The Ultimate Motorcycle Camping Stove - Advice Wanted

Hi Doug,
The stove was a 442 Coleman and the petrol was UK un-leaded. Could have come from BP/Shell/Esso etc. I seem to remember the gen' conking out after around five or six m'bike rallies. So around 6-8 hours burn time?
The lantern was a Coleman 200A which ran for while on 76 gas, an American gas station chain.
regards,
Alan

 

Hello Lone Wolf
Ah the dreaded banjo malaise....
At least it looks like a real Royal Oilfield
Nice looking Amal you have on it
regards,
Alan
PS. Do you know "Speed"

 

Hi LW

I had a similar 'Royal Enfield' not long after I passed my motor-bike test in 1967!
They were called 'Royal', weren't they?

 

Only the english made ones, Shag.

 

Thanks for the comments Alan.

In the last year Ive run 10 litres of brit unleaded (Morrisons) through a 533 and a 442 with no evident change in the performance of either.

But as a paid up member of the "Worriers" - I've recently switched to Panel Wipio in the colemans - but I'm sticking with unleaded for 8R and 71.

 

I too have used many many liters of (Euro) unleaded with no consideration to brands in several different Coleman stoves and lanterns, and never had a problem whatsoever.

 

Hi Doug,
Perhaps the cost of generators is so high in the UK I wonder if I am being over cautious?
I find panel wipe to be a poor fuel in my 8r. I need to use the midi-pump to get it going at a decent rate but with petrol it's a cooker. However, my Hiker 111 can run panel wipe and chuck out loads of heat. How come?
regards,
Alan

 

Enfields produced in India are now officially "Royal" too as they now have rights to the name.
I've owned both sorts of Enfields, UK and Indian, I think they even made some in the States. Not much difference really. Main difference is the export bikes are generally better than the home versions. If you don't mind plodding along they are great but make sure you have a good set of brake linings as the brakes are not like my six pots on my GSXR.
I am able to load a lot of luggage on my Enfield with no trouble. I often take a Vango Force Ten tent, three man size, huge sleeping bag, Svea 123r/8r and pots etc. Lots of clothes etc and bits n bobs and the Enfield still returns the same MPG, for me around 75 and the top speed is the same, 50mph. By that I mean cruising speed which doesn't over-tax my bike. I rode from Calais to Geneva in one day on it with no probs' except a sore bum.
Camping with the bike and cooking on an old fashioned looking stove always draws a crowd of young women......
regards,
Alan

 

The "Self-Pressurising" aspect of the pumpless stoves relies on the vapour pressure characteristics of the fuel.
Coleman fuel (at least in the uk) and the Panel wipe I've met, are quite stringently controlled materials with it would appear a small range of boiling points (95 to 120?C) - as a result, until the temperature of the tank gets quite high, the pressure is low.
In contrast, Unleaded is a complex mixture of compounds and has quite a wide range of boiling points - from perhaps 60? to about 120?C.

This can be demonstrated with some fuel and a sigg bottle;

Put an inch of Unleaded in the bottom of a sigg, screw on the top, wait.....10 to 15 mins
Crack the lid open - distinct hiss (and often a spray of fuel) - showing pressure above atmospheric.

Clean out the sigg - and repeat with P.W. or Coleman fuel - No Hiss.

I can run the 8R (without the pump) on PW - but for best effect I need to spill some fuel under the tank and start a small bonfire.

You can (I have) mix unleaded with PW and get clean burn and quickish prime....

 

Is yours 350 or 500, like mine? Its cruising speed fully loaded is easily 100 km/h (> 60 mph) returning 1 liter/25 kms (don't know what that is in MPG). Thanks for that as well though to an AMAL Concentric, no airfilter worth the name, a rather straight-through Ariel VH exhaust-muffler, and a 19T small chainwheel (instead of 17T).

Like a Swiss mechanic who once helped me out with a burned exhaust valve explained, these engines really are big air pumps, so they should be enabled to breeeeathe ...

Sore bums will be prevented by a sheepskin over the saddle, as can be seen on my picture earlier. Works a treat and is very usefull when camping too.

Cheers, Jur

 

Hi Jur,
Mine is 500. I know it can easily cruise at 60mph -100Kmh but I prefer 50mph as everything is going slower and piston speed is reduced making it all last a little longer.....I hope!
I want to change the front sprocket to 19T, I have the sprocket here but I am lazy....
My air filter is just a small washable fine wire mesh. I think it breathes OK. No complaints so far. It burns a little oil, about 100ml every 800-900 kms. No bad at all.
I'll post photos of mine on the road soon.....
Later!
Alan

 

G'day,
I did a 3000 mile trip in a week on my Harley Davidson Sportster back in 2002 and took 4 stoves that burned different fuels. That way I wasn't going to be caught out with no fuel. The stoves I took were; Primus 96 (paraffin/meths), Trangia (meths), Fiesta (US army, petrol) and a hexiburner (solid fuel). I've been camping on motorbikes since 1991 and although I try to cut down on the amount of gear I take I still take far too much. I have even taken a Mk2 British military stove to cook on. This is a VERY HEAVY stove, I have used it in the past to support the bike when the sidestand was sinking in the mud. It's brilliant, 100% reliable for cooking and as a sidestand. The size of stove you take does not matter, take whichever one takes your fancy.
"Flying" Cyril.

 

Personally, I would stick to a Optimus 8R or one of its clones. Did so for years, never failed me.

The "small pans problem" can be easily fixed by bending the wire supports a little, or making a cross wire stand as suggested. At the Phoebus 725, you can rotate the single wire stands to the same effect, but it truly is relatively heavy, and will only cook well on full throttle (otherwise will go out after a while).

I had rather problems using a bigger pan, this will not stand properly on them small burners (I have a big but light aluminium pan with me) because the weight of the handle will tear it down ...

Back to the stove question: 8R clones can easily be found on ebay, new, for 25 Euros.
And they are not bad.

On the other hand, a genuine 8R offers the advantage of having all spare parts available, plus the midi pump.

Nice bike, by the way!

Cheers
Andy, the motorang

 

Shag, there is a guy here in Reno that has a business restoring Royal Enfields, he does several of them a year, known for his high quality work he has a waiting list of customers. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned how much he gets for them when completed.

Ride an Ultra-Classic Harley here, very nice for those long rides out West here.

Regards, Ed

 

How about taking a 111T. You can burn Coleman or kero. But mostly becuse you can put a Tee in your fuel line and drain fuel to run it on in a pinch.

 

Hi
What you want is british army No.3. Put two wheels on it and a hitch and away you go.