[billsredgoldwing]

I have a Dayle Martin Fire Creek Accessories Auxiliary Fuel Cell that I used on my '01 Goldwing. It sat on the rear seat and clamped around the passenger grab rails. The beauty of this particular fuel cell is that it is designed specifically to allow the trunk to open.When I bought my '18 Goldwing I looked for a way to use this same fuel cell. But the passenger grab rails on the '18 are significantly different.

I saw on this forum that Max McAllister of Traxxion Dynamics introduced replacement grab rails and I contacted him about my desire to mount my fuel cell to them. He thought it could be made to work but asked me to send him the fuel cell so that he could properly make a design for it. A week later he had completed this project. I use Max's grab rails, a pair of Max's short mounting arms and Max's custom fuel cell mounting plates and it works perfectly. Attached are some pictures.

I'm very happy how this worked out and highly recommend this to anyone wanting to reuse their Firecreek Accessories Auxiliary Fuel cell.


BTW, credit also to Greg Rice for leading the way by being the first that I know of to install an auxiliary fuel cell on the 18 Goldwing. He graciously shared with me how he did the fuel line plumbing.


Two notes:

1. This fuel cell from Firecreek and the grab rails and mounting kit from Traxxion are each pricey ($$$$). I had already invested several years ago in the fuel cell so for me the grab rails were a way to maintain my investment.
2. Since I completed this project I learned that Dayle Martin has introduced a new auxiliary fuel cell for the 2018+ Goldwing that uses an attachment to the existing OEM grab rail. So if you already have a Fire Creek fuel cell you now have a way to mount it to your 18+ Goldwing using Max's solution. Or if you need to buy a new fuel cell, you can get one from Firecreek specifically designed for the 18+ Goldwing.

Bill Campbell
Oxford, PA

 

[EricW88]

I saw Max mentioning your cell. I had a Ron Smith (early Gl1800 fuel cell that the design was adopted to the Firecreek fuel cell...difference was only that the shape of the fire creek allowed opening of the rear trunk lid while the Ron smith only allowed about 80% opening) on my 2003 Wing.

For my 2018 I specifically bought a non-tour bike. Where the rear tour pack would go I am going to have a 6 gallon aux tank built and on top of that a pelican box will be mounted. It will be a gravity feed system.

Your cell looks nice!

 

[billsredgoldwing]

Thanks Eric!

Bill

 

[EricW88]

Thanks Eric!

Bill

Your welcome, it’s nice you could continue to use your firecreek fuel cell. Those are nice fuel cells! It looks like it was designed well for the 2018+ backrest too!

 

[Bayrec]

Very Impressive. How many gallons of fuel does the Fuel Cell hold? What is your range? Safe Travels!

 

[bigrobtemp]

I have to ask, what type of riding are you doing and what is the distance you can go on both the stock tank and the cell? I guess i am always within 250 miles of a gas station?

 

[EricW88]

The Iron Butt Association requires no more than 350 miles between stops to certify rides. I went from Michigan to the Florida Keys last February in 157x miles in 24hrs. I made 5 total stops at 330-350 ish mile range each for my trip. The stops were 10-15 minutes each and the rest of the time I was rolling 75mph. Each 15 minute stop was about 5hrs apart. So gas up, ride 5 hrs, gas up, repeat 4 times, then finished in the Keys 24hrs later with my 5th and final stop. This was on my old 2003 setup Goldwing.

I do mostly IBA rides. My new 2018 Wing is getting a 6 gallon tank (both bikes we’re right at the 11.5 Iron Butt Rally max fuel capacity). The old bike had a range of 350-360 on the interstate and about 400 on the country roads. The new 2018 will have about a 400-450 mile range I am guessing.

Although cert rides have a 350 mile range, the long distance rallies have no limits as your are grabbing points of interest/bonus points. Being able to ride a long time without fuel is a huge advantage on the rallies and also helps a lot on the cert rides. Over the course of a 24-30hr LD ride I can save about 1-2hrs just on fuel time alone.

The firecreek won’t have quite that distance because it was built to be a 11.5 gallon capacity with a 6.6 gallon 2001-2017 Goldwing main tank. So now it will have a 10.4 gallon capacity. Still should have good range though.

For most people the fuel cells are not needed. But if your doing a lot of times certified rides, riding in remote areas through the night that close gas stations (out West or rural Canada), and doing competitive long distance rallies they are a huge benefit.

 

[billsredgoldwing]

It's an additional 4.7 gallons.


Bill

 

[billsredgoldwing]

I do some long-distance riding. I'm anticipating getting 375-400 miles out of both tanks. It's not necessarily the lack of gas stations, it's the stopping, getting off the bike, gassing up, etc. which are time-eaters.

Bill