I've since changed to another tank, but this is the history of my fuel cell project,
and contains some information to learn how not to do some things as well
as how to do them.

updated 7.04.2004 - new mount system - scroll to the
bottom for info

Special thanks to David Morrow and Ron Hanson
for their advice on this project.

Note - the adding of a fuel tank like this could be dangerous.
Do so at your own risk!

Remember when your mother asked you "If so-and-so jumped off a bridge,
would you do it too because they did?" Despite that it's a really stupid way to
make a point, I'm that guy who would jump off a bridge because someone
else thought it to be a good idea first.

Thus began the saga of the auxilliary fuel cell for my bike. The Kawasaki Concours
has one of the largest stock fuel tanks of any bike at 7.5 gallons, and on distance rides,
I usually hit reserve at around 200 miles averaging between 70-80 mph. That means I could
easily go 250 before I'd have to seriously worry. Why would I need a fuel cell?

Enter another Iron Butt Association Certified ride. I'd already completed the
Saddlesore 1000 (1000 miles in 24 hours), and the Bun Burner Gold (1500 miles
in 24 hours). This time it was the Border to Border Insanity.

This is scheduled as a group attempt by the MNLD RIders for the last weekend in April, 2004.
The usual crew in Team Newbie was all adding fuel capacity. I considered riding alone,
and not using a fuel cell, but that wouldn't have been as much fun. Plus, I can't seem to
stop tinkering with my bike. This was one more excuse, so I started to think.

Ron designed his and Carrie's cells to sit where a passenger would sit on the bike.
(check out their GL1800 and RT1100 cells here )
This would have been ideal, except the Concours only has a one piece seat, and
the battery is under the seat, not to mention that I'd need to route the fuel line
from the cell under the seat as well, so I need to be able to get the seat on and off
(this is an ongoing theme in my story).

There aren't a lot of fuel cells for a bike that already carries 7.5 gallons, so there's not a lot of info
out there. Sampson makes a cool tank than hangs behind the bike, but it's really expensive, and
I've heard mixed reviews about their service. I couldn't justify that kind of expense. I wanted something
gravity fed as well, to avoid possible fuel pump failures.

Enter David Morrow's tech pages. He had a cell built for his Concours, and was
an invaluable source of information for me. His cell is here.
I knew I wouldn't want to have something custom built, and I really
wanted an aluminum cell, so I went looking on Ebay. This is what I found.

(click on the photos to enlarge in a new window)

It's a 4 gallon aluminum RCI fuel cell. I paid $104 as opposed to about $160
new. It had never been used, but had some scratches. It was also an ugly blue
color. It might have been fine if my bike was a 2001, but not with mine. I had some
leftover paint from my incident in South Dakota, so I painted it to match the bike.

Now how to mount it to the bike. I figured to build some sort of aluminum frame to
bolt the cell to. I toyed with mounting it to the aftermarket rack and reinforcing it somehow,
but that's really high up, and not the sturdiest. The David Morrow cell mounts to the subframe via
the four screws that hold on the little rack under the back cover. After double checking with him,
it looked like that was the way to go.

I tried several things, and ran into a few issues. One, the seat removal required the mount
to be further back and up than I'd hoped. Two, the model I'd built before the fuel cell showed up, had narrower
mounting tabs than I'd planned on. As Homer would say "D'oh!"

After five revisions, I got it right. The frame is 1" square hollow aluminum bar. It mounts to the bike via
four 8mm x 70 allen head bolts, and is held together by 8mm hex head bolts. I used wing nuts so
I could easily remove the cell if need be. I'm hoping to be able to rig something up on the base
of the frame to attach my Givi box to when I'm not running the cell. I probably spent about $50 on aluminum
and bolts. You could do better if you didn't make as many revisions as I did.

I did some test runs with the cell mounted, but no plumbing or fuel in the cell to see
how it handled and how sturdy it was. I ended up using nylon centered stop nuts under the
support pieces, because the normal ones shook loose, but that was the only thing.

Now how to plumb it into the fuel system. Once again I consulted with Mr. Morrow, who said he
just teed into the fuel line between the carbs and the petcock. Of course I forgot to take
a photo of this, but it's really easy to do. There's only one line it could be. (the little line is
vacuum, big line is fuel - tee into the fuel line). The Concours uses 5/16" lines, so you'll need that
for fittings and hose. I also added a fuel filter to the line coming from the cell. The
guy at the shop wasn't sure which way the fuel was supposed to flow, and there's no arrow,
but it's just a screen filter, so it'll work either way. I tried a NAPA filter, but it was too big.

I want to be able to run without the cell most of the time, when driving around town or to work.
This required a way to disconnect the fuel line without getting gas all over the place.
Ron steered me to a place callled McMaster-Carr which sells all sorts of hydraulic
fittings. I bought a quick disconnect from them, as well as the tees for the fuel line. I think the
total for the parts from McMaster was around $40, and the fuel line I purchased at NAPA.
It was a few dollars for 10 feet of it. Below is the disconnect. This view is shown from
above. The bar at the bottom is the one behind the battery.

The next issue I had was how to route the fuel line without pinching it off.
In addition I had to be able to get the disconnect out from under the plastic. I ended
up cutting a notch in the side cover. It's directly under the grab handle on the side, so you
won't really notice it.

Next I added a shutoff valve so that fuel won't run constantly. While I don't think it'll back up
at all, I probably will avoid running the second tank until about halfway through the main tank.
The shutoff valve was easy. A couple of bucks at the hardware store. I have it ziptied to the left
passenger grab rail.

Finally, we get to plumbing the tank itself. In theory, this is really easy.
In practice, it wasn't so easy. Fuel cells for racing come with AN fittings,
which aren't easy to find. My cell has two AN -10 outlets on the front. The only
way I knew of to run that to 5/16" fuel line was to reduce down to a AN -6 fitting,
for which the hose barb was close to 5/16. I ordered the 90 degree hose fitting and vent fitting
from Northeast Race Cars and Parts. I bought the caps and the first reducing system
locally from S&S performance in Crystal, MN. Total spent was around $25.

My first attempt looked like this.

Guess what problem reared it's ugly head again? I couldn't get the seat on and off
without seriously digging into the seat. I'd prefer to not dig up my nice Corbin seat -
something else had to be found.

I tried ordering from another place, but everything went on back order there, so I found another
place in town, MAS Performance in St. Paul. They had a part that reduced a -10 directly to a -6 fitting,
cutting out two parts on the line coming from the cell. I think the part was about $7, but well spent.
Look at all that clearance for the seat!

I grounded the tank to the frame of the bike, and added a vent hose to the top, even though
the cell came with a rollover ball valve built in. Finally it looked like the project was done.

I took it out for a ride, and added some gas to test the hose seals for leaks.
I had some seepage from the fittings coming out of the cell itself. Hmm.
All the racing shop guys said that AN fittings are self sealing - no tape, o-rings, or
gasket material needed. I don't think I believe them. I drained the tank, pulled the cap and hose off
the tank and added some Permatex gasket sealer and tightened everything back up again.

I filled both tanks (I can fit a little over 3 gallons in the cell on the sidestand)
and went for a 40 mile ride. No problems. Looks like it works fine.
I'll be testing my range this week as I ride. I'm guessing I should be able to add another 120-150 miles
before hitting reserve. Not bad! I do notice the extra weight, especially at parking lot speeds,
but it should be okay at highway speed. Total cost for the project was a little over $200.

updated info

After the Border to Border I decided that I really didn't like how the bike handled with the cell
mounted so high up and far back. In addition, I purchased a Russell Seat, which sits higher than
my Corbin did, making it tough to have the fuel lines coming out the front. I had to make some changes.

Several bikes at the B2B had fuel lines coming out the rear, so I decided to change mine around.
In addition, the paint I had used on the aluminum had all peeled off from spilled gas, so I decided to strip the
tank as well and leave it bare aluminum.

By turning the cell around, I could lower it about 2 inches, as well as move it forward about an inch.
I also changed the mount, so that it now rests on rubber washers directly on the plastic where the
stock rack sits.

The rest of the routing was the same, though I had to get a longer fuel line to connect to my shut-off
valve. I tried the new system out on the GLMC Bonzai Rally, and it worked like a charm, and made
a huge difference - I don't even notice the weight now!

I don't keep the cell on all the time, but I do keep the aluminum rack on all the time.
I just bolt my Givi E30 top case to the rack - it takes about 20 minutes to switch
from the Givi to the Cell or vice versa. Not bad!