Anyone tried Foam/Baffling INSIDE the tank??

[IridiumRed]

hey guys

Just wondered if anyone here at tried running foam inside their gas tanks to reduce "sloshing" of the fuel - during brake/throttle transitions, side to side transitions, etc

roadracers use this stuff all the time, talk about good effect from it, but I've never heard of it on a dirtbike (but I'm new to this game as well, so....tried searching but didn't come up with anything...)

Not talking just any foam here, Airtech in particular makes some special foam - A I R T E C H's website:

http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/miscpages/foam.html

its like a big sponge really.  not affected by gas obviously.

I've heard, that on say a 4-5 gallon bike it might take up about 1 quart of space, not a big really

Any thoughts?

[demographic]

hey guys

Just wondered if anyone here at tried running foam inside their gas tanks to reduce "sloshing" of the fuel - during brake/throttle transitions, side to side transitions, etc

roadracers use this stuff all the time, talk about good effect from it, but I've never heard of it on a dirtbike (but I'm new to this game as well, so....tried searching but didn't come up with anything...)

Not talking just any foam here, Airtech in particular makes some special foam - A I R T E C H's website:

http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/miscpages/foam.html

its like a big sponge really.  not affected by gas obviously.

I've heard, that on say a 4-5 gallon bike it might take up about 1 quart of space, not a big really

Any thoughts?

I have heard about it but as KX tanks are high instead of long I don't think it would make much difference.
Plus it would make it a real pain working out how much petrol is in the tank.

Not sure but thats how I figure it anyway

[IridiumRed]

I have heard about it but as KX tanks are high instead of long I don't think it would make much difference.
Plus it would make it a real pain working out how much petrol is in the tank.

The KX tank is more tall than wide, but still on braking/throttle transitions I think the fuel can slosh around quite a bit

The tank on my bike is about 4 gal, its an aftermarket tank, it came with the bike when I bought it....

But, the average sportbike / racebike weighs 400-450 lbs with fuel.  Lets say 5 gal of gas, thats about 30 lbs of fuel (about 6 lbs/gal)

The fuel is then only about 6-8% of the total weight

But a KX500, lets say 240 lbs fully fueled, with 3-4 gal of gas (stock vs aftermarket), thats 18-24 lbs of gas, thats 7-10% of total weight

So, using very rough estimates, the KX has as much or more weight, proportionally, in the fuel than the sportbikess, so I'd think weight transfer in the fuel would still have some effect

Also, the sportbikes are going FAR faster (a slow corner on the race track is probably 60 mph.... fast ones could be 140+), and the bigger heavier wheels are going ot have a lot more gyroscopic force than a dirtbike will ever have, so its going to take more weight/force to effect it

But, dirtbikes ride on far rougher terrain, so the bike is going to be pitching about a lot more on its own....

*shrugs*

same old story, something is useful in one place, and it might be useful in another, but there are about 10 factors making the second situation different

I'm getting some foam for one of my streetbikes (possible trackbike), I'll probably just throw some in the KX, see what it does.


Good point on making the fuel harder to check, I've though of rigging a clear tube to run along side the outside of the gas tank, along the side, so it would be easy to check the fuel level while riding (i've got a white aftermarket gas tank on the bike, but its still near impossible to see the fuel level without removing the gas cap).  This would be handy even w/o tank foam. will post on this in the future......

[demographic]

Not saying it woudn't work but that personally there are other things that I want to do first.

Getting to be a better rider would be a first

[IridiumRed]

increasing rider skill  vs  equipment is ALWAYS a debate, esp with motorcycles....

i agree that motorcycle riding, when it comes to speed is 80% rider, not the equipment

but

if something costs.... 10 or 20 bucks and takes 2 minutes to install, its not like we're talking much money or time

To me, it looks like the KX carries its fuel, a large weight relative to the rest of the bike, high up on the frame, this might help reduce some of the negative effects of that....

-seb

[hughes]

What kind of results are you looking for by using foam in your tank? A sportbike is subjected to alot more g-force than a dirt bike will ever see.