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275 Posts
I decided to try to get more gas in my tank, I've run pretty low on longer rides, down to about 1/3 gallon left, not good.
I have done several of my bikes in the past with good results.
I took off the tank, drained it, took off the cap and fuel pump and let it sit out in the breeze a few hours until the fumes were gone. Then I took my Dremel with a fresh cutoff wheel and cut a slot on the RH side of the neck, just below the top flange that the cap seals to. I cut probably 1/3 of the way around the right side as high as possible since the bike leans left when filling. I blew out the tank with air for about 10 minutes until everything was out.
I then wanted to see how much fuel the tank actually holds. I poured gas in a little at a time until the fuel pump started to draw fuel, by sound. This is effectively completely empty, where you run out of gas. There is only about 5 to 7 ounces of fuel the pump can't get to, not bad. Then I added a half gallon and rode to the gas station. The amount of fuel the bike took, minus the half gallon minus the 2 miles of fuel to get to the gas station, am I still making sense? The tank was almost exactly 3.7 gallons to the bottom of the neck originally, really close to Yamaha's spec, now I can get in 4.13 gallons to the bottom of the top flange, but the last .413 gallon goes in pretty quickly.
For me that means an extra 20+ miles before pushing, I'm getting well over 50 mpg now. It means about 11% more range. A lot of you probably don't need more range but I'm used to 6.8 gallons at 50 mpg on my 1150GS so it equals a little more peace of mind for me. I have also removed my evap canister so any fuel that goes out the tank vent just goes on the ground. It looks like maybe only the CA bikes have the evap system. Just don't top off the tank like this and park the bike. The expanding fuel will come out the tank vent system, potential garage explosion hazard.
I have done several of my bikes in the past with good results.
I took off the tank, drained it, took off the cap and fuel pump and let it sit out in the breeze a few hours until the fumes were gone. Then I took my Dremel with a fresh cutoff wheel and cut a slot on the RH side of the neck, just below the top flange that the cap seals to. I cut probably 1/3 of the way around the right side as high as possible since the bike leans left when filling. I blew out the tank with air for about 10 minutes until everything was out.
I then wanted to see how much fuel the tank actually holds. I poured gas in a little at a time until the fuel pump started to draw fuel, by sound. This is effectively completely empty, where you run out of gas. There is only about 5 to 7 ounces of fuel the pump can't get to, not bad. Then I added a half gallon and rode to the gas station. The amount of fuel the bike took, minus the half gallon minus the 2 miles of fuel to get to the gas station, am I still making sense? The tank was almost exactly 3.7 gallons to the bottom of the neck originally, really close to Yamaha's spec, now I can get in 4.13 gallons to the bottom of the top flange, but the last .413 gallon goes in pretty quickly.
For me that means an extra 20+ miles before pushing, I'm getting well over 50 mpg now. It means about 11% more range. A lot of you probably don't need more range but I'm used to 6.8 gallons at 50 mpg on my 1150GS so it equals a little more peace of mind for me. I have also removed my evap canister so any fuel that goes out the tank vent just goes on the ground. It looks like maybe only the CA bikes have the evap system. Just don't top off the tank like this and park the bike. The expanding fuel will come out the tank vent system, potential garage explosion hazard.