My rebound machine!

[alex.s]

Alex goes on some pretty long bike trips. I'm sure he gets lonely... You never know.

[Alex]

First wave of gadgets is complete this week:

- BMW Nav IV / Garmin 550 both up and running
- Valentine 1
- Autocom
- Krista LED aux lights
- PDM60 Power controller
- Skene additional rear lights / brake lights
- additional mirrors
- Cee Bailey larger screen
- gadget shelf up front
- rear package shelf
- direct-to-battery power outlet

The next batch will be the permanent controller for the heated gear, currently relying on a portable one. I hope to have chosen a fuel cell by that point, so it can be plumbed in as well.

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by Alex

Glad to see I'm not the only one around here who likes riding in sneakers.

[himynameisjoe]

It really is a great looking bike. Yeah it's big, but I bet you could ride for days without feeling fatigued on that thing.

I thought the same about the wheels though. The rest of the bike is so big, it looks like you stole wheels of a mini bike.

[Alex]

A video of some of the gadgets (+ some little monsters)



Pic Gallery

[Alex]

Glamour shots.

Click on any pic twice to see full res:

[antiant]

Beautiful pictures Alex. I miss the Bay Area. Which area is this?

Edit: Nevermind! I just read the other thread on the location.

[Alex]

Had a Rick Mayer seat built this morning. Extra high, extra deep, extra comfy.



More pics in this gallery.

[00NissanNinja]

Nice Bimmer, I was checking out a few of BMW motorcycles while I was at the BMW/Triumph dealer today.

[Alex]

I'm working through my checklists to get ready for the Iron Butt Rally, now only a little over a month away. One of the more complicated installs on this new bike will be an auxiliary fuel tank. Here's what I'm attempting to duplicate on my bike:


Aux Tank by sanjaydixit, on Flickr

I have most of the materials ordered, and should have them in the next few days. I'm going to do the rough layout, but will be having a shop actually drilling into the bottom of the main fuel tank to attach the bulkhead. With this design, that whole top plate can be removed from the bike, and the lines can be removed via a quick disconnect. This means I have 10.5 gallon capacity when I need it, but pillion capability when I need it instead.

[ChaoSS]

That's awesome, but is that actually legal to have gasoline supplied through a quick disconnect like that? Are you having to buy stuff that is approved in the state? Or is it a "screw it, I won't get caught" kind of deal?

[Alex]

It's a gray area; I'll leave it at that. The quick disconnect isn't visible in the picture, but it's right before it enters the seat area. I may put another one right near the main tank, so I can remove all lines underneath for much of the year. The disconnects alone are $50/each.

All components are high quality, and more durable than the relatively inexpensive plastic and rubber hosing and connectors that make up the bulk of the stock fuel system on production motorcycles. The tank is NHRA approved, and all fittings standard AN8/AN6 fuel-line specific components. Almost all of it is available at Summit Racing, though I was able to pick up some local at a speed shop nearby. It has to pass tech inspection at the event, and they are not shy about failing bikes until they are considered safe (proper venting, grounding, solid mounting, lines run where they won't chafe, etc., are all reviewed by a hands-on inspector.)

[n4mwd]

Why do you need an aux fuel tank? When I go on a long ride, I rather enjoy stopping for gas since I don't get to do it more than once every 250 miles or so. Do they let you stop at all with the iron butt rally, or do you have to ride straight through?

Not sure how it complicates things, but isn't your beamer EFI? Don't they have the fuel pump and regulator inside the tank? Doesn't that make things more complicated for installing an aux tank?

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by Alex

It's a gray area; I'll leave it at that. The quick disconnect isn't visible in the picture, but it's right before it enters the seat area. I may put another one right near the main tank, so I can remove all lines underneath for much of the year. The disconnects alone are $50/each.

All components are high quality, and more durable than the relatively inexpensive plastic and rubber hosing and connectors that make up the bulk of the stock fuel system on production motorcycles. The tank is NHRA approved, and all fittings standard AN8/AN6 fuel-line specific components. Almost all of it is available at Summit Racing, though I was able to pick up some local at a speed shop nearby. It has to pass tech inspection at the event, and they are not shy about failing bikes until they are considered safe (proper venting, grounding, solid mounting, lines run where they won't chafe, etc., are all reviewed by a hands-on inspector.)

I tend to run on the paranoid about stuff like that myself. I regularly see cops ignore things like HIDs that are either at the temperature where they are purple and put out almost no visible light, or the ones that are installed so badly that they are more blinding than any pair of high beams, they ignore people doing 20-25 over in a construction zone, and then they give out tickets for the most inane things when they get in a bad mood. I once got a ticket for riding a bicycle at night with no light, on the sidewalk. I've seen equipment tickets for things that should be complete non issues, so I tend to run paranoid about thing like that.

Personally I'd find a bag and a strap to put over it so it looks like luggage, but that's just me.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

Why do you need an aux fuel tank? When I go on a long ride, I rather enjoy stopping for gas since I don't get to do it more than once every 250 miles or so. Do they let you stop at all with the iron butt rally, or do you have to ride straight through?

Not sure how it complicates things, but isn't your beamer EFI? Don't they have the fuel pump and regulator inside the tank? Doesn't that make things more complicated for installing an aux tank?

No idea what he's going for, but some of the iron butt challenges can be difficult enough to complete without regular gas stops, and when you consider that it can take up to 15 minutes to get off the freeway and do your gas stop, and that can easily be 20 miles of riding that you are losing, an extra bit of gas can go a long way. If you are planning on stopping for sleep during the ride, an extra hour of sleep because you cut out 4 gas stops can be a huge difference.

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by ChaoSS

No idea what he's going for, but some of the iron butt challenges can be difficult enough to complete without regular gas stops, and when you consider that it can take up to 15 minutes to get off the freeway and do your gas stop, and that can easily be 20 miles of riding that you are losing, an extra bit of gas can go a long way. If you are planning on stopping for sleep during the ride, an extra hour of sleep because you cut out 4 gas stops can be a huge difference.

I'm not familiar with the Iron Butt Rally. But it sounds like from your description to be some sort of race or at least a timed event. If that's it, good luck Alex. I got my bike to have fun and I'm not having fun if my butt feels like its on fire.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I'm not familiar with the Iron Butt Rally. But it sounds like from your description to be some sort of race or at least a timed event. If that's it, good luck Alex. I got my bike to have fun and I'm not having fun if my butt feels like its on fire.

I'm not too familiar with the rallies themselves, but you can check out some of the challenges here.

[ChaoSS]

Alex, I was going through some of the rules for some of the challenges, seems you have to stop every 300 miles or so for fuel? Or are you not going for anything official, just for the challenge to yourself?

[Alex]

I've started a thread on the rally right here. The fuel restrictions on the rally limit the on-bike fuel to 11.5 gallons. You don't need to stop at any set mileage. I expect about 10 - 10.5 gallons usable fuel with this setup, for a comfortable 400 mile range. That doesn't mean you run it down to empty from 400 miles each time, but it means if you are 200 miles into a tank, and need to go 100 miles in a direction where fuel is iffy, it becomes a non-issue. It adds flexibility in routing.

[n4mwd]

Doing 1000 miles a day is hard enough to do in a car, but on a bike?

Anyway, good luck to you. I hope you win, but don't sacrifice your safety to do it.