artmaker
Active Member
First, not sure where to put this post. Admins I'm sure can move it.
So ok, I'll start with a photo of my bike. Old picture, when I first got it.
Many miles later, I am in the process of converting that 2 stroke to a 4 stroke.
This gets long, I'm mainly looking for gas tank info here.
Now one main issue this bike has had all along, that dumb frame design. Every gas tank made is designed with cheap brackets that go under a standard bike tube. Well mine isn't a standard bike tube. The guy who sold me this bike had drilled holes straight down in the top of the tube, drilled a hole in the center of each bracket, and mounted the tank on that. Yea well, that lasted about a year and those cheap brackets just broke off from all the vibrations.
Next tank, I found some more solid brackets, stuffed some rubber between the frame and tank, and that lasted quite a bit longer before again, too much wiggle, the tank studs poked holes in the tank.
Tank 3, this time I had some long threaded rods made, and actually went under that fat top bar. Which immediately made the tank slide back. Tried again with a plastic strap around the front steering tube. That held up for a long time. Looks like crap, but it worked.
And now time to get a better motor.
While over at my mechanic trying to figure out a better way to mount the darn thing, he brought up something I never even considered. 4 strokes will burn more gas than 2. Right now my little half gal tank gets me where I want to go and back with gas to spare, (once a week a local town has a concert, all summer.)
Well, that little tank probably won't be enough will it? And is there a formula to figure out exactly HOW much more it will take? He already suggested I just get the motor on, rig the tank to just stay somewhere and see how far I get. I'd rather not.
So…. been on line ALL DAY shopping for a better, bigger, stronger mounted tank. Found a few. And now WOW. WHY don't companies answer the phone????? OR even call back? Email back? SOMETHING?
Business must be good to just blow off a customer looking to drop as much as a few hundred bucks on a lousy tank.
SO… I'll ask you folks.
First, let me post the tanks I found. Got this narrowed down to three.
(Fortunately all three can be found on this page…. called them twice, left an email, no reply. I think I'll NOT be buying from them.)
http://www.paughco.com/2008-catalog...anks For Universal Applications (page 1).html
Right off the bat I can see all the tanks I'm interested in will mount directly onto the TOP of my bike tube.
NO need for brackets. YEA. But I have questions.
So scroll down to the Kendall Johnson Half-Shell Gas Tank.
This is the smallest of the lot. At 1.25 gal, just more than twice what I had. BUT again, how much more gas will the 2 stroke need to go the same distance?
Also this one says "flat bottom." My bike does have a slight arch. Does flat bottom refer to the over all shape of the tank there? OR the tunnel under it? And if it's the tunnel, couldn't I get some rubber, or even silicon into the tunnel before bolting it down?
Next, right above that one, the AXED with Peak. 2.2 gal aught to be plenty.
Further down on that same page is one called Narrow Universal Mustang Tanks. With the front and back straight mount.
The neat thing about that site are all the specific specs for each tank. So I went and got some measurements off my bike.
My top bar is 2"thick. And I have 21" in length to play with.
Since all these tanks are made for motorcycles all have a tunnel wider than my bike. The mustang tank seems to be the closest fit at 2 1 /2 inches wide. (Again though, couldn't I put a sheet of rubber, leather, silicon, or something in the tunnel before bolting down?
I really love the idea of how these mount. But the last concern, another site that offered these showed one mounted. There is a rubber bushing between the tank bracket and the bike frame. So I'm guessing a basic self taping screw was used since there is no way to get a bolt inside the bike.
Since my bike frame already has a few holes in it (which I know are in the wrong place, more will be drilled.) But at least I can see how thick the metal is. Roughly 1/8 inch steel. And this scares me. Two screws will be all that's holding down a sloshing 2 gal of liquid.
Do they make such a thing as some kind of self flanging molly for metal? I remember my mother using those to hang shelves on her walls. They open up on the back side of the wall. Of course once in there, they would be inside my bike forever. Hoping I'd never have to replace this again.
Last thought on the whole tank issue. Yes I know you can put tanks in other places. I really like the motorcycle look of the teardrop tank right where it is. I also made a nice big bag for behind my seat so no tanks there, and I USE that rear rack all the time so no rear rack tanks. I want the tank in the same spot as the one pictured. Just bigger, with better ways to mount it.
Open to any and all input.
OH… almost forgot. NONE of these seem to come with gas caps OR the little valve thing the line goes on.
Would that be the same size for a bicycle motor? If not are there adapters? And where would I buy that stuff. (See this is why I tried calling these places. Boggles my mind how businesses don't seem to want to do business.)
So ok, I'll start with a photo of my bike. Old picture, when I first got it.
Many miles later, I am in the process of converting that 2 stroke to a 4 stroke.
This gets long, I'm mainly looking for gas tank info here.
Now one main issue this bike has had all along, that dumb frame design. Every gas tank made is designed with cheap brackets that go under a standard bike tube. Well mine isn't a standard bike tube. The guy who sold me this bike had drilled holes straight down in the top of the tube, drilled a hole in the center of each bracket, and mounted the tank on that. Yea well, that lasted about a year and those cheap brackets just broke off from all the vibrations.
Next tank, I found some more solid brackets, stuffed some rubber between the frame and tank, and that lasted quite a bit longer before again, too much wiggle, the tank studs poked holes in the tank.
Tank 3, this time I had some long threaded rods made, and actually went under that fat top bar. Which immediately made the tank slide back. Tried again with a plastic strap around the front steering tube. That held up for a long time. Looks like crap, but it worked.
And now time to get a better motor.
While over at my mechanic trying to figure out a better way to mount the darn thing, he brought up something I never even considered. 4 strokes will burn more gas than 2. Right now my little half gal tank gets me where I want to go and back with gas to spare, (once a week a local town has a concert, all summer.)
Well, that little tank probably won't be enough will it? And is there a formula to figure out exactly HOW much more it will take? He already suggested I just get the motor on, rig the tank to just stay somewhere and see how far I get. I'd rather not.
So…. been on line ALL DAY shopping for a better, bigger, stronger mounted tank. Found a few. And now WOW. WHY don't companies answer the phone????? OR even call back? Email back? SOMETHING?
Business must be good to just blow off a customer looking to drop as much as a few hundred bucks on a lousy tank.
SO… I'll ask you folks.
First, let me post the tanks I found. Got this narrowed down to three.
(Fortunately all three can be found on this page…. called them twice, left an email, no reply. I think I'll NOT be buying from them.)
http://www.paughco.com/2008-catalog...anks For Universal Applications (page 1).html
Right off the bat I can see all the tanks I'm interested in will mount directly onto the TOP of my bike tube.
NO need for brackets. YEA. But I have questions.
So scroll down to the Kendall Johnson Half-Shell Gas Tank.
This is the smallest of the lot. At 1.25 gal, just more than twice what I had. BUT again, how much more gas will the 2 stroke need to go the same distance?
Also this one says "flat bottom." My bike does have a slight arch. Does flat bottom refer to the over all shape of the tank there? OR the tunnel under it? And if it's the tunnel, couldn't I get some rubber, or even silicon into the tunnel before bolting it down?
Next, right above that one, the AXED with Peak. 2.2 gal aught to be plenty.
Further down on that same page is one called Narrow Universal Mustang Tanks. With the front and back straight mount.
The neat thing about that site are all the specific specs for each tank. So I went and got some measurements off my bike.
My top bar is 2"thick. And I have 21" in length to play with.
Since all these tanks are made for motorcycles all have a tunnel wider than my bike. The mustang tank seems to be the closest fit at 2 1 /2 inches wide. (Again though, couldn't I put a sheet of rubber, leather, silicon, or something in the tunnel before bolting down?
I really love the idea of how these mount. But the last concern, another site that offered these showed one mounted. There is a rubber bushing between the tank bracket and the bike frame. So I'm guessing a basic self taping screw was used since there is no way to get a bolt inside the bike.
Since my bike frame already has a few holes in it (which I know are in the wrong place, more will be drilled.) But at least I can see how thick the metal is. Roughly 1/8 inch steel. And this scares me. Two screws will be all that's holding down a sloshing 2 gal of liquid.
Do they make such a thing as some kind of self flanging molly for metal? I remember my mother using those to hang shelves on her walls. They open up on the back side of the wall. Of course once in there, they would be inside my bike forever. Hoping I'd never have to replace this again.
Last thought on the whole tank issue. Yes I know you can put tanks in other places. I really like the motorcycle look of the teardrop tank right where it is. I also made a nice big bag for behind my seat so no tanks there, and I USE that rear rack all the time so no rear rack tanks. I want the tank in the same spot as the one pictured. Just bigger, with better ways to mount it.
Open to any and all input.
OH… almost forgot. NONE of these seem to come with gas caps OR the little valve thing the line goes on.
Would that be the same size for a bicycle motor? If not are there adapters? And where would I buy that stuff. (See this is why I tried calling these places. Boggles my mind how businesses don't seem to want to do business.)
