want more miles out of your tank?

[Jon_P]

i was looking at the stock tank. i found as i was getting a tank that i sold ready for shipping that there is a alot of fuel that sits over on the right side and can not get to the petcock on the left because it is trapped! over a gallon and half! if you want to get more miles out of your tank for longer rides and trips put in a petcock on the right side. the bigger brothers and sisters to our beloved r65 have a second petcock on the right so why doesnt ours?

there are some easier ways of doing this. one would to get a 1/4 or 3/8 pipe nipple and weld it into the right side. from there you could do a couple of things. get a harley style petcock and then run it down to the carb. i would then also leave in the cross over that runs through the air box. another way would be run the cross over high and then remove the petcock and run it lower in line with the fuel hose.

has anyone else done this?

[Bob_Roller]

I posted about how much 'unuseable' fuel was in the tanks of out R65's, and I got about .5 gallons out after draining the tank with the fuel tap in the reserve position.

So if you can remember this little tidbit of in formation, when you run out of fuel, get the front wheel up, like on a curb, let the fuel run the the back of the tank, then tip the bike to the left, to get the fuel over to the left side.

Might just give you enough fuel to get you out of your 'situation'.

Also you could try cutting the pipe for the reserve postion in the tank, but I would add an inline filter, as you are taking fuel off of the bottom of the tank then.

[montmil]

I posted about how much 'unuseable' fuel was in the tanks of out R65's, and I got about .5 gallons out after draining the tank with the fuel tap in the reserve position. So if you can remember this little tidbit of information, when you run out of fuel, get the front wheel up, like on a curb, let the fuel run the the back of the tank, then tip the bike to the left, to get the fuel over to the left side.

I go with Bob's curb idea. Remembering his prior post about this, I also thought about how much money it would cost to add a cross-over pipe and/or another petcock. Besides laying a torch on a perfectly good fuel tank, the additional parts and a new and possibly non-matching paint job would set you back a substantial chunk of change.

[Jon_P]

welding on a tank isnt as scary as you would think. draining all the fuel out and then running water through the tank, then place a fan or a air wand to blow out any other fumes till dry is all you really have to do. i weld on fuel and propane tanks all the time at work and as long as you pratice careful procedures before striking a arc your safe. we also have a hydrocarbon sniffer to make sure that the vessels arent live.

[montmil]

... Besides laying a torch on a perfectly good fuel tank, the additional parts and a new and possibly non-matching paint job would set you back a substantial chunk of change.

Curb  [smiley=2cents.gif]

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

For you, Jon, I could see where this mod would be no big deal.  But for us "regular folk" (that cannot create works of art) getting along with the splash method (that is how the factory explained it to the bike magazine guys at the time) will probably continue to work well enough.

I think you could do it very well!  [smiley=thumbup.gif]

[nhmaf]

I don't know about you folks, but I can simply open up my seat, pull the toolbox out, reach under to the frame backbone and flip the retaining clip up at the back of the fuel tank, and then I can simply lift the tank off and tilt it to the left to relocate any "right-side" gas to the left petcock side.... no need to get wheels on curbs or worry about the bike tipping too far if I run outta gas - I consider it a "reserve reserve" on the little airhead - fortunately haven't had to intentionally use it to get home or to a fuel station yet...  just mind the end up the petcock (which is plastic) so one doesn't want to tip/tilt the tank too far - I try to leave enough slack fuel line to facilitate this.

[Justin B.]

I think that brazing on a couple of nipples so a crossover hose could be attached would be pretty slick and simple way to go.  And, come to think of it that is exactly what Honda did on the 1973 CB450 I had.  I have never understood why BMW didn't incorporate a crossover tube...

[Bonneybear]

Im actually in the process of putting a G/S tank on mine, It's larger, and has 2 outlets, I need to get another petcock though... ps I think popping the tank off to swirl out the extra fuel is brilliant  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I think that brazing on a couple of nipples so a crossover hose could be attached would be pretty slick and simple way to go.  And, come to think of it that is exactly what Honda did on the 1973 CB450 I had.  I have never understood why BMW didn't incorporate a crossover tube...

They did, Justin - on the /2's (and what else in their dark past?).

[Semper Gumby]

Im actually in the process of putting a G/S tank on mine, It's larger, and has 2 outlets, I need to get another petcock though... ps I think popping the tank off to swirl out the extra fuel is brilliant  

Remind me again which year GS tank fit on the 1980 R65?

Thanks,

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Im actually in the process of putting a G/S tank on mine, It's larger, and has 2 outlets, I need to get another petcock though... ps I think popping the tank off to swirl out the extra fuel is brilliant  

Remind me again which year GS tank fit on the 1980 R65?
Thanks,

The early years, for sure.  The thing is, the tank is shorter than the R65 tank, so there is a gap if you have a stock R65 seat on your bike.

[Bonneybear]

Yeah, there's a gap, but there is also a bracket on the tank for the original seat. Im going to make a stash bag to clip on the bracket and fill the gap.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Can you take a picture of that bracket?

Now that I have a G/S seat on my bike, I am curious about them in this area.