Hooterbuilt Aux fuel cell...what you think???

[smitty141]

Here some pic of a aux fuel cell I put together. I did buy the "keg" and quick connects from a vender, the bag from Walmart. I wanted to retain the rear seat to protect the stuff under it. I had a extra rear set to play with, so heres how I did it..

First made a rear tank from poster paper to check size/trunk opening ect. The overall size of the keg I bought was 10" round by 14" long, and hold 4.5 gal. I built a plate and stand off to fit the rear seat. I removed the foam and cover from the donor seat and marked for the holes I needed.

To make it look nice I got some 1/4" foam and some vinyl and recovered the pan. After that I bolted the bracket in place. I found a sport bag at Walmart for less than $10. bucks to fit it in. I also use quick dis-connects for the fuel and vent lines. This make removing it a 60 second job. On my first ride I had problems getting the fuel to transfer so I installed a small electric pump to transfer the fuel. One thing that has been covered before is the bulkhead fitting in the stock tank bottom. I got the fitting from Sampson sport touring.

After installing the fuel pump I put the switch and a warning light on the leftside panel. Heres some pictures of my install...

I sandwiched the walmart bag between the mounting plate and the tank brackets..

Switch and warning(pump is on) light

Fuel pump...Also ran the fuel and vent thru the seat to the quick connectors.

Fuel shut off valve..

Here with the bag open to add fuel...

Zipped up ready to ride...

Fuel tank off in 60 seconds or less...

 

[Rickster]

awesome job, awesome post... one question -- total time and $$ you spent?

 

[jestal]

HEY.....what'cha got in the bag, son???

Officer.....you'll never believe......

EXCELLENT JOB

 

[smitty141]

awesome job, awesome post... one question -- total time and $$ you spent?

It took about a day, more if you count chasing down parts/fittings/ect. With the fuel pump about $400. clams :dribble: ... Another plus is the bag does give you some more storage. I can fit my rain gear, tire repair, and more in it. Smitty

 

[Sherman]

Nicely Done. :clapping:

 

[petey]

Smitty, what a great job, and also looks good. Heck, now you'll make it down to Florida with only 3 fuel stops. :lol:

 

[SkooterG]

Nice job Smitty!

Wish I had your creativity/skills.

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Looking good Smitty! :clapping:

Group Buy? :lol:

 

[jestal]

Uh....mind if I crib some of your ideas there with the one I was planning to make....?? I really like the stealth look of the bag! I was planning to mount to the rear rack and use a slightly smaller volume and the stealth bag covering actually solves some of the problems I was thinking thru.

 

[zzzzip]

Glad to see your wife is still keeping your car clean for you.

B)

 

[vectervp1]

I originally used a cheapy Wal-Mart bag to cover my fuel cell like you did. It held up well for exactly 1 riding season consisting of approximately 20k miles. It slowly disintegrated over time and pretty much got torn to shreds by the wind. Now I'm using a custom bag by Linda T and CustomTankbags.com . I'll see if I can find some photos of the duffel bag cover, and the LindaT cover.

 

[Mike-H]

Really nice tig work smitty....definitely some serious craftsmanship going on there :good: ....

 

[KSFJR]

Outstanding example of Hooter Technology. Now you only have to stop for a bathroom break or have you figured that out too. I thought that I saw a hole in the seat with a tube leading down which means you no longer lead the rides.

Chester

 

[Groo]

Really nice tig work smitty....definitely some serious craftsmanship going on there :good: ....

I think he bought the tank Mike...

 

[Fencer]

Ahh, yes, the ol' "hidden extra tank of gas in the ditty bag trick". Looks good till ya get arrested for parking out side the wrong place and charged with domestic terrorism

Hey, Let Kazinski(sp?) go. I think we have the Uni-bomber here

Looks Good, but where did you find an EMPTY keg

 

[smitty141]

Ahh, yes, the ol' "hidden extra tank of gas in the ditty bag trick". Looks good till ya get arrested for parking out side the wrong place and charged with domestic terrorism
Hey, Let Kazinski(sp?) go. I think we have the Uni-bomber here

Looks Good, but where did you find an EMPTY keg

Got it here..

beer keg click here

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

YEp nice work, might just add locking cap on it, man you do have skills!

 

[Warchild]

Interesting and creative! B)

However, there are 4 reasons (that I can tell thus far from your description and photos) why would fail IBR Tech Inspection. Which of course, doesn't mean diddley squat, as long as you're not running in the Iron Butt Rally with it. As long as it works for you, that's all that matters! Serious biz!

Re: fuel transfer: the most likely reason you had trouble trying to make this a gravity-feed system is that these beer-keg tanks have marginal venting properties. This is really unfortunate, because you have located in a perfect position to make it a gravity-fed system, and in doing so, it would eliminate the cost and complexity of having to use an electric fuel pump to transfer your fuel. The latter represents another potential failure point in the system.... blown fuse, chaffed wires, internal pump failure, etc.

But like I say, it matters not as long as it's not entered in the IBR. If your able to safely carry and transfer 4.5 gallons of fuel while underway, you have a serious amount of touring range between fuel stops.

 

[jestal]

Purely out of curiosity, what reasons would it fail IBA tech?