Fuel Bladders

2026-05-14 by Andrew Holmes

Since getting the BMW G450X I've been debating how to carry extra fuel. The bike only has a ~8 litre fuel tank and on open road/gravel road riding the fuel light comes on at ~170km or so. If I'm in the middle of nowhere when this light comes on it would be nice having a bit of a buffer as I only have around 30km left once the low fuel light triggers.

I'm currently carrying one FuelFriend 1.5 litre fuel cannister, stuffed with my tool roll into the left leg of my Giant Loop Mojavi saddle bags. This works fine and gives me another 35km or so on top of the reserve, but there are a few annoyances - weight on one side of the bike, it makes that compartment on my Mojave smell like fuel, and takes up a large chunk of space even when empty. I'd like to have a slightly larger spare capacity, say another 70km in the bag at least, and fuel bladders will solve the issue of taking up space when not needed.

I've basically decided on one of three options:

The ADVWorx bag doesn't seem to be available anywhere currently, not sure if they will resupply or not, but 5 litres is probably more than I need anyway. I do like the brand though (and also like supporting Australian companies when I can't get the same thing from NZ) so if it's in stock when I finally buy something it will be tempting, as they are well built, well priced and you can always just fill them half way if you don't require the full 5L capacity.

The Giant Loop bag is a great size (1 gallon/3.8L) really well made (there are videos of them being run over), and roll up to almost nothing when empty. The quality is really good, things like the spout screw in easily and there are no leaks. This is the one I'm likely to get if I can't get the ADVWorx one despite it being the most expensive.

The Desert Fox option seems popular with some YouTube moto travelers and 3L is really the perfect size. The price is also good, by far the cheapest option here in NZ. Two things put me off slightly though, firstly it doesn't roll up very well when empty (it's designed more to store flat I think?) mean it is a bit harder to stash on the bike and secondly I watched a few reviews where people complain about the spout fixing. The original one pushed into place and this caused leaks, and wile the revised version has a screw on spout It is very fiddly to screw into place, a lot of people don't bother and simply pour straight from the cap. It is cheap and the bladder itself is well made, so may be worth a second look when I decide which one to buy.

Honestly, my biggest problem probably isn't the fuel range but more how long I can stand to sit on that seat! That will be my next problem to tackle, it's terrible!