A little extra fuel

I wanted a way to carry a little extra fuel. Riding in the North East, gas is really not a problem, but I do like to burn non-ethanal gasoline. I have a 1.5 litre Primus fuel container for camping and I was trying to find a way to mount it.

This took no modification to the bike. just the removal of the stock tool kit, which is mostly useless to me since I carry better essential tools anyway.

This cost me only my time since I had all the stuff in my shop. I found that the Primus fits nice and snuggly in 3" PVC schedule 40 pipe. I used a small section of regular pipe and the used a an elbow I had lying around. All the connectors have a "stop" which limits how far the pipe can go in and it was perfect for holding the fuel container. I connected those two pieces with some flat aluminum stock bolted to the PVC with small stainless bolts. I also put some epoxy between the two for good measure.







Since I didn't have and 90 degree angle aluminum that would work, I broke out the welder and made a bracket out of 1/4" x 1" stock I had. Mind you, I suck at welding aluminum.







I then bolted the bracket to the holder I made. this will bolt to the bottom of the stock tool bracket on the bike.



At the top of the WR bracket is a hole already there. A 3/8" bolt fit nicely in there. I had a 3/8" x 2" stainless bolt that was perfect, but it wasn't fully threaded. Searched my parts draws and found a 3/8" bronze bushing that was just right...lucky day.



A washer and a nut put it at the right distance to hold it away from the bike and still be able to use the helmut lock, which I was ready to ditch, but don't have to now.

Ready to mount on the bike.



Another 3/8" stainless washer and a neoprene washer (because I am anal) and I bolted it to the top with some blue Loctite.



The bottom bolt is an M6 x 1 1/2" bolt which fits in the forward stock hole of the tool bracket.



Loctite and bolted in place.

So far it seems very secure and sturdy.

Nice !!!

That's a really awesome idea. Great job. I got a question for you though, do you want to sell your oem tool kit. The wr250x I bought didn't come with one and I need some kind of kit for mine. If not I understand.

I would be very interested in paying you for your services to make another one up.   

beefcakemorris wrote:

I would be very interested in paying you for your services to make another one up.   

Ditto. Post it or send me a PM.

I guess being asked to make some is a nice compliment. I guess I could make a couple...I don't have the time for a production run.  Also, I would have no idea on what to charge. If buying the parts, my guess would be around $10 in materials. I would have to check. I guess I would ask what would be a fair price. I'm not in business, but I would like to get price that is fair to you an me.

The Primus 1.5 liter can can be bought in a lot of places and you could order that yourself. A quick check and it's available at Campmor for about $25.

As far as my tool kit, I think I am going to keep that for now in case I ever sell my bike, but I may change my mind. Again, I'm not good at selling things...what would you want to pay for it? 

I would be glad to pay 25 bucks for a carrier

Daggerdoggie wrote:

I guess being asked to make some is a nice compliment. I guess I could make a couple...I don't have the time for a production run.  Also, I would have no idea on what to charge. If buying the parts, my guess would be around $10 in materials. I would have to check. I guess I would ask what would be a fair price. I'm not in business, but I would like to get price that is fair to you an me.

The Primus 1.5 liter can can be bought in a lot of places and you could order that yourself. A quick check and it's available at Campmor for about $25.

As far as my tool kit, I think I am going to keep that for now in case I ever sell my bike, but I may change my mind. Again, I'm not good at selling things...what would you want to pay for it? 

I'm terrible as well, but maybe I can give ideas based on some scenarios:

• Include markup based on effort:  Determine your labor rate and add that to the material cost.  I don't think this would work very well in this scenario unless you can do batches
  
• Include markup based on a margin %:  lots of retail prices are set at a standard margin.  I won't say what products they are, but I know that many products you buy have a standard 35% markup.
  
• Find a similar item and price competitively.  Maybe price it as if it was a bicycle water bottle holder?
  
• Cut down on material to reduce fab time:  only make the bracket if the other parts are readily accessible.  You've certainly given me the idea of looking into mounting an oversized water bottle holder... I just need a bracket like what you have done.
  

I'm not much of an entrepreneur so I'd have ended up writing up the design plans and pasting them up for free  If this gets you extra pocket money, good on you.
I think that some flat stock from Home Depot and time with a vise would get most DIYers close to what you had if you don't want to go down the sales road.