Rotopax Sux: 4 Ways to Carry Fuel on Your Motorcycle

rotopax owns the Jerry can market for trucks but for a motorcyclist looks like a box of hot air Roto packs are everywhere usually mounted next to a rusty shovel on the roof of an Overkill over land vehicle way out in the remote areas of the Whole Foods parking lot it's an industry leader they look damn near indestructible and they're a flex but they aren't Flawless twenty years ago separate Vents and simple functional spouts on gas cans were outlawed in the states by the EPA and these became mandatory big brother didn't trust us not to spill so they mandated a sippy cup but the one they gave us somehow makes more of a mess Roto packs can't get around that better than anyone else so they recommend you purge these ventless cans once a day every 10 degrees in temperature change and every thousand feet in elevation it's durable because the plastic is thick but that makes it heavy which means you need a Burly metal mounting system and you might need something to mount that mount to which weighs you down even further and it all adds cost this is what I needed to mount a one gallon Roto packs to my Dr it all costs 240 dollars weighs 7 pounds dry and 13 when it's full so it might be rugged but I still have to treat it like a baby burping it all the time while it pees on me let's look at some alternatives [Music] if you don't want to add permanent Hardware in a giant red box onto your bike that screams hey I have extra gas and money probably the giant Loop fuel bladder is much more accommodating but what if it's not a long haul and a gallon is way more than I need for shorter trips down roads less traveled you could stash a fuel bottle on your bike somewhere simple yes but of course there's still a way to spend way too much money besides it's only a splash and you still have to stop to get it in the tank there is a way to add range without adding pit stops you can burn six more liters on a carbureted bike while putting your precious petroleum eggs into two baskets with the autofed auxiliary tanks for maturbis the proof of concept that with a little reworking might prove the most practical first let's look at this liquid reservoir from giant Loop it holds 6 liters and mounts pretty much anywhere you want it to plus unlike any Jerry can when this is empty it gets smaller roll it up and tuck it away or use it to cinch your gear down a little bit better 140 bucks 13 ounces dry and it doesn't need a vent or to be purged if you leave a little bit of extra room when you fill it up and it doesn't have that stupid safety nozzle now why because the giant Loop armadillo bag is not intended for use as fuel storage transport or use as a gas bag in the United States of America that's what I call a giant loophole and I'm all about it now for just an extra liter or two I like to use a bottle this 2 liter german-made Trax canister kit from SW motec it's kind of like a water bottle on a bicycle in that it mounts to an aluminum cage which you bolt on somewhere and it comes with a spout that you need to stash somewhere else but you don't really need it good for maybe the front of a hard case on a Touring bike but the bottle alone is seventy dollars and it's 140 for the whole kit while in some parts of the world we can get gas and Pepsi bottles from a roadside stand it is our most modestly priced receptacle we just need a bottle to not explode in the Sun and not dissolve when there's fuel in it too long I'd rather just go with two of these Trails End bottle holders from Nelson Riggs the bottles you can get on Amazon MEC Army Surplus they're all over the place and thanks to the Molle straps on the bag you can mount these all over the place I keep two of these on my bike at all times one for a fuel bottle and one for other stuff if you know this bike you know that a chirpies makes a few bigger tanks for it so I could do that and ditch these rad ass 90s Graphics no [Music] one sticker saving option is the 6-liter auxiliary fuel tank for mature bees made for carbureted bikes it splices directly into the fuel line giving you a huge boost in range without any need for additional liquid transfers having a separate tank hooked up to the carb means that if you puncture one of them the other can still keep you going which is a plus they want you to drill your Fender as a mounting solution but there are ways around that it's a little hokey but it works and it begs the question why can't I hook up any other gas tank so it auto feeds in the same way turns out with a little bit of JB Weld and PEX Hardware you can [Music] [Music] so let's recap Roto packs on a motorcycle is overpriced overrated Overkill and they're a hassle to store and pour thanks to the man keeping them down gas bags are the right choice if you're going to go big and bottles are an easy and discreet way to stay prepared in a pinch auxiliary autofed tanks have their place and they can give your bike a second life but for me if I'm on a trip long enough to Warrant a spare gas tank I'm going to need that rack space for the rest of my gear so I have a giant Lube armadillo bag rolled up in my pack and I only load it if I'm not sure I'll make it through the next stretch I don't have a fuel gauge and I get lost a lot so I always like to make sure I carry a bottle with me which sort of chills me out when I'm running on reserve so Ryan can put these two on my tab thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: FortNine

Views: 580,175

Keywords:

Id: OAToq8BWVes

Length: 5min 40sec (340 seconds)

Published: Sat May 06 2023