....with the fuel cell I might be able to keep up with Owen.......ooooohhhhh......what a fantasy.

It must have worked because I p

Congrats Ignacio! That little project was THE MOST stressful farkle I have completed. And I didn't have Mr. purty legs there to hold my hand!

Well done!

One question however- the angle that your bulkhead fitting is at, does that work? I had to angle mine almost 90 degrees, or almost pointing directly to the left, to the the fuel tank to go down without binding the fuel line. The first attempt, I had the fuel line going more towards the back like yours, but it was binding between the tank and the airbox. Its a tight fit there. So yours is all good?

Well, my technical glitch on another part of the cell (long story later) I haven't been able to check to see flow yet. I kept the angle toward the back and cut the fuel line as short as I could. The way I routed the fuel line was actually under the cross line to the tank and just over the left, front corner of the airbox.

There's just enough room to squeeze the line through there if you flex a couple components. And, then along the left rail under the seat, above the tray, and then down under the first silver cross bar.

There I notched a bit of the plastic out to my quick disconnect.

Very nice work indeed

How about a pic of the bike showing your new Top Gun aux. tank? Nice job on the install. You're a braver man than I Gunga Din!

Boy oh boy, do I know this well! I just finished installing the bulkhead fitting. Now I'm just trying to finish up few more farkles and put the bike back together so I can actually ride the damn ting again!

How about a pic of the bike showing your new Top Gun aux. tank? Nice job on the install. You're a braver man than I Gunga Din!

Click to expand...

I didn't detail the process that thoroughly with pictures and it's not yet finished. I do have a picture of initial placement. I also plan on getting a custom bag made. These cells are cool, very functional, and expensive; but they're butt ugly.

Thanks for the pic. Looks like a very "robust" mntg. system. You shouldn't have any problems in that area. I've seen some of fuel cell covers with the pockets and compartments. Think I even saw one that was padded on the rider/front side. Good luck and hope you enjoy many long runs with the added fuel capacity.