Extra gas for Alaska Trip

When we go to Inuvik, Yukon Territories in 2018, the distance between available gas is pretty close to the range I have in my tank. It’s 5.8 gallons and I get 40-45 mpg in average conditions for maybe 235 miles. In the mud with headwinds, who knows?  The 460 mile Dempster Highway to Inuvik has some gas stations and the longest distance between them is 229 miles so I’ll carry two, one-gallon extra tanks on the lids of my aluminium side cases.

Fit up. holding the tanks on with blue tape at first

I would have mounted them on the sides of the top case, but then I couldn’t open the left side case lid without hitting the gas can. I used the handy RotoPlex cans with their twist-lock fastener. Last time I didn’t take the top case anyway so this mounting method gives me the option to leave the top case home again and just use the waterproof canoe bags again.

After fitting them up, I removed the twist-lock fastener and put bolts with plastic washers for weatherproofing in the holes.

Got the rubber furniture bumpers at Lowes. Used some plastic washers under the bolts to seal the lid.  

Neater without the tanks. When I need them, I’ll just reinstall the fasteners and snap on the tanks.

To avoid maybe 9000+/- miles of the side case lids rubbing on the plastic gas tanks, I found some nifty rubber self-stick furniture bumpers at Lowes and put them on the lids where the tanks would rub.

I got concerned that the plastic hinges might break when opened since there was no lid-stop, so I dug out my plastic-covered small cable kit and made up some nifty lid-stops.  Used stainless hardware for all bolts and nuts.

The plastic-coated cables keep the lid from stressing the hinges. Important with 7 pounds of fuel in the attached tank.
Plumbers Goop. At Lowes in the sealant section. Great for sealing and attaching things.

The last thing I did was to remove all the bolts holding the lid-stoppers and seal them back on with Plumber’s Goop to keep the box as leak-proof as possible.

CB Radio in the Suzuki V-Strom

The guy with the goofy smile is me now without the beard.

I ride with several guys who have Goldwings with CB radios. When I ride my Goldwing, no problem communicating. It has a CB built-in. However, I like to ride the V-Strom with them as well, so had to figure out how to install a CB to stay in touch.

First, I had to get and install a “No Ground Plane” CB antenna. Then, because the V-Stroms are notorious about adding a squeal to CB transmissions when the CB is hooked to the V-Strom 12 Volt power, I installed a Navoni Independent Power Supply and eliminated that.

Then I put in a Sena SR-10 BlueTooth transmitter to send the signal to my headset, adding a push-to-talk handlebar button (which doesn’t show in the tank bag photo) dedicated SR-10 to Midland connector to go to my Midland CB and a few other goodies and I’m in business. It’s great to be able to talk with my riding buddies while we go on our rides.

Some like to communicate via GMRS and FMRS “Family Channel” radios. Got that covered too. The Midland plug just plugs right into my small handheld and works the same as the CB but maybe not the same range since the antenna is kinda buried. Only one radio at a time, though.

By the way, if you are with a riding companion who also has a Sena Bluetooth Headset, you can pair them ad get clear communications via their intercom function. We get almost a mile range consistently doing that. Works concurrently with the other radio so you get both comms at the same time plus cell-phone connectivity.  Very versatile setup.

Dempster Highway to Inuvik, Northwest Territories.

Our 2018 motorcycle destination.  That’s the Famsa tank bag (extended up) with the CB in it plus lots of other stuff. 

Sena 10-C Helmet Video Camera, intercom

It’s a great intercom and also a great video/still camera. But sometimes the battery doesn’t last as long as your ride if you are using it a lot.  Here’s a photo of it, upside down and charging, on my helmet.

However, it isn’t charging from a wall plug or 12Volt socket, it’s charging from an add-on battery I glued to the other side of the helmet. See that photo here:

It’s really a small and very light mobile phone recharging battery power supply. Here’s a closer-up look at it plus what I used to glue it and some misc shots:

All in all, I don’t notice the negligible weight of the add-on power supply and it gives me all-day + use of the neat Sena 10-C.