MPG and adding an extra tank?

My MPG BMW R1200GSA w/ DMC sidecar is all over the place from the low to mid 20's to the low 40's.  Wind/crosswind as well as speed being the biggest variables.  While cruising on the interstate 70 MPH gets much better than 80 MPH. Get on twisty roads with lots of acceleration and deceleration and it drops.  Of course the load weight is a factor also.  My GSA has an 8 gal tank, so I typically don't need to carry additional fuel, but when I did the Continental Divide there was one section in Wyoming where making the distance was sketchy so I added a Rotopax mount.

Kind of late to this topic but I have a 1998 Valkyrie tourer with an Escort. I consider myself lucky to average 23 to 25 mpg under ideal conditions which are rarely met. My wife and I have taken some multi week trips cross country and avoid interstates and large cities like the plague. That means far apart service stations in lots of thinly populated states.  I added a 3 gallon aluminum fuel cell to the luggage rack because my wife is super paranoid about running out of gas. Needed it quite often. Both tanks gravity drain to the 6 carbs through solenoids that are switched as needed. 

@none Steve I just read all the way back through this thread.  How have things been since the rally for distance and comfort?

I think, given the challenges you face getting on and off that you might be well suited to a 3 gallon reserve on a pump system as described early in the thread.  That extra 3 might mean the difference between a hard 150 mile day and an "easier" 200 mile day with one fewer stops.

Posted by: @thane-lewis

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@none Steve I just read all the way back through this thread.  How have things been since the rally for distance and comfort?

I think, given the challenges you face getting on and off that you might be well suited to a 3 gallon reserve on a pump system as described early in the thread.  That extra 3 might mean the difference between a hard 150 mile day and an "easier" 200 mile day with one fewer stops.

Or......OR.......a Suzuki Burgman 650 w/Sidecar.  Extremely easy for Steve to get On or Off the bike, gets 50+ mpg even with a sidecar strapped to the side of it, can still do 100+ mph even with a sidecar strapped to the side of it...blah blah blah.

My former one, that I sold to Jan Daub, and he sold to the guy in Illinois, and he sold it to the guy in Nor Calif....is still for sale in Nor Calif.

@miles-ladue No money for that

@thane-lewis Doing ok on the Monday going back i did well over 400 miles felt good. I had forgotten how much i disliked the energy of the ozarks. It was one of the reasons i never moved there.

@miles-ladue Funny how nobody holds on to it for long given all its advantages. I suspect a few preferred a 'real' motorbike and sidecar once the novelty of a scooter outfit had worn off

Had a 2000 Honda Valkyrie Tourer, solo bike (essentially a GL1500 with solid lifters.)  On a good day, it got about 30 mpg at about 80 mph, on the highway.  Twisties would take it down into the mid 20's. 

I found a retired fireman in CO that was making belly tanks for them.  3.5 gallons slung under the swingarm pivot.  He put an electric pump in the belly tank, soldered a 3/4" fitting in the bottom of the "real" tank on top that filled the belly tank first, then when full, the main tank.  Electric pump fed the 6 thirsty carburetors.  That was an amazingly convenient setup, since you just filled one tank as normal, but it actually filled both tanks.  Made some of those long rides across Utah and Nevada at night a little less twitchy.

Black Betty (that sweet girl), a 2021 CRF1100 Africa Twin with a DMC Expedition chair, gets in the mid-20's with my riding style.  It has both instantaneous and average fuel economy visible.  It is not unusual to see instantaneous drop into the high teens on the freeway at 80 ish mph.  Blasting around the back roads usually is closer to 30's.

I rigged two Rotopax mounts that I vary different cans on for different rides.

One is on the tail rack.  It usually has a 1.75 can on, unless I ride with Philippe 🙃 , and decide to carry a 3 gallon can. 

I have a mount on the sidecar right rear that I used to carry two 1 gallon cans on, until it broke on a rough trail.  I now carry a single one gallon can, mostly, in this position.  Usually 1 gallon of water, though, for Arizona emergency situations.  I have been known to fit the 1.75 gallon can to this location, though, along with the 3 gallon on the tail, incase I ride with Philippe and David R. 🤣