I am planning a relatively long trip (for me anyway) this winter, when and if we get enough snow for it, lol. I know I will need more than one bottle of oil to make the trip, but I need to know how to carry multiple bottles of oil. The easiest way would be to wear a backpack with the oil in it, however I don't want to do that. Aside from the discomfort of wearing a backpack, carrying oil on my back does not sound like fun, lol. Why couldn't I have bought a 4 stroke? lol.

I sized up some of the saddle bags on the Internet, however I can't judge from the photographs if they're large enough to hold one bottle let alone multiple bottles (I'm talking about the Polaris VES Gold II blue bottle that comes in 1 gallon quantities). If anyone here goes on long trips, I'm sure you've already figured out how to fix this problem. If I had my Trail Touring Deluxe, this wouldn't be an issue. But me and my brother (who will be going with me) have performance machines, with no storage to speak of.

Any recommendations?

You can strap stuff to your rear bumper - but that can block your taillight. Don't the gas stations along the way carry oil?

Any saddle bag (not to be confused w/tank bag) I've seen would have no trouble holding a gallon jug on each side. I would caution that a gallon or 2 of oil on the back of your sled is going to try it's darndest to come off in any kind of rough trail conditions, so plan on doing a good job installing the saddle bags/securing them so they can't flop around going through the bumps.

I've done overnight trips a few times, don't like carrying too much oil for the reasons mentioned above (after a couple of bad experiences) and have become comfortable buying oil enroute. My favorite brand (Amsoil) when it's available, name brand, quality oil if not.

When I go out on a trip, I carry my oil on 1 liter/quart plastic bottles. Make sure that the tops fit on tight and just to be sure, put the oil inside of zip lock plastic bags. These one liter bottles can be spit up between the carry bag, rear storage and you can usually tie one under the hood. Take enough oil for the trip planning to come back with the oil tank near empty.
Enjoy your trip.

Thank-you all for your suggestions :) I'll take them all into consideration.

I guess I have always just bought oil on the trail at the gas station. That should be the only time you need to add anyways is when you are adding gas.

Pulling a sled seems like the smartest thing to do on a long trip. You can carry a lot more than oil that way. Even then, the question need to be asked, "How long?" The newer machines have such large reservoirs, it hardly seems like oil should be a big concern. Certainly some place should sell a suitable oil within every 300 mile interval or so. The 01 550 fan I ran last winter did 300+ miles (and pulling a sled) before it ran the oil level low enough to warn me.

I just wanted to add the primary reason for this post: I own a Fusion. It's reservoir is small (2.8L or 3 quartz) however because of its shape it looks like it holds a lot less than this. After running the oil down from one tank, I'm assuming it should be good for another? Some people claim the reservoir is good for 2 to 2.5 tanks, however I can't see how that little bit on the bottom holds that much, when the sensor appears to be above it (maybe that big metal thing with a wire attached to it isn't a sensor?). Anyway, I don't have faith that the oil sensor will work, lol, so I don't want to run the oil down at all, and will top the oil up every time I add gas (or every second time). I intend to fill up my gas at approximately half a tank of gas(I've worked out a plan estimating how far each community is in relation to how much I think I can travel on one full tank, then one half tank for safety sake). I'm aware that depending on your setup (fuel, oil, etc.) one machine might be harder on oil than another, however, does anyone know approximately how much oil 2.8L can get me in relation to the 40.9L the gas tank can hold? Am I just being paranoid? lol.

By my math, if the specs I have are correct, I need 1.22L per tank? So I should be good for over 2 tanks, right?

Pepsi_fuzz: Every machine is different and every driver is different. How much oil do you have to put in the sled after a days ride? I have my sled set up for about 40 to 1 - 40 liters of gas to one liter of oil. Snow conditions and temperature also vary the mileage you get. On my last sled (2003 Polaris 500XCSP) I could go 140 miles on 38 liters of fuel.

John.

Pepsi_fuzz: Every machine is different and every driver is different. How much oil do you have to put in the sled after a days ride? I have my sled set up for about 40 to 1 - 40 liters of gas to one liter of oil. Snow conditions and temperature also vary the mileage you get. On my last sled (2003 Polaris 500XCSP) I could go 140 miles on 38 liters of fuel.

John.[/b]

I don't know what my fuel mixture is, perhaps I can ask Polaris what it's set up for. I do know that they said to burn supreme gas only. To be honest with you, I haven't had that much playing time on the Fusion. I bought it near the end of last winter, and this winter has yet to happen. Hopefully I can get a months worth of snowmobiling in so that I can more accurately determine how much oil I'm burning to a tank, or at least x many amount of miles (comparing how much gas I burn in x many miles; which I will also have to figure out in variable conditions).

I do know that last year in less than favorable conditions I travelled 80 miles on half a tank, which is about 14.81 miles to the gallon. I have gotten better mileage than that, but I typically just play around locally and top up before I go out, without paying attention to how much I'm feeding her, lol. My brother owns a 2005 XC/SP 500 and he usually burns more oil and gas than I do (when driving at his machines pace)

Pepsi_fuzz: Your mileage sounds pretty good but you need to know how much oil you are using. When I buy a new sled, I put a mark on the oil tank with permanent marker and use that mark when I fill the tank. I can then figure out what my oil to fuel ratio is and make the proper adjustments to the oil pump linkage. Usually from the factory the oil pump is set very rich, meaning that you will be using a lot of oil (25 to 1).
John.

sorry just dont understand the problem here. How many miles round trip... how obsolete is this oil on the trip circuit and how hard is it to put an oil caddy under the hood and one in the box?

I could ride almost 500 miles on my doo with one quart in the caddy and one in the rear compartment. not bashing or challengng but simply questioning.

sorry just dont understand the problem here. How many miles round trip... how obsolete is this oil on the trip circuit and how hard is it to put an oil caddy under the hood and one in the box?

I could ride almost 500 miles on my doo with one quart in the caddy and one in the rear compartment. not bashing or challengng but simply questioning.[/b]

The trip I am planning is above 500 miles, it is a two day continuous journey (minus nightfall). I don't know how many miles exactly because our map only stated highway distance, and I won't be on the highway at all.

Also, I thought 25:1 fuel mixture was for burn-in period only? Most of my other 2-stroke toys burn 50:1, but I guess snowmobiles are different.

<<<<Also, I thought 25:1 fuel mixture was for burn-in period only? Most of my other 2-stroke toys burn 50:1, but I guess snowmobiles are different. >>>

The 50:1 should work out close. It has for every injected sled I&#39;ve ever owned. I messed around with my XCR 800, have it running closer to 70:1, but you didn&#39;t hear me say that, much less recommend it.

We do a lot of long distance stuff, frequent 200 mile plus days. Find that it&#39;s safe to plan on 1qt per 100 miles. You&#39;ll likely do better.

purchase a Yamaha 4 stroke.

would not have to take any oil with you. tee hee. :lol:

think clean think Yamaha 4 stroke.

sorry had to get a plug in there for the part time employer ! w00t

think of all the $$$$ you will save on 2 stroke oil.

I almost never go anywhere without bringing a sled along:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/466351.JPG

Of course, we don&#39;t have any maintained trails either! You hardly feel a good sled back there as long as you don&#39;t load it down (500-600 lbs) too much. A few gallons of gas, a grub box, a few tools, etc don&#39;t make much of a load. I would put the oil, if you haul it on a sled, in a small gas jug instead of the original container. Sometimes factory packaging is not enough to handle snowmobile trails.

purchase a Yamaha 4 stroke.

would not have to take any oil with you. tee hee. :lol:

think clean think Yamaha 4 stroke.

sorry had to get a plug in there for the part time employer ! w00t

think of all the $$$$ you will save on 2 stroke oil.[/b]

I do like the idea of a 4 stroke in terms of travelling and not burning any oil! :) However, here, I&#39;ve only talked to one person who owns a Yamaha 4 stroke and he was completely upset when he took it in for a routine warranty job and it cost him $400 vs Polaris $50. So the idea of saving money on oil works, but if their parts and service is that expensive, it&#39;s not cheaper in the long run.

<<<<Also, I thought 25:1 fuel mixture was for burn-in period only? Most of my other 2-stroke toys burn 50:1, but I guess snowmobiles are different. >>>

The 50:1 should work out close. It has for every injected sled I&#39;ve ever owned. I messed around with my XCR 800, have it running closer to 70:1, but you didn&#39;t hear me say that, much less recommend it.

We do a lot of long distance stuff, frequent 200 mile plus days. Find that it&#39;s safe to plan on 1qt per 100 miles. You&#39;ll likely do better.[/b]

Thank-you. That&#39;s more of what I&#39;m looking for: how much oil to expect to bring per 100 miles. I already decided to er on the side of 1.25 instead of 1, worse case scenary I bring a gallon of oil back home and burn it off at a later date, lol. So my first guess was what I think I&#39;ll be going with. :) Thank-you all for your suggestions once again.

I just did a check of my oil consumption. I have the oil punp marks lined up and did 227 miles last weekend. I put in 1.2 litres or 1200 ml of oil. You can figure about 100 ml to every gallon of gas.

I just did a check of my oil consumption. I have the oil punp marks lined up and did 227 miles last weekend. I put in 1.2 litres or 1200 ml of oil. You can figure about 100 ml to every gallon of gas.[/b]

That would be 1.08 litres per tank (completely full to completely empty, which is beyond what anyone would do). That&#39;s less oil again. Anyway, I just had my machine serviced for her 1,000 mile checkup, I have since put on another 500 miles, and now she EATS the fuel! If I keep it above 40mph-50mph, I&#39;m fine. But dad&#39;s Lynx was just serviced as well, and he had to take his time because it was getting warm and a storm was a brewin&#39; so we had to putt around at 30mph-40mph, and at some points in time my mileage dropped from 14.8mpg to 10.8mpg. A full 4MPG less! I&#39;m not happy with that. I know my belt is beyond worn (actually, it&#39;s about to drop bellow the clutch altogether on the high side; and I&#39;ll soon have to clean all the black powder off absolutely everything under the hood) but would a belt cause a decrease in 4mpg?

I know my belt is beyond worn (actually, it&#39;s about to drop bellow the clutch altogether on the high side; and I&#39;ll soon have to clean all the black powder off absolutely everything under the hood) but would a belt cause a decrease in 4mpg?[/b]

My guess would be yes.
Belt is worn so RPM&#39;s are likely up....more revs, more fuel....
(I could be wrong but it would make sense to me)