Poolside

So I need to remove the fuel tank and as usual, I just filled up the tank. D'oh!

Make this handy fuel drain hose, and let the fuel pump empty the tank for you.

Also works for aerial refueling of another bike.

****************


















The fuel system continually recirculates the fuel. The fuel pump sends high pressure fuel to the regulator. And the regulator returns low pressure fuel to the tank. This method of empthing the tank simply intercepts the returning fuel. So instead of the fuel dumping back into the tank, it dumps into the gas can. The fuel system does not even know this is happening.

Start the engine and let the fuel pump drain the tank. Flow rate is slow, and low pressure. You can see in the picture above that the hose is staying in the gas can unattended. Smooth easy flow. A little stronger, but about what you'd expect from a good siphon.

Watch the fuel coming out of the end of the hose. Right after the fuel pump intake impeller begins to whine, the fuel flow will sputter. And you can shut off the engine. This is not an issue for the fuel pump.

At this point the tank has about 1 gallon remaining. If you have an Adventure tank with a crossover OR an S4 siphon crossover maybe about 1/4 gallon. johnjen's S4 siphon crossover can be found here.

If your tank does not have a crossover, and you want to get most of the remaining fuel out, there is a way. Lean the bike over on its right side, for the best result, touch the cylinder to the ground. The remaining fuel will pour over the tank's 'internal saddle' and into the right side lobe. The pouring fuel is clearly audible.

Reset the bike on the center stand, put the drain hose back into the gas can, and start the bike. About another gallon will pump out.

Or, just take the tank off with one gallon of gas in it. Only 6 pounds. That sure beats 36!

- Jim

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

kdude

Excellent ! Hope I just hpe I never have to do it.

HarveyMushman

Thanks, Jim.

__________________
Tim

motor(cycle)sport photography

Kaumajet

Very cool idea Thanks for sharing.

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"I understand the dilemma. Correct spelling takes time that could be spent licking the windows on the short bus." mac62

"There is just something special about a stripper with a tail" ilmostro

HIgh Water

Unfortunately you will when you have to change the fuel filter. Unless of course you clog your filter on a near empty tank ... could happen.

I did the same thing last year so I could be a gas station for my friend's small tanked bike. Works well!

__________________
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Alpine Sands Motorcycle Adventures
Alpine Sands Racing

You were born an original, don't die a copy.

'05 BMW R1150GS Adv (I'm gona miss her)
'06 KTM 950 Adv S
'03 KTM 640 Adv
'06 KTM 525 EXC Baja 2008 Race Bike
'06 KTM 450 EXC
'06 Honda CRF250X (confiscated by Adventure Girl)
www.alpinesands.com

simonm

Another post of the highest quality - thanks

__________________
said Vance:
Go waste a day...

NJ_Bob

Jim - totally awesome - thanks! Dang good photos too. What do you use to add the text?


It may be obvious, but the technique of leaning the bike to the right to get that extra fuel out can also be very useful when you appear to run out of gas while riding.

DAMHIK.

__________________
Bob Naumann - W5OV - Sachse, TX - K1300GT - IBA #19100

nmrider

Thanks for posting that!

I was siphoning a tank of bad gas out of my GS last week, but couldn't get the last two gallons out of the tank.

Good Job.

__________________
Steve Koch
Los Alamos, New Mexico

04 R1150GS Adv

TonyA

Jim,

Super job!

Do you need to run the engine to get fuel to flow? I always thought that the fuel pump pressurizes up just by turning the key. When there's gas flowing and an open container of it in the work area, you'd usually want to really pay attention and minimize the things that can go wrong. Having the engine running just seems like an invitation for something uncontrolled to happen. like a marmot comes over and pulls down the shift lever or something. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

But what I REALLY want to know is how you drew those nifty curved arrows over the pix.

__________________
"A voyage whose two ends were out of sight - a voyage sufficient in itself."

"Master and Commander", Patrick O'Brian

IBA 31991

Poolside

Thanks fellas. But I'd be nothing without Photoshop.

Tony, the fuel pump must be on to do this. Either the engine must be running, or you can make a power jumper to the fuel pump connector, and operate the pump on battery power with the engine off.

I think I found out about the tilting the bike after running out of gas the same way you did Bob.

When the fuel pickup start to whine during braking, gas it hard from a 5mph roll, and try to lean the bike a little to the right. That gets most of the remaining fuel to slosh over to the right side. But then you'll have to take off easy or the fuel will slosh back. If doing this regularly, the typical fuel fill is right at, or a little more than, 6 gallons.

- Jim

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

Jim Moore

That's just freakin' brilliant.

__________________
Jim Moore

"Marines good. Press bad"
-Turkish

Jim Moore

I'll bet an ice-cold beer you have never successfully performed that particular technique on a GS and ended up with a fully drained tank.

__________________
Jim Moore

"Marines good. Press bad"
-Turkish

L.A.

Thanks for the tip!

__________________
'05 GS Adv. (Helga is her name)
IBA# 28348

"In their lifetimes, most people will never need a gun. Those that do will need one very badly."
- Gen. George A. Custer

Anorak

What works almost as well and is much simpler is to attach th drain hose to the return line on the tank and use gravity. When it stops flowing move the tank into different positions. This will leave about half a gallon which will mostly keep to itself and not bother you while changing the filter.

__________________
'A strong smell of turpentine prevails throughout'

"they live off the carrion of our mutual distrust and bribe us with symbols that equate hatred with manhood."

Poolside

I don't know FB. The height of the fuel return port inside the tank is above the one gallon level on the right lobe of the tank. So that leaves about two gallons, if you count the left lobe of the tank.

Or, since you are talking about moving the tank around to different positions, are you meaning to do this after the tank is removed?

- Jim

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

Hotspice

I'm with you on this one.. A little fuel line and a NAPA electric pump has always done the job.. run a wire hanger along the outside if the fuel line and you can flex it to get into most of the nooks and crannies..

MikeO

Jim,

tangential question - what program do you use to prepare your excellent annotated photos & diagrams (which I've copied onto my hard drive - certain to come in useful some time in the future )?

On the subject of draining the tank, I had to drain completely to ship my bike out to the USA and to fly it back. It was a bitch of a job - I ended up taking it off and holding it upside down over a bucket in a (vain) attempt to shake the last dregs out. I left the fuel cap open for a couple of days, but the time of year (Jan in UK - Nov in New York) meant that the ambient temperature didn't help...

Eventually I just said 'bollocks' and delivered it to the shipper - neither of whom checked

Mike

__________________
All text & original photos © Mike Oughton 2004 - 2009

pilot

That is the technique I used this morning to drain my tank to look after a leak at the pump plate o-ring.

__________________
Jo Momma is optional, you know.
-Venturi

I used to think an adventure rider was someone who looked at a road or trail and said, "Hey, let's see where that goes."

Now I just think it's anyone who takes pictures of their food.
-WaterWheel

Poolside

It is Photoshop that does all the work Mike.

- Jim

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

captain mark

glad someone thought of an easy way to empty the tank. thanks much

Possu

Poolside,

Thanks for a great idea. I run a Adventure tank whilst my g/f runs a regular 1150GS tank. If we needed to transfer fuel from mine to hers, could the hose be connected to the bike side of my low pressure return to the tank side of her low pressure return, thus pumping fuel straight in using your method?

I can't see why it wouldn't work myself, your thoughts? I've got spare quick disconnects & might just give it a go.

Cornfed

Or, you could just lift weights so that you are strong enough to lift off the tank no matter how much fuel is in it. :-)


Just kidding poolside...love the discriptive.

V

__________________
Do a pop a wheelie!

Dear Cancer, I hate you. You're a heart breaker and a thief. And I want you to give him back, you jerk. Sincerely, Nikki.

- Kometsdaughter

Wirespokes

Possu - why not fill her tank through the filler cap opening?

Possu

Could do but like the idea of pumping it straight in via the hoses. I've got the quick disconnects already, just need the hose.

Poolside

Disconnect the fuel return line on your bike, and connect it to her bike. So that the fuel is 'returning' to a different tank. Neat.

Sure that is the same as 'returning' the fuel to a gas can, or pumping fuel right into the filler neck of another bike.

If you use the fuel return line method, open the filler cap of the other bike for venting. Especially if the other bike has an charcoal evaporative canister. (not all counties req them, but bikes travel to other countries)

So I think it is a fine idea Possu. And if you are thinking about the 'tidiness' of connecting both ends of the 'transfer hose' together, mind the aging of the leftover fuel in the transfer hose.

- Jim

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

strsout

Thank you for the photo-report Jim.
Very good and useful :)

__________________
--------------------------------
Motorcycle Trips, Photos and Maps
2002 LT 2up2rng- 68,750 miles as of 05/07/2009
2003 GS strsout- 25,002 miles as of 05/07/2009
Loma Linda - CA - IBA#14,458 - AMA

Scapadu

A ringrazia vi.

__________________
Time is not a test for truth.
"I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the
most of us...very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad..." N.M.

Visit Corsica

Redbull Addict

Just realized this is a post from 2005. Perhaps someone can answer my questions?

Is this applicable to the 1200 series also?

is the connector that you used a generic type or did you pull it off the return hose from the tank?

Great tip!

b17flyguy

Yeah! I want to know too!!

__________________
2005 BMW R1200 GS
2002 KTM LC4-E

BMWRich

Several years ago I removed the line/hose from the backside of the fuel injector(1 clip,No -Oring's to worry about damage),put a coffee can behind it and turned on the key to check fuel flow. If memory serves me right,she just kept pumping till I turned off the key (been a while so i could also be wrong but some how I don't think so).
At least it worked for me,(fuel flow was good) and a way to fill a bottle for someone in need.

__________________
2007 GS Adv
Everybody likes a little ass,..but nobody likes a smartass...

author unknown:that's about as hard as stickin' a pound of butter up an eel's ass with a soldering iron..

Poolside

I'm glad you found the writeup useful fellas. Thanks for the kudos.


Do you have the 90° Quick Disconnect into the RIGHT SIDE fuel tank bulkhead? Or the later version that uses the straight QD? Either way, the QDs used on the 1150 are the same brand (Colder Products, CPC) and will mate with the QDs used on the 1200.

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

Mully

If you make up the transfer hose long enough, in theory you could refuel *anything*......

Nice work as usual, Jim.

mully

__________________
"Everything's air-droppable once."

S2W

Bump

__________________
Steve
_______________________

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. - Nelson Mandela

heavyjeffd

Nice tip, like the diagram too. :)

__________________
What's in front of you is what kills you, what's behind you only gives you tickets.

Blane

Bump.

I'm going to resurrect this thread mainly because I thought it was a great idea. Also, I'm hoping someone might lead me in the right direction.

There was another thread/post that had the schematic of jumping the fuel pump relay with a simple momentary switch/button that was located under the seat. If I remember right, all the rider had to do was to turn on the ignition switch without starting the engine, hit the switch and start draining the tank. It seemed to me that he drew power form the neutral switch light.

I was going to try it on my bike but I forgot to bookmark it and now I can't find it. Can anyone help?

Blane

__________________
--------<>--------
2004 R1150GS Adventure (The Valdez)
1973 R75/5 Red Toaster (Amy)

Thinc2

Any chance of getting this into the Hall of Wisdom - it's incredibly useful and a procedure many people do on a regular basis. I'm sure it would get a lot of hits.

__________________
--------------------------------
The joy of living comes from the fact that Life can surprise you.

"If you want to kiss the sky
Better learn how to kneel" U2

YetiGS

I'd like to see someone do this with pictures from a 1200 so we make sure we use the fuel return line. I imagine tapping into the high pressure output hose could be quite exciting.

__________________
-Scott-

"A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad. An optimist is one who hopes they are." --Chauncey Depew

San Diego Adventure Riders

HowlingMad

Did it, here.

Here's a scrape of the important bits:
-------------------------------------------------
Well, I finally got around to sorting this out. All things considered I'm glad I did it, but it was more expensive and more time consuming than I thought it would be. I bought almost twice as many parts as needed trying to sort out proper sizes, lengths, etc. Hopefully this will decrease your time and maybe you can figure out how to reduce the cost or complication.

Overview:
Interrupt fuel return line using a "T" and shutoff valve to pump fuel directly from the bike. The bike must be running for this solution to work. The installation can be reversed in the field. The only tool I needed to add to my kit was 1/4" socket for hose clamps.

Parts Used:
-MotionPro quick disconnect ($20)
-MotionPro fuel shutoff ($13)
-Pex 3/8" T (~$5)
-3' 5/16" fuel hose (~$5)
-4' 5/16" vinyl hose (~$3)
-7 stainless steel hose clamps (~$6)



Process: (For a 2007 R1200GS Adventure) Regular 12 should be similar)

-Remove all panels (side aluminum, side plastic, top plastic)
-I removed the tank, and painted panels but I'm not sure you would need to. YMMV
-Cut two ~1" lengths of 5/16" fuel hose
-Remove OEM fuel disconnect on RIGHT side. You may also need to remove two smaller hoses for charcoal canister. You might want to note which goes with which.
-I cut 1/2 inch from original fuel line to alleviate strain on hose.
-Assemble as pictured below. Note: original fuel return is connected to bottom of the Pex T,
-Despite having a snug fit on all connections, I used hose clamps on all connections. (This is the ugliest part of the assembly, I'm all ears if anyone can think of a more elegant solution that can be fixed in the field)
Next, connect the remainder of the 3' fuel hose in front of the tank and down under tank on the left side. (There was a little more room on this side and it allowed a natural, unforced path away from the connections.)


-Once on this side, I trimmed the hose (about 8") so that it would hide under the small trim panel when disconnected.
-Next I attached the female quick disconnect with hose clamp.
-Finally, I heated the end of the 4' vinyl hose and pressed the male quick disconnect in. I did not use a clamp here since it would not be under pressure.



Here's a quick little video of everything connected.


Auxiliary Fuel Output @ Yahoo! Video


It's worth noting that I haven't yet assembled the bodywork, so I'm not positive the hoses and fittings will clear the bodywork. You may want to check back here when It's complete before you rip your bike apart.

__________________

Poolside

Here is a method. At the fuel pump relay, when the ignition key is on, grounding the blue/brown wire operates the relay and powers up the fuel pump. No fuse needed.

Thanks for the pats on the back, readers.

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

KMC1

This is a really great thread guys!

Thanks for all the ideas! I regularly ride with a friend who has a standard GS and I've got the GSA, so I could see me becoming his "gas station" one of these days. This will save a LOT of grief in the field!

TUCKERS

I've taken off the low pressure hose once or twice in the campground to use the 'Boy Scout method' of starting a camp fire with big wood.....pour gasoline on it!

__________________
Officially signed: the famous james

Just one look is all it took.
James and Colleen Tucker...Laugh and the whole World laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.
Life is a fatal ADVenture. It can only have one end. So why not make it as far ranging and free as possible?

KILL YOUR TELEVISION! EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

kreiggers

Maybe someone can clarify for me... the pics on page 1 seem to show that the high pressure supply hose is connected to the lower pipe on the bike... Is this correct? The pics from the BMW manual are not that detailed but appear to indicate the high pressure supply connected to the upper pipe. Of course I just installed a big Touratech tank and connected them according to the BMW diagram and the bike doesn't work (and the fuel pump makes slightly unfriendly noises). Can I safely assume I've got them backwards?

Poolside

Hope this solves the problem. You can see the 3 high pressure lines, input and two injector outputs, are all grouped together on the same plenum. The low pressure return is higher up, and on the other side of the regulator diaphragm.

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats

kreiggers

Thats a great photo, thanks.

I guess i had them switched (what i get for the three weeks between removing and reinstalling new tank). Hopefully the regulator is none the worse for the reverse hookup it looks like a right pain to get to.

kreiggers

• Remove air filter box.
a ..............See Group 23, removing transmission.
• Remove the fuel distributor with pressure regulator
from the holder.
• Installation is the reverse of the removal procedure.

It look so simple according to the manual... just two steps! Oh... you mean i have to remove the transmission if i screwed up the regulator...

kreiggers

I switched the upper and lower pipes (upper return, lower supply) and it started right up. Thanks for the help.

Poolside

You bet. That's good to hear. It makes sense that the regulator would still work.

__________________
"The "revolutionary" is in the minds of the marketers..."
-- Mully

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
-- W.B. Yeats