Big journey small tank

[donteatpeople]

I’m thinking about taking my bike (CBR125) on a 210ish mile journey but am concerned about fuel stops. It will be late at night and many petrol stations on my route are not 24 hour and I wont make it that far on one tank.

I have 3 thoughts:

1 - strap a 5L can of petrol to my rear seat. This also concerns me as I will have a large amount of flammable liquid just behind my backside.

2 – Find some stations that will be open till about 10pm on the A1, A17 and A47

3 – Both of the above

Can anybody advise on either?

[simon cullen]

just fill up at the first sensible chance ie: when you have done a few miles.

most if not all stations along that kind of route will be open till 10pm at the latest.you must be able to get 120+ miles out of one tank at least??

strapping a can of fuel to the bike is a bad idea & would probably get you nicked

[black-k1]

Small tanks can be a “pain in the bum” when on a journey but you are taking the right approach by planning ahead. When checking out petrol stations remember that many supermarket stations are open long hours.

The extra petrol can is a good idea but make sure it is well strapped down. I've always found that petrol cans on the pillion seat have an ability to "move" about a lot regardless how many bungees are used.

[donteatpeople]

simon cullen said:

strapping a can of fuel to the bike is a bad idea & would probably get you nicked

What are your reasons for thinking its a bad Idea?

Nicked for what?

My main concern is the A17 and A47 as from what I remember they seem very deserted at night. I am used to doing this journey in a mondeo which will easily go the whole way without filling up so never paid attention to petrol stations much.

I would rather not be sitting at the side of the road explaining to the AA how likely it was there would be a petrol station open, if you know of one which WILL be open then that would be very helpful to me.

[Pigeon]

donteatpeople said:

1 - strap a 5L can of petrol to my rear seat. This also concerns me as I will have a large amount of flammable liquid just behind my backside.

Well, you normally have a larger amount of flammable liquid right next to your nuts, so I wouldn't let it worry you.

Can on the back is what I'd do. Make sure the bungees go through the handle so it stays with you if it slips off the side though.

[donteatpeople]

Pigeon said:

Well, you normally have a larger amount of flammable liquid right next to your nuts, so I wouldn't let it worry you.

Good Point

[sjtscott]

donteatpeople said:

I’m thinking about taking my bike (CBR125) on a 210ish mile journey but am concerned about fuel stops. It will be late at night and many petrol stations on my route are not 24 hour and I wont make it that far on one tank. I have 3 thoughts: 1 - strap a 5L can of petrol to my rear seat. This also concerns me as I will have a large amount of flammable liquid just behind my backside. 2 – Find some stations that will be open till about 10pm on the A1, A17 and A47 3 – Both of the above Can anybody advise on either?

Surely you must have some idea of the mileage range on a tankful? I would imagine you can get a pretty decent MPG from a CBR125. Do they not fit trip counters? I've always used these as they generally give me a good clue about when I'm likely to need fuel. I'd say at a guess you'd only need a single fill up or is that tank really that small?
Strap that 5L can on if need be and keep it for emergency use only, nothing to worry about if it securely fixed down.

If I can manage to do 2500miles round france and neighbouring countries in two weeks with a sports 600 which at best can manage 100-120miles per tank with no 5L fuel can and come close but not actually run out despite no uk c.card working in any of the french autopay pumps in 2004, then 210miles shouldn't be a problem.

[bimsb6]

with only a 10 litre tank i can see your concern ,i would try and top up every 70 miles or so by which time i would think you would need a break by then anywhere.

[donteatpeople]

sjtscott said:

Surely you must have some idea of the mileage range on a tankful? I would imagine you can get a pretty decent MPG from a CBR125.

Only had the bike on the road for about a week and a half so not really had a chance to test it as I’ve been topping it up before it gets very low.

sjtscott said:

Do they not fit trip counters? I've always used these as they generally give me a good clue about when I'm likely to need fuel.

Annoyingly not

sjtscott said:

I'd say at a guess you'd only need a single fill up or is that tank really that small?

I am guessing about 80mpg and with a 10L tank that’s about 175 miles but with the extra 5L that will go up to more like 265miles put that together with the likelihood that I will find at least one open station along the way and I should make it with ease.

Prob being a bit paranoid but its my first big journey on a bike so a bit unsure about the whole thing. To most of you 210miles is probably mundane but to me it seems like an epic adventure.

Ill make sure that can is strapped on tight.

Thanks for the help guys.

[sjtscott]

donteatpeople said:

Only had the bike on the road for about a week and a half so not really had a chance to test it as I’ve been topping it up before it gets very low.

I think it would be a good idea to find out just how far it can go.. I've done this with every bike I've had when I first got it. Though I admit that some are easier to check than others.
Ok so what you need to do.. get that 5L can fill it.. strap it on the bike now.. refill your tank noting your mileage and ride the thing till it runs out.. note how many miles you've done. The 5L then gets you back to the nearest station where you can fill everything up again!
After that you will have a very good idea of the total miles you can do till you completely run out.

HTH.

[donteatpeople]

I thought about that but it leaves more room for things to go wrong so might try it on the way back when its light and I have more confidence/better estimate of what the range is likely to be.

[black-k1]

I don’t know if your bike has a manual fuel tap with a different main/reserve setting, but if the bike is new to you it is worth checking that both settings work. Many years ago on my first “long journey” (all of 120 miles!!) I got caught out on a bike I had not owned for very long when the main tank ran out for the first time since I bought the bike and flicking to reserve revealed that the reserve tap was blocked and didn’t work! Doh! Luckily it was only about half a mile push to the petrol station, but that was hard work!

[Pigeon]

Yeah, I've done that. Bike starts to falter - switch to reserve - nothing happens - bike stops. Switch back to normal, get off, lean the bike over at a perilous angle towards the fuel tap side and shake it about a bit to refill the float chamber. Get back on, ride for 200 yards until the float chamber's empty again, repeat until petrol station is reached... Well, it's easier than pushing it.

[bimsb6]

harley sportster owners seem to manage with a tank range of around 70 miles so you should be ok ,