DR650SE Index Topic #8- FUEL

Same.

Maybe Acerbis will get their shit together in the next year and offer a fuel tank that doesn't rely on screws into plastic.

It's pretty much why I don't have a larger tank yet. By the time I save up for the Safari, if Acerbis doesn't suggest it will change the design, they will have lost a customer.

The IMS tank has threaded inserts and the fill volume is very close to Acerbis.

Thanks, it looks a lot uglier, but I guess it would do the trick.

WindPipe took a good set of photos of the stock vacuum petcock and posted them on DRRiders.

http://drriders.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8886&view=unread#unread

I really don't think it will be an issue. I just got the Acerbis but have heard from others who have had it longer that the petcock works just fine. I have no leak on mine. I don't know how the threading into plastic will hold up but for now it's no problem. I guess if you replace the fuel valve gasket a lot that would be an issue but I feel like if something does happen it would be a pretty easy fix.

So far it has been plug-n-play.

My bike is a 2007 and my Safari was put on in 07. I've messed with the gaskets 4 times now.

I would highly recommend not using rubber gaskets on such a tank if thats what it comes with. Safari uses the same petcocks, so I would guess they both have the same crappy rubber gasket. The dark grey fuel rated gasket material from the auto parts store lasts much longer than the plain rubber.

Since I stopped using the rubber ones I haven't had a leak. I think they may go till the petcocks fail again. The E-10 drys out the rubber inside the petcocks too.

Well, I got an Acerbis 5.3 gallon fuel tank for my DR650 because so many said the screws into plastic wasn't going to be an issue.

As is evidenced above this, this was the part I was most apprehensive about, so of course I wanted to take a close look at these screws that Acerbis wanted me to rely upon for years to come.

Imagine my shock when I found that Acerbis didn't even include those screws. So I had to go to a local hardware store that didn't have any metric screws, deal with clerks there who couldn't help me find something close to 5.5x19, so I left with a few pairs of stainless screws, and eventually used the thinnest ones I had bought since the holes looked so tight (they have 8mm hex heads on them, and are slotted for a flat screwdriver).

I am more than not happy and worried about it all, especially since I was so apprehensive about that area in the first place.

And, yes, despite claims that modern Acerbis tanks fit Sargeant saddles from the get-go, I, too, had to grind away at the top tab to make it fit into the Sargeant seat pan hole. And also push and flex the seat pan to get the bottom tab to have a chance of hooking in. On top of that, when I ride with work shoes on the bike was already tall... the seat now sits even higher with the new tank, lol. Great for comfort on the bike, but not so great for dress shoes with thin soles for my commuting. (I am sure I wouldn't notice with riding boots on)

Dang, sorry to hear that man. Hopefully those screws will work better than we anticipate. I can't believe they forgot such a crucial part. Did you buy directly from Acerbis? I bought from justgastanksdotcom and had no problems, also got a discount for advrider.

I bought it from a well known vendor here. No need to name them - this was all very tight and secure packaging straight from Acerbis (as I'm sure you found your parts bag wrapped to your tank as well).

I wish IMS would make a gray tank.

Today my new Acerbis 5.3 tank came in the mail so I jumped on installing it. I ran in to a problem though. It looks like the stock fuel tank has an additional fuel line? Is this a vent or something? Can I just cap it, or do I need to return the tank?

It's attached on the right-rear side of the tank



And leads to something on the left hand side



I'm guessing this is a California thing.

Any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks!

All that stuff is removed. You'll need to plug the outlet(s) on the carb.

Gotta disagree on using the crescent wrench to twist the carby inlet pipe. It works if the pipe is not super tight in there. But you run a risk of kinking the thing using a crescent wrench.

Much safer is removing carb and using a vice. Position pipe in vice with carb body flush against the vice and twist carb body with hands. Properly positioned in the vice, you eliminate the risk of kinking the thing.

Two cents, ride on gentlemen.

Acerbis do and coming from someone who has just replaced his IMS for an Acerbis, I can tell you it is far better finished tank and looks great too. I was worried about the screw into plastic for the fuel tap but just be careful not to overtighten and strip them. Everything was included including the screws but it remains to be seen how durable the tank and fittings will be. Fitment was no worries and I gave it a 1000km (700Km of dirt) shakedown on the weekend- no issues so far.

i have used the acerbis tank for a couple of years now and it is holding up well.

40,000 km and every terrain you can think of, quite a few sand naps as well.

carrick4 by rian munro, on Flickr



CIMG6169 by rian munro, on Flickr


image by rian munro, on Flickr

Installing the Acerbis 6.6 gallon on 2015 DR650

Figure I'll put this in the DR Thread rather than my ATW thread. Keep the prep separate from the trip?

So, yeah, I went big. I've toured through the US and I've actually been 200 miles between gas stations, figure on a world trip who knows where I'll end up and where the gas will be. First I looked at just buying the gas cans with the center mounts, but by the time I'd add significant capacity they're getting big and expensive, so why not just make it neat and put the money toward the big tank?

First thing that confused me when I got the tank was that there were screw holes on both sides for petcocks, but only the left side was drilled, and only one petcock came with the tank. From reading other threads apparently some gas will get trapped on the right side, or maybe not?, but just "lean the bike over to get the last of it". Hmmmm... anyway, I installed it with the one petcock supplied and put in a question to Acerbis regarding exactly how much gas will get stuck (anyone know?). If it's a lot, I may put in another petcock.

I put the tank on the bike just to see how things will line up and ran across the turn signal clearance problem. Again read some threads talking about swapping left and right side brackets, but for me it wasn't good enough. With the Acerbis bark busters in place, just swapping brackets caused and interference problem, so had to get some 1.5" longer bolts, then the question was how do I get a spacer to take up that extra 1.5"? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I call them Frankenstein bolts... and nuts...



The nuts are not screwed on, they're just the next size up and slip on the bolt. The disadvantage, or advantage, here is that with the brackets swapped left to right and spaced out, they don't lock into the trippleclamp, so if you whack the turn signal hard, you can rotate it back.

Got the tank in place and tried the seat... no go. The seat was about 1" from lining up with the screw holes. The problem is the metal bracket on the tank vs the plastic slot on the seat it's suppose to slide into. The portion of the bracket that slides into the slot on the seat is too wide to fit, and after filing some material off the sides, found out it was also too long, so had to take a chunk of the bracket off, and also had to downsize and open up the plastic slot.



Half modified plastic slot on seat:


Then what I finally ended up with:


And the seat mount screw holes almost line up now... but close enough to just push in place while installing the screws.



Added an inline cleanable gas filter, also left in the small one in the carb inlet and she's done.

Other than the turn signals, the clearance around the tank seems good. At full lock the front brake line comes very close. On the other side it's close to the oil cooler but about 1/2" so not bad. If the tank gets whacked it will probably make contact but there seems to be enough give in the cooler mount that it should deflect?



Though after thinking about this filter and the hose. I think I'll put on a larger section and loop it into the carb side. With the short sections of hose it's pretty stiff and might transfer too much vibration from the engine into the petcock, and since it's screwed into plastic, I don't want to push that.

Where you get that filter at?

https://www.denniskirk.com/emgo/5-1...m-fuel-filter-14-34431.p180650.prd/180650.sku

Dennis Kirk. $8 + $8 shipping. It's the best price I could find. Has a removable brass element inside.

The official reply from Acerbis, via Parts Giant, is that two petcocks are not necessary to completely drain the tank... Alrightee then, we'll go with that. And for the record, It goes on reserve at slightly over one gallon remaining... especially if you're going down hill... In case you're wondering why your bike is sputtering when you got over a gallon of gas left in the tank..

Which after market tank Acerbis or IMS fits with a Sargent seat. I’ve heard the Sargent fits Acerbis with no problems but not sure. Any help would be appreciated.