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Hi,
I want to carry more fuel, in on or around the bike would be good. I do have a reasonably sized givi top box but would prefer to keep petrol out of there as it normally has my lunch in it. Can i get a bigger tank (useful for my daily commute of 100km's each way) or will I have to resort to more petrol cans (I already have 0.5l under the seat) which are only really useful on longer rides?
I had an unfortunate moment last weekend when following a friend on an ST1300. Although he knew I needed fuel he misinterpreted my wild gesticulations as some form of burgeoning madness, well his tank was still on about 1/2 full. We were 270km's in to our ride and had just passed through a town, having never been there before on exiting the town I realised the only petrol station was back at the beginning of town. At the same instant I realised this the last dregs of fuel were exhausted and i came to a halt. I had already used my emergency 1/2l of fuel at the time stop "just in case".
In his defense another had rider caught up to us so when the ST1300 looked back he still saw 2 sets of lights and had no idea I had actually come to a stop. Personally I was stunned too, just the week before I had managed 353kms out of a tank. But there again nailing the throttle open through some of the best sets of twisties in on the planet generally has the effect of creating a whirlpool in the tank.
I gave $20 and my trust to a local and sat and watched rider after rider go passed. Just as I was about to say bye to my $20 and wave down a rider my trust paid off and my fuel arrived.
I went back to the petrol station and filled up. Soon back on the pace, though not quite as spirited I headed in to the rain and later night for the rest of the ride. I was a tad more careful about filling up and did not need to use my emergency supply again.
As usual the Transalp performed fatastically over 1000 miles (except the incident with the lack of fuel) on a huge range of roads in severely adverse conditions (unmarked roads, heavy rain, poor surface, slips and washouts). Then when the going was good and the roads began to dry in the morning she carried right on going. I even managed to loose a pack on a ktm990, blackbird and fireblade who were aparently trying hard to catch me. It was not my quickest 1000 miler but it was the wettest, rain and wet roads for probably 700 out of the 1000 miles. I could only wish for the range of the ST1300 but would not give up the ride/flexibility of the Transalp.
Recent work / improvements on the suspention have made some massive differnences in handling and comfort.
The rear shock had blown about 10,000 km's before, this was rebuilt (yes they can be despite what the manual says) and I spent a few thousand km's working out how to set the suspention.
The front was treated to some cartridge emulators, fitted by the same suspention guru who did my rear they have improved the front to something out of this world. Given the roughest road the front just sticks in there and the braking is much improved accidental lockups are a thing of the past but accidental stoppies are much more likely!
A conti attack on the rear was a good choice, I normally run cheep rubber, very few "moments" even when pushing 100+ (using uk mesurements) on at night on twisty, wet back roads
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only helpful if you ride out a lot with others. best and cheapest is a five litre jerry-can strapped to the back seat, there are rotobox's for fuel and fuelbags both are too expensive IMO
Originally Posted by piguglyshandydrinker
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