Auxillary Fuel Tank installed...NEW PICS !!!

Damm, just got that small underseat auxillary tank and it doesnt fit my 05 FE650 worth SHIEEEET!

I had to cut my ignition mount tab and round it off so it would then fit into the notch provided in the top rear of the aux tank. Well, after cutting the mount and then stuffing the tank into place, the provided bolt hole was off more than 1/4". You can't redrill the tank because you will obviously penetrate the double wall of the plastic causing a leak and ruining the tank....you would have to cut off the factory tab completely and then reweld it OFF center, which is a LOT of friggen fab work (and disassembly of the bike too). Now that I have cut it off, I no longer have the mount point for my ignition....I will need to fab another tab and sandwich inbetween the fender and the original bolt hole. The plastic sub fender mounting holes don't even line up with the frame mounting hole. WOW...what a bunch of junk!

Seems like PowerCell was right (I just checked the archives). This damn thing is nearly worthless with only 3/4 gallon and a LOT of friggen work just to make it come close....and it cost $175!!! On top of all that, the kit lists various 6mm mounting bolts and they supplied SHEET METAL screws.....HOLY CRAP MAN. THEN....they list two adel clamps (the aircraft style shaped like a "?") that were also conveniently LEFT OUT. They even left out the necessary vent tubing too (although easy to replace....but it was listed and should have BEEN there!)

Then, relocating the ignition is nearly impossible too. PowerCell mentioned mounting it in front of the steering head, but even that would be a royal pain. WTF is with these people at Berg anyway?

Anybody else have any better luck or any suggestions? Just about ready to trash this POS......

That tank was definitely meant for older Bergs. Yeah, it is a pain in the butt to put on an 04/05 but it can be done. Bergdaddy mounted one on the Baja bike as well.I have an aux tank but have not tried to install it yet. I'm holding out for an IMS tank.

Hmmmm, IMS tank? Will that be anytime soon or is that the one nobody wants to fund for a production run? If its any closer to production, I'd certainly be willing to add my deposit to the mix.........

Re: Auxillary Fuel Tank arrived.....POS!!!

rustie said:

Anybody else have any better luck or any suggestions? Just about ready to trash this POS......

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Hi Rustie,

Yeah my 'kit' came just like yours, missing all of those parts. I bought the clamps, bolts, etc at the local 'Bergs Hardware' (no pun intended, thats their name). I fabricated a mounting bracket for the Ignition Module to fit onto the triple clamp, lengthened the harness going to the carb position sensor, and fiddled with the fuel hose routing to get as much gas out of the Aux as possible. I now get 28 to 31 miles from it on my 04 550 in the Desert.

It looks like it will be a sunny day here, so I will take some pictures for you and post them later today in my gallery.

pictures are here:

incredibly short link

Joe

rustie said:

Hmmmm, IMS tank? Will that be anytime soon or is that the one nobody wants to fund for a production run? If its any closer to production, I'd certainly be willing to add my deposit to the mix.........

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I brought up the subject at a BMG meeting and the reply was "No!" even though we had a large number of people that were/ are willing to put up $100 deposits.

Powercell had pm'ed me that he has been working on having tanks made, but he has been working on it for over a year, so I wonder what is taking Powercell so long?

So despite the market wanting one, it seems that no one is willing to fill the market's needs.

Hey Joe,
Any chance you can upload some pics of your aux tank to that site? Maybe with some closeups of the mounting locations including inside the wheel area (where my plastic doesn't even come close to the factory bolt hole on the right side dog-legged plastic extension).

About the only thing I can think of to do on that misaligned top rear mounting bolt (the long 6mm bolt), is to drill the frame tab threads completely out and possibly weld on a nut to that tab in an offset position to account for the tank assemetry. Boy, and no new tank coming. WTF are they thinking? We sure could all use a larger tank! Maybe they are worried about liability these days with any "extra" fuel???

Rustie,you will probably feel a lot better about that aux. fuel tank after you just finished your first 100 mile ride and you did not have any worries over running out of fuel :!: Dan.

Moto,
No doubt about that, but I could just about strap on a couple of 1/2 liter coke bottles full of fuel in the same area with a lot less hassel....and have a bit more fuel as well. Anybody tried this yet?

rustie said:

Moto,
No doubt about that, but I could just about strap on a couple of 1/2 liter coke bottles full of fuel in the same area with a lot less hassel....and have a bit more fuel as well. Anybody tried this yet?

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We use the 1 liter wide mouth bottles. We keep them in our back packs. After the second or third time carrying them, you forget they are even there (from a weight stand point).

rustie said:

Moto,
No doubt about that, but I could just about strap on a couple of 1/2 liter coke bottles full of fuel in the same area with a lot less hassel....and have a bit more fuel as well. Anybody tried this yet?

Click to expand...

What I used to do when the bike I was ridding didn`t have the range was strap on a gas can in front of the handlebars.I have used 1 gal. up to 3.5 gal. that way.The 3.5 gal. made for some heavy handling for a while.I have thought about using Coleman gas cans since they are 1 gal. size and also have a gas tank off of a rideing lawnmower.I have good range now but I know there is a way to extend it if I have to. Take care.

rustie said:

Hey Joe,
Any chance you can upload some pics of your aux tank to that site? Maybe with some closeups of the mounting locations including inside the wheel area (where my plastic doesn't even come close to the factory bolt hole on the right side dog-legged plastic extension).

About the only thing I can think of to do on that misaligned top rear mounting bolt (the long 6mm bolt), is to drill the frame tab threads completely out and possibly weld on a nut to that tab in an offset position to account for the tank assemetry. Boy, and no new tank coming. WTF are they thinking? We sure could all use a larger tank! Maybe they are worried about liability these days with any "extra" fuel???

Click to expand...

Rustie,

I put some pictures up, have you seen them? As to the dog legged mud guard, I used a heat gun to soften it and then stretched it to the top right frame mounting point. Don't heat the guard near the bolt hole, or it will tear out while you are trying to stretch it!

On the left side top frame loop I had to grind down a weld that kept the tank from fitting properly. Once I did that the top rear mounting bolt (the long 6mm bolt), fit through the tank into into the frame tab nut. The nut you see in my "top View Details' picture is to terminate the rear light wiring grounds. It is threaded on to the end of the 6mm bolt.

Make sure you keep the fuel line from the Aux tank lower than the bottom of the aux tank all of the way to the carb inlet.

I used the old CDI mounting tab as a pattern for the new one. I made the new one out of 302 stainless steel I had laying around. The rivets were to allow final positioning between the head light and the Speedometer.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

I think the extra 6 pounds fits better under the seat than way high up front!

Joe

Whooooaaa there Rustie! It's not that bad...

Sure, the auxiliary tank was meant for pre-2004 'bergs, but with a little patience and thought, it'll fit and work just fine.

I highly recommend the IMS breather mounted to the primary tank.

If you're going to move the ignition module to the steering head, I don't recommend mounting it to the upper triple clamp. The wiring harness wasn't meant to take that much flexing. You can mount it to a bolt-on steering dampener post, or fab a custom mount like I show in my gallery. I've since replaced my frame and in doing so welded threaded mounts to the front of my steering tube to hold a custom ignition module tray.

I've also seen the module mounted under the battery box, but that just gives me the creeps... 8O


Good Luck!


~ Ken

BTW -

For those who are planing to move their ignition module up to the steering head, you will discover that the TPS (throttle position sensor) harness is just a wee bit too short to make the reach.

A simple fix is to remove the TPS and flip it around to face the front of the bike. You'll require a #20 star driver and a multimeter to re-adjust the sensor.

As a side note, my 2004 Six-Fiddy was giving me a little trouble setting the idle mixture when I first got it. I then checked the TPS, discoving it was off by a mile from the factory. Once properly adjusted, the bike idled much better and I was able to lower my idle speed to prevent the Rekluse auto clutch from dragging.


~ Ken

Joe,
Thanks for those extra pics. That should really help sort things out. I will look for that weld and see if that is what's keeping my aux tank to one side and missing the threaded tab hole. I also see you ran your vent tube off the cap and likely closed off the top valve. I assume that's because the valve is much lower than the cap, right?

Powercell,
Thanks too for your info. Where you say:

"I highly recommend the IMS breather mounted to the primary tank"

Do you mean "T'd" into something...or just run up to a high point above the original tank like in Joe's pics?

Hey Rustie -

I mean into the tank, like this (yeah, I know, it's a crappy picture)...






~ Ken

rustie said:

Joe,
I also see you ran your vent tube off the cap and likely closed off the top valve. I assume that's because the valve is much lower than the cap, right?

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Right, If you use the top valve as a vent, it will pump fuel out as it heats up if you fill the tank to within 3 " of the top. I shut off the valve, and drilled a very small (3/64") hole through the cap stem. remove the rubber bladder from the cap to make sure you get the drill shavings out. Careful when replacing the rubber into the cap. The rubber edge needs to be underneath the retaining ridge in the cap in order for it to seal properly. I didn't get it right the first time .

I used safety wire to clamp the hose onto the cap stem.

Hope this helps,

Joe

Joe's spot-on about the auxillary tank blowing fuel out the vent hose.

However, if you follow my advice and use the IMS vent directly into the main tank, the fuel will fill the vent hose up to the fuel level in the main tank. When the fuel expands it simply dumps into the main tank.

Joe, ya' shoulda' known...


~ Ken

I once considered buying a tank like what is in this thread.I tell you what if I pay $175 for something I would find a way to make it work.Might take some headscratching but "everything will come out in the wash".Good luck.

Well guys,
After spending 2+ hours, I got that POS tank to finally fit perfectly! Damn....a HEAT gun, why didn't I think of that B4?? Thanks Joe!! I not only stretched the right side plastic leg, but instead of grinding away any of the frame welds, I just heated the tank up in various places (like that troublesome upper left rear corner) and molded the tank to fit the frame. That central rear bolt now lines up near perfectly...and fits like it was intended!

Now if I can only find a better place to mount the ignition. I'm thinking of locating it just behind the right side number plate with a new metal blade type mount attached to that inner fender bolt where I stretched that plastic leg. I need to get an inch or so more cable, but I "think" I can get it to fit somewhere around there. Too bad nobody makes a straight through cable extension (like a M/F DB25 computer cable!!)

As to the vent, instead of drilling the cap open, I will thread a small 90 degree brass fitting (1/16 pipe x 3/16 hose barb) into the top right corner of the tank at it's highest spot. That way it won't trap as much air, but it might port a little more raw fuel out of this new vent location. I will use Powercell's method and run a small urethane fuel vent line up to the main tank cap vent and "Y" it in.

Well, I'm slowly gettting there!

wildbill said:

I tell you what if I pay $175 for something I would find a way to make it work.

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should that not read - I would expect it to work straight off?

I'm stunned. It should really fit shouldn't it?

Simon