This will be the last yer my son will be on his KX 100,and I would rather not invest in a larger tank for one seasons riding.What other alternatives are there?I guess I could pack extra fuel in a small can in my back pack,or maybe run a bigger tank on my TXC 450 and just carry mix oil?His next bike will be full size so he will keep it longer so a bigger tank wint be an issue.

What about an acerbis front auxilIary tank. Its Cheap but kinda ugly


http://www.amazon.co...edir_mdp_mobile

What I used to do is pack some fuel in water bottles and tuck them in behind the front number plate. I could fit two 500ml bottles there.

A few of the camping companies make fuel bottles for carrying white gas, that I think hold about a liter a piece.  Probably a little safer than the old school water bottle method.  Used to ride with 1liter pepsi bottles full in my backpack:)  That always made for some nervous miles until you used enough to pour them in the tank.

I have bungee corded a 1 gal container  to the front number plate, resting on the fender. If you're doing fast/tight stuff it might mess with your handling a little. I also carried some in a half gallon Gatorade bottle in my backpack. I taped the cap shut so it wouldn't come loose though.

If you plan on getting a larger tank for your TXC anyways then get that now, have your son pack a small bottle of premix and a bottle for transfering gas. Some of my buddies don't have large tanks and I share gas with them all the time. My Acerbis tank has two petcocks. I don't have the one on the right side plumbed to my carb so it's the perfect tool for transfering fuel.

Willwater, on 29 January 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

+1  Yes...   I've been using them for over 30 years now. Versitile and much safer than water bottles or other used containers.  There are some design specifics that make them safer.  They are seamless spun aluminum and are designed to take the pressure that can build up inside.

Most other containers have a cap that threads on to outside thread on the bottle. When pressure builds or you compres the bottle in a crash, the added pressure expands the cap and the threads can part. The cap can split too. On these bottles, the cap threads on to INSIDE threads so added pressure makes the connection even tighter and the cap is reinforced by the bottle itself.

If you ride with say a larger Camelbak pack, 2 of these 1-liter bottles fit nicely in the inside corner of the pack upright or in outside pockets like I use. They adjust for movements and never poke me through the pack.  I like to add fuel from the bottles early in the ride to not only lighten the pack, but to get an estimate of my fuel consumption for the ride.  My main tank on my bike holds only 3 liters that is good for 18 to 36 miles depending upon the type of ride. 2 extra liters is a good safety margin for most of my rides. I have never run out of gas though I have come very close and was very thankful I had carried 3 of those bottles on that ride. My buddy and I had to share that last bottle to get back to camp.

You'll use them even AFTER you get the larger bike for him.

Here is my typical pack and notice the red fuel bottles on each side:

Edited by 2PLY, 01 February 2012 - 06:17 AM.

I might add that I wrap a bunch of duct tape around the bottles for emergency use..  it's a good place to carry the tape.  And if you have hollow handle bars, cut a length of clear vinyl hose that will fit the fuel tank spigot for spare fuel line or it can be used as a siphon hose when you need to transfer fuel from bike to bike.  make it long enough that it will not disappear into the bars out of reach.

You can also carry a length of tie-wire inside that vinyl hose for emergency repairs.

R.E.I. and other outdoor stores carry the fuel bottles. The best ones I've found are the ones by MSR...   No...  not "Malcom Smith Racing" ..

"Mountain Safety Research"  They seem to be built stronger and you can buy replacement caps and gaskets..  Oh yes, the cap has a great rubber gasket for even better sealing..   but I don't like the new style Child-Proof caps.. I'm not sure if the old style caps are still available, but I've seen them in REI
http://www.rei.com/p...rp-cap-30-fl-oz

Don't mess with anything smaller than the 30 oz model

Edited by 2PLY, 01 February 2012 - 04:08 PM.

you could use some r/c model airplane/boat gas tanks. they often run on 2smoke gas mix, so there is a wide range of shapes, sizes and volumes gor about 5-10 dollars. alot cheaper then the acerbis aux. tank.http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p?&C=QCA  copy and paste link. for some reason the add link feature is not working(the whole tool bar is not showing up )

The fuel bottles saved my butt riding in the Colorado high country in 2010. For 2011 I had a larger tank and carried the bottles too. Never needed them then but it's always better to have gas you don't need than....

Edited by carlt828, 02 February 2012 - 07:17 PM.

Quote

You Bet!!   It's NO fun pushing your bike 5 or more miles back to camp on a mountain trail in the DARK!   No engine? no headlight!  LED headband lights are great but they don't provide enough light for a safe ride on any rough trail at much more then walking speeds.

My closest call came on a ride with a good friend that now works for the USFS in Cle Elum, WA.  I loaned him my extra Gas Gas Trials 280 and gave him 2 liters of extra gas in 2 fuel bottles and I took 2...   but just before leaving, I decided to carry one more bottle with me.

Our planned route was a lot longer and took much more time than we allowed for.  Shortly after dark, my buddy had to switch to reserve. His bike had no head light so he was using an LED headband and we had to creep along at less than 10 MPH.

At the time he ran out, I had to switch to reserve.  So now, it's dark, the last week in August and 10 hours into the ride. He's completely out of gas and my bike has about 6 ounces left AND we are still about 4 miles away from camp with a steep climb on a very varrow and tight trail.  Time to share that last bottle that I almost left back at camp... He had the only LED headband light so when I run out of gas, it's ligths out for me!!  Deep forest in the Teanaway area and no moon... WHEW!!!  we made it with both engines still running..  
.

Edited by 2PLY, 03 February 2012 - 10:39 AM.

I have a chainsaw mount on the front of my "work bike" (Yamaha TTR250) and I use those same bottles in a backpack to carry chainsaw gas and bar oil.  Been doing it for alot of years.

I learned my lesson the hard way back in 1974 by carrying gas in a used plastic juice container with the typical outside threaded cap..   Besides the square corners of the bottle poking me through the pack, the building pressure from the warm day and the constant sloshing in the bottle leaked gas into my pack.  It ruined my lunch and soaked through the pack to my back and jersey.

I stopped and dumped what I could in the tank, aired out my shirt and went on. I thought that was the end of it until later when my skin peeled off of my back!!  

It's been over 35 years now and my high quality aluminum bottles have never leaked..   However, I bought a cheap aluminum bottle that was very light weight and it did eventually develop a crack from flexing with pressure build-up but that was a saw gas can..   That was lesson #2 :  When it comes to carrying gas, don't be cheap!!  Some of my bottles are 35 years old now and still good.

Oh yes, and multiple 1-liter bottles are better than a 1 gallon container as the bottles will self adjust with movement in your pack and not poke you in the back.

Gas mounted to your bike affects the handling of the bike the higher up you place it and the gas gets a rough ride / shake up so anything but the best container is at risk from pressure and those darn unexpected crashes!

Edited by 2PLY, 08 February 2012 - 02:26 PM.

I have do allot of trail riding around my house but never wanted to stray too far as my bike in an MX bike. I have been looking at getting a 1 gal Potopax and placing it over my front number plate.  

http://www.rotopax.com/

I'm with 2PLY....the MSR metal bottles are awesome for packing extra premix.  I don't need 'em, since I put a 3.2 gal IMS tank on my '06 YZ250 last year, but my nephew rides a KX125 with a pretty small tank, so for long all day rides, we pack two large bottles, which is almost 2 litres worth.  Haven't had to use 'em yet, since he can go 50km without a fill (and he rides like a bat out of hell!), but when you're way back in the bush near Algonquin Park, it's best to carry spare.  Just put 'em in a backpack last year.

I have a small 500ml wide mouth plastic bottle (nagalene I believe) I hand marked with a sharpie which fits nicely in the water bottle holder on my fanny pack. I fill that with 2-stroke oil....and just mix at gas stops.  I mark it by litre....that is how much oil I need per litre of gas....fill the bike, see how much gas you added, then add the right amount of oil and shake the bike vigorously.  Worked fine for our longer rides.

This year, I'll be trying out a Giant Loop MoJave Saddle bag rig to pack the metai gas canisters on the bike, instead of on the back:

http://www.giantloop...avitm-saddlebag

I think that will make for better balance and more comfort.

Edited by andrzej, 12 February 2012 - 08:45 AM.

I put my fuel bottles in some old socks to keep them from rattling around in the tail bag I use. My neighbor picked up a Kolpin fuel cell w/ mount and attached it to the rack on his KLR250. I got one for Christmas and just ordered a mount for it. It holds 1-1/2 gal and is about $60 with mount. With my larger tank, I'm at almost 5 gal plus my two fuel bottles. I should be good to go for sure now. Here's a pic

I used Sweet Cheeks succesfully on my RMZ450 when going out in the forests. In total 1 gallon extra, without ever feeling them or different handling. If you're done with the bottles you can just throw them away. The narrow seats from the RMZ are better durable when you can sit a bit on the bottles.

http://cycle-analyst...sweetcheeks.htm

Edited by Noppy, 14 February 2012 - 11:08 AM.

Noppy, on 14 February 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

They have quite a disclaimer:
"Sweet Cheeks is not warranted for use on a moving vehicle.
Containers falling from motorcycle could cause severe injury or death.
Container must be approved for contents and properly secured."

But carrying gas in the 1 liter plastic bottles while sitting on them brings up the point I made earlier about pressure build up in a bottle with a cap that has outside threads..   Would make a good movie stunt to have one blow out and then catch fire..   

Talk about excitement!!  

Max78, on 08 February 2012 - 03:11 PM, said:

Yep, I tried mounting 1 gallon to the front of my old XL350 Honda and then to my old TL250 Honda and both times, the extra weight up high and on the forks was like wrestling with a pig.  Even though the tank I used was sold to carry gas with 4 adjustable fork clamps, it shook itself apart and the outside threaded cap leaked..  BOTH of them basically self-destructed in less than 2 months..   But maybe the newer ones are better,,,   but even if bullet-proof, 1-1/2 gallons added to the front adds (gas = 6 pounds/gallon) 9 pounds plus the weight of the container.

And when removing ounces of weight from the front suspension greatly improves performance, imagine what adding 10 pounds can do for ya..

I think I tried about every method people have come up with and I finally had to admit that carrying a safe container in a back pack was the answer.  It also helped to teach me to ride with a quiet upper body while my legs did the suspension work.  And when you get that down, the things in your pack have an easy ride and you don't even notice them.  

Again, take a close look at my pack in the photo in my post above....  That's a "big" CamelBak pack..   It's really comfortable and i can even carry my Stihl 020T Pro Limbing Chainsaw in there...  and if I take the bar off and stuff it inside, none of the saw shows as I ride past unsuspecting Hikers or tree huggers..  no need to get them all excited eh"

Edited by 2PLY, 15 February 2012 - 01:40 PM.

I agree with 2ply, msr bottles.