Which size Rotopax can For a long tour?

[Wmoater]

I know it’s been discussed before and some say yes others say no. I will have a trailer behind the spyder for a very long trip I’m making this summer. I’m heading up into Canada to UP. across UP, diagonal down to black hills. Then to Colorado Springs, to Estes, north to Indian pass, beartooth, north to glacier. South through Idaho to Tetons then 14 to bighorns, then to St. Louis and back home. Because I’m pulling the trailer and will have my 28 inch windshield I don’t want to chance it with gas in northern Wyoming, mid Montana and eastern Idaho. I will “not” pass a gas station an not fill up but there are a couple spots I know are pushing 180 in between and with the trailer, high shield and being that high in elevation I’m not chancing it. There’s no gas from Cody to red lodge. Yes it can be done but will be close if I rip up dead Indian pass. Northern Montana to the lake is a good 150. Can be done but close. North Eastern Idaho is the worst in my opinion. I know there’s a 185 stretch on the one pass till you get down to mid country. For most of the trip the spare can will be empty. When I leave Cody heading north I’ll fill the spare can. When I get back down towards Jackson I’ll empty. Southern and mid Wyoming is fine. The longest is 14 over the horns to Sheridan. That one can be done with no problem. I have a 3 gallon one for the SXS and it works great. I don’t need one that big in the trailer. What size would you recommend. 1 gallon or 1.5 gallon? I’m thinking 1 gallon would be fine. That gets me 20 more miles. 1.5 would get me close to the normal 200 miles a spyder tank total which I should never need. I’m guessing with the trailer and shield I can get 150-160. Other problem I found out west last summer ws getting the darn tanks to ease in the last gallon. Most with the new regs, once the pump shuts off, they are a pain to turn back on at trickle to completely fill the spyder. So you only get 180 anyway. Again, I have the space and weight so no biggy and it will be empty for 2/3 of the trip. I might fill up before leaving the states just to save a bit of cash going across Canada on first fill up but that’s minimal. What size tank would you recommend?

 

[Wmoater]

I will be pulling my alumina trailer. Has anyone mounted it on the outside of trailer? I’ve seen it done several times on the road just curious if you have and the pros and cons? In fact I have seen on one side water and other side gas. Water will not be a problem. I use my 2 yeti gallon water jugs and they work great. I made a wooden box to store the, inside the trailer. I will also have 2 sets of gloves in case I need to use. Learned that on the sleds and SXS! When emptied, I will place inside a large sports ball 3 gallon ziplock bag so there’s no chance of smell. Learned that trick too. Works perfect if inside trailer!

 

[Little Blue]

Extra Fuel

:chat: ....Do you have a 1 gallon and a 1.5 gallon? I would go with the 1.5 gallon. Fill it to 1.4 gallon and be happy.
Life is to short to add extra worry on a trip of this magnitude. Good Luck on Your Mission. ......:thumbup:

 

[Wmoater]

I only have a 3 gallon. Need to purchase a smaller one. I thought about the 1.5 and only put 1.25 like you said little blue. The thickness of the 2 are the same. They both are 3 inches thick.the height is the same. The width on the 1 gallon is 2 inches smaller than 1.5. The price difference is about $25. Again money not an issue just wondering how much some long tourers might carry. Good advice!

 

[RayBJ]

I use a Rotopax 1.75 gal 'can'. It's thin and square so easy to tote.

My avatar pic shows it under a helmet bag on the rear deck.

 

[ARtraveler]

When it comes to miles between gas stations, with many variables, I would go with the larger 1.5 gallon. We are talking about 3.5# extra here. That is a lot of rig to push or get stranded for a long time in a lonely place. :bowdown:

 

[Copperman]

I only have a 3 gallon. Need to purchase a smaller one. I thought about the 1.5 and only put 1.25 like you said little blue. The thickness of the 2 are the same. They both are 3 inches thick.the height is the same. The width on the 1 gallon is 2 inches smaller than 1.5. The price difference is about $25. Again money not an issue just wondering how much some long tourers might carry. Good advice!

When I had a Mini Trailer USA, Nomad, trailer, this is how I had mine mounted.

 

[pegasus1300]

Having ridden that area a lot I would go with the 1.5 gal. You may never use that extra .5 gal but it would be terrible to need it and not have it.

 

[Saluda]

Better safe than sorry. Sounds like quite an adventure, best of luck.

 

[UtahPete]

I'd go with the 3-gallon mounted on the outside of the trailer.

 

[IGETAROUND]

I know it’s been discussed before and some say yes others say no. I will have a trailer behind the spyder for a very long trip I’m making this summer. I’m heading up into Canada to UP. across UP, diagonal down to black hills. Then to Colorado Springs, to Estes, north to Indian pass, beartooth, north to glacier. South through Idaho to Tetons then 14 to bighorns, then to St. Louis and back home. Because I’m pulling the trailer and will have my 28 inch windshield I don’t want to chance it with gas in northern Wyoming, mid Montana and eastern Idaho. I will “not” pass a gas station an not fill up but there are a couple spots I know are pushing 180 in between and with the trailer, high shield and being that high in elevation I’m not chancing it. There’s no gas from Cody to red lodge. Yes it can be done but will be close if I rip up dead Indian pass. Northern Montana to the lake is a good 150. Can be done but close. North Eastern Idaho is the worst in my opinion. I know there’s a 185 stretch on the one pass till you get down to mid country. For most of the trip the spare can will be empty. When I leave Cody heading north I’ll fill the spare can. When I get back down towards Jackson I’ll empty. Southern and mid Wyoming is fine. The longest is 14 over the horns to Sheridan. That one can be done with no problem. I have a 3 gallon one for the SXS and it works great. I don’t need one that big in the trailer. What size would you recommend. 1 gallon or 1.5 gallon? I’m thinking 1 gallon would be fine. That gets me 20 more miles. 1.5 would get me close to the normal 200 miles a spyder tank total which I should never need. I’m guessing with the trailer and shield I can get 150-160. Other problem I found out west last summer ws getting the darn tanks to ease in the last gallon. Most with the new regs, once the pump shuts off, they are a pain to turn back on at trickle to completely fill the spyder. So you only get 180 anyway. Again, I have the space and weight so no biggy and it will be empty for 2/3 of the trip. I might fill up before leaving the states just to save a bit of cash going across Canada on first fill up but that’s minimal. What size tank would you recommend?

FWIW Wmoater you might want to consider these: https://www.reda.co/reda-gas-can I have carried these full and empty inside my camping trailer without any leakage or odor. They store easily while traveling and will give you the peace of mind you desire. My mileage varied from 28-34 MPG pulling a 400 LB trailer.

Al in Kazoo

 

[EdMat]

FWIW Wmoater you might want to consider these: https://www.reda.co/reda-gas-can I have carried these full and empty inside my camping trailer without any leakage or odor. They store easily while traveling and will give you the peace of mind you desire. My mileage varied from 28-34 MPG pulling a 400 LB trailer.

Al in Kazoo

Al, how much does one of those jugs hold. Website doesn't list it as far as I could see.

 

[Wmoater]

Thankyou for the feedback. I ended up posting this same question on an exclusive major motorcycle touring site for trailer and portable campers. Most of the guys that replied put major miles exclusively on touring a year alone. Actually several put 20k+ a year exclusively on touring and many live on the road for 3-4 months a year. Their replies along with yours put a new perspective on my thinking. They have some pretty neat trailers from Solar, to bicycle and blow up kayaks to even a portable refrigerator and built in stove, fishing poll holders to canapy snapon to trailer for workstation, fold out tables etc. pretty neat setups that I never thought of. Of the 43 replies, all said put the gas can on the outside of the trailer. Main Reasons are venting and elevation change majorly. The common thoughts were also install on right side for safety in case you pull over in busy area. Another major point for installing on side of trailer is fill up ability too. Very easy to use the pump and fill the container while installed on side of trailer little to no chance of overflow onto your hands because there’s no movement with you hands and not tipping it over since it’s only 3 inches wide. With all Rotopax containers it is recommended to open the cap if changing more than 4000 foot elevation, so mounted outside no fumes or expansion can leak into the inside of trailer. Inside of trailer will get hotter also especially if tightly packed. All of them along with you said 1.5 gallon not filled, or 2- 1 gallon for balancing on each side. Rotopax has a fill to mark to take into consideration for elevation change while most others don’t which is a plus. Small units like the redas recommended by Igetaround are recommended to vent every 1000-2000 feet changes. That same unit was recommended but again buy 2 of them and place ontop of trailer or actually off the back of the trailer. Several guys replied they would never put behind the trailer because of getting rear ended or backing up could hit it in parking spots or camps. So if I bought the reda I’d put ontop. I have dry bags for the top so that won’t work for me. Right side was the most common recommended. If a large cooler is used mount behind the rear fender but most mount infront of fender like cooperman did above. Most of the trikes and larger bikes can support more than spyders but actually 2 have almost same setup as mine with them infront fenders with more weight inside in rear. Those two said the most they ever got was 165 miles on fumes pulling the max weight. So that’s 30 miles to the gallon since most of the time you can’t actually get the full 6 gallons. So thankyou igetaround, you seem to be spot on with the others pulling just a bit over the spyder limit and gas range. When using the easy mate and mini mate they used etrack on the sides for easy unsnap of gas when setting up. That was actually recommended too for my trailer instead of solid mount. Therefore when not touring unsnap the mount and use for something else. Sort of like that idea, Never really though of that. I can also move the gas can from infront of fender to behind if needed depending on load or how full the cooler is which is sort of a neat idea. As for needing the extra gas most said they needed to use it once or twice in their life but actually most use it for other stranded motorist or cycles and can charge $20 a gallon if they wanted. Seems the biggest stretches or common areas for needing gas are Texas, Idaho, Utah after 9:00 pm, and norther/lower central Canada. Southern New Mexico also after 9:00 since stations close and pumps turned off. So thanks for the response. This will be my first what I consider major tour without the four wheels and toyhauler and feel better about my setup. I’ve been through all the areas I’m going but in a truck so just trying to out think myself. I’m sure I’ll come back and learned from this. That’s the point in the adventure. That was my point in asking too.

 

[IGETAROUND]

OneGallon