Camel ADV innovates quality upgrades and replacement parts for most adventure bikes. After six months away from the US market, the Calgary-based company now has a US presence for direct shipping. Many of the most useful upgrades I installed on the Ultimate Motorcycling Ténéré 700 Project Bike were from Camel ADV. It was the first manufacturer I looked up when I embarked on the Honda CRF300L Rally Project Bike. To my great delight, Camel makes a 1.3-gallon auxiliary fuel tank and a minimalist rear cargo rack. Those are two upgrades I knew I would need for the riding I had planned.
The standard Honda CRF300L Rally has a 3.4-gallon fuel tank. With my heavy throttle hand, that can be as few as 183 miles to walking. Having the option to add 70 more miles between gas stops comes in handy for backcountry exploring, especially on multi-day trail rides.
My regular riding partners’ bikes have ranges up to 310 miles. Having to find a gas station twice as often as they do would subject me to the same ridicule as having to stop twice as frequently for nature calls. The Camel Tank takes me roughly 70 additional miles, and that 250-mile mark is where everyone starts thinking about looking for a gas station.
The Camel Tank kit runs $429 (US MSRP) and includes all components and instructions needed to complete the installation. It is molded from XLPE (crosslinked polyethylene) and has no seams that can split or crack. The tank mounts on the left side of the bike, so its 13-pound weight when filled balances nicely with the 300’s muffler.
Once I garnered the confidence to decide where to cut the clearly enough marked fuel system line that runs from the fuel tank to the evaporative canister, the couple of hours of installation went very smoothly.
Start by removing the helmet lock, toolbox, and passenger footpegs. With my machinist neighbor’s help, I was able to relocate the keyed helmet lock to the handlebars. The rest of the process, all of which is clearly demonstrated in Camel ADV’s 47-minute installation video, is easy to follow.
Like many, I wondered how the fuel gets from the low point below the gas tank level up into the gas tank without a pump or gravity assist. The simple explanation is that it uses vacuum pressure.
When I fill the Camel Tank, I fill it first while watching the gas pump closely. The auxiliary tank takes exactly 1.3 gallons without spilling over, if you slow down at the end to eliminate the bubbling from the pump. The filled tank weighs about 13 pounds, not enough to require any adjustment of the shock.
The Camel ADV Camel Tank has proven itself as a genuinely useful addition to the Ultimate Motorcycling Honda CRF300L Rally project bike. Most of my day rides fall into the 230-mile range, so being able to complete them without thinking about a fuel stop is liberating. On 500+ mile days, that extra 70 miles consistently removes two or more fuel stops from the plan. More importantly, the auxiliary fuel tank changes how routes are approached. Instead of riding from gas station to gas station, the focus shifts back to the ride itself. Not having to constantly calculate fuel range makes the Rally feel more capable and better suited to the type of riding I do.
