Thursday, March 12, 2020

Project Warthog: Two steps forward, one back

After competing all the welding work for the racks, we moved the Warthog off the trailer and started working under roof in the garage.

With the auxiliary fuel cell mounted, now to decide where to tap into the main tank for the fuel 
to gravity feed from the aux to the main tank. 

Why the aux fuel cell?  
All sidecar rigs are known to drink gasoline faster than two wheel motorcycles. Once this rig is loaded, I still have no idea how many miles per gallon to expect.

If you remember, the stretch of roadway from Coldfoot, Alaska to Prudhoe Bay is 245 miles with no services. Plus there is the strong possibility of headwinds causing even poorer gas mileage. I want to be carrying enough fuel for a 300 mile range. The main tank carries 6.3 gallons, the aux cell holds 5 gallons. If the Warthog can average better than 27 miles per gallon,  I will feel secure. 
Won't know mpg for sure until we get it built out and road tested. 

Look at those stout twin support tubes the engine hangs off of. 
Triumph knew what they were doing when they designed the Rocket III for strength and rigidity.


Draining fuel from the main tank was messy, even dangerous but neither I nor my friend Gary smoke... anymore. 

Finally opened the main tank only to find rust and metal flakes. Further investigation showed, thankfully, it was not the main tank at fault, but the mounts used to hold the fuel pump and filter in place.



Exactly where I had planned to drill a hole on the main plate for the aux fuel inlet was corroded. That would not give us a secure drip free fuel connection. So ordered the OEM plate and arm for the fuel pump and filter. To arrive in a couple of weeks.



Next had John Klien my welder/friend fabricate a mount for the left side pannier. Good solid steel. One thing we do not have to worry about with this build is weight. The Rocket has so much hauling capacity, we can go stout, weight be damned. 

Starting to look cluttered, messy, thus the name... WARTHOG.


The side pannier sticks out too far when working on the rig in the tight confines of the garage, 
so will wait until later to bolt on the pannier box.

Recycled the left heavy duty pannier from the Vstrom1000, kept the old stickers.



Stand by for a slight lull in the build, while we wait on several replacement parts to arrive.
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Ride safe and far my friends,

CCjon



7 comments:

  1. cool update, that pic of the engine....what a monster.

    as to draining gasoline...yeah, it can get tricky!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dom, am following your wanderings in the desert.... Change your name to Moses did you???

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  2. Replies
    1. Gracias Nestor... el proyecto sigue, poco a poco.

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  3. I just came across your blog. I am up in the DFW area. Looks like a great project you have going. If I understand correctly you are planning to ride to Alaska and up to Prudhoe Bay. When are you planning to go? I rode to Alaska, but not to Fairbanks and beyond, in 2018.

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  4. Oz, welcome aboard. If you have been to Alaska then you know one cannot see everything in one visit. After several rides to Alaska there are still parts I have not seen. The idea was to have the side camper rig ready for what might be my last run to the north coast, but now.... who knows when Canada will reopen their border.

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    Replies
    1. Your are right. There is so much to see. We were there for 6 days and wished we had more time. It is such a vast beautiful land. I hope the virus clears up and you get to go this year. Good luck and I will be watching to see if you make it. By the way, I am in Denton County, TX if you need anything up this way.

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