Camel Tanks and Others...

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OB1
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by OB1 »

sledgegreen wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 12:33 am
OB1 wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:22 pm
sledgegreen wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:33 pm Would a pair of 2L alloy tanks be of any interest? £45 each or £100 the pair. Available here:

https://adventurebikerider.com/forum/vi ... 27&t=48464

I don't understand the pricing strategy either, but they look very pretty.

Two litres (even twice) isn't going to be enough on this trip. My goal is to, at the very least, double the range of the bike from around 160 miles to over 320 miles which would require another 10 litres, hence my thought of using two Desert Fox bladders or a combination of bladders and/or tanks.

I did see the advert earlier but I hadn't noticed the pricing strategy! :lol:
I realised that this wouldn't satisfy all of your needs, but there is nothing that says you have to find a single solution to the whole requirement, and 4L capacity for £100 seemed so much better value than the 6L tank for £400 which you mentioned in your initial post. I also wonder whether you will always want to use all of you extra capacity, or will you carry just enough extra fuel to reach the next fuel station (plus a safety margin)? So, sometimes the standard tank will be enough, whilst other times you will want a bit extra, and other times you will want a lot extra?

Any way, I found your thread interesting, so I did some googling, and I came across this website:

http://www.atlinc.com/custom-fuelocker- ... dders.html

It seems to be an american company (with a branch in Milton Keynes) which specialises in fuel bladders for boats. Amongst other things, they offer bespoke bladder manufacture so that boat owners can store fuel in bait lockers etc. I wonder whether they would make a bladder to fit in a Kriega bag, or a hard pannier or some other container.

Doing this would mean that the bladder doesn't need to take the strain of being fastened to the bike - it just sits snuggly in its outer bag or box, and that mounts on to the bike in the normal manner.

I suspect this will be a red herring, but it is the only fuel bladder manufacturer with a UK base that I found except for manufacturers of large bladders (1000L upwards).

Thanks for doing the research! I have found a big cross over with the nautical and long distance motorcycle communities which started when I found Lomo dry bags and was previously searching for fuel cans: many of these questions have already been answered, probably because they've been around a lot longer and have more money!
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by 7800 »

Hi

I put an Acerbis 12.5lt tank on my crf250l it cost £360 fitted
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by OB1 »

7800 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:18 pm I put an Acerbis 12.5lt tank on my crf250l it cost £360 fitted

Fitting a 12.5-litre tank to the CRF250L adds 4.7 litres (over a gallon) but fitting it to the Rally, which I have, only gives an increase of 1.8 litres.
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by 7800 »

OB1 wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:15 am
7800 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:18 pm I put an Acerbis 12.5lt tank on my crf250l it cost £360 fitted

Fitting a 12.5-litre tank to the CRF250L adds 4.7 litres (over a gallon) but fitting it to the Rally, which I have, only gives an increase of 1.8 litres.
There isn't any point then. I would go for the camel tank over a seperate fuel container like the rotopax.
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by PeteDuke »

SteveR wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 6:46 pm How often do you anticipate needing additional fuel OB...?

I used to use small 2l containers when we used to trail ride years ago when Wales had no open fuel station on a Sunday. Top up, then chuck the container!

Maybe milk bottles or similiar?
If using such 2l bottles and I have many times, only use the type that can take pressurised fluids ie. Lemonade / Coca cola etc
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by Chris S »

I agree the volume-increase/price-ratio is poor wrt IMS on a Rally.
On something like my WR250; 7L > 18 L was well worth it.

I see Camel tank now do one for the AT.
https://camel-adv.com/collections/honda ... 00l-ct-atr
Unlike sub-seat GS800s (and the Dutch Xtank for a G650X which I had) I assumed that was not possible without pumps because it's an upward or at least horizontal syphon to the fuel pump on the conventionally positioned main tank.

If you've never used one, this pump-free seamless syphon idea is ingeniously simple: the sub tank gets drained then the AT tank.
Fit and forget: no switches, no taps, no pumps, no nothing - just fill both normally when the need arises.
If you watch the last bit of the 40-minute AT Camel installation video, the process is explained:
https://youtu.be/Aytg0bhx0e4?t=1916

The key is blocking the breather vent in the AT tank's filler cap to create the vacuum needed to draw from the sub tank once you plug the Camel fuel feed into the AT fuel pump's breather port.

The thing is, this principle will work with any suitable side-mounted/behind the rack container like a knock-off Rotopax, not just a nicely molded £350 + duties Camel tank.
See picture below - not actually plumbed in as suggested above, but you get the idea of the good use of dead space.
Swingarm/chain arc can be the only issue.

It's a bodge I'd like to try on one of my project bikes one time.


Fyi: I'm not on FB but I hear Tim Shaw's Rally ( I think he had a Camel tank, too) overheated and blew it's head in north Spain the other day on the way to Cape Town.
I'm pretty sure his CRF was not a bag of nails. Last thing you'd expect from a 250L..
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by Chris S »

Just found a photo Tim sent me of his 6-litre camel tank.
Looks like it fits a Rally very nicely.
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by OB1 »

Chris S wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:18 pm Just found a photo Tim sent me of his 6-litre camel tank.
Looks like it fits a Rally very nicely.

I think that I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and shell out for the Camel Tank. It does fit very neatly behind the LH pannier frame and, once installed is so simple to use. Time to start saving, I think!
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by Chris S »

I think for the price it's not that bad as a fit-and-forget unit and you can sell it on later.
That's how I rationalised my giant WR tank.
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Re: Camel Tanks and Others...

Post by OB1 »

It was a long time coming (getting round to buying, not the delivery) but I've finally bought the Camel Adv Tank. From placing the order to delivery it took less than a week, however, the sting in the tail was the £100 import duty that I had to pay...
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