What gas tank styles would you choose???

[Irish John]

In the mean abode of the Shankhill Road
Lived a man named William Bloat
Who had a wife - the bane of his life
Who continually got his goat.
So one day at dawn, with her night dress on.
He slit her bloody throat.

With a razor gash, he settled her hash,
Oh never was a crime so quick,
But the steady drip on the pillowslip
Of her lifeblood made him sick
And the pool of gore on the bedroom floor
Grew clotted cold and thick.

Now he was glad he'd done what he had
As she lay there stiff and still
'Til suddenly awe of the angry law
Filled his soul with an aweful chill
And to finish the fun, so well begun
He decided himself to kill.

So he took the sheet from his wife's cold feet
And he twisted it into a rope
And he hanged himself from the pantry shelf
Twas an easy end let's hope.
With his dying breath and he nearing death,
He solemnly cursed the Pope!

Now the strangest turn of the whole concern
Is only just beginning
For he went to h*ll but his wife got well
And she's still alive and sinning,
For the razor blade was Chinese made
But the sheet was Belfast linen!

 

[Mountainman]

when you have the chance
check out ((((( lhemrick's ))))) custom old tanks -- he a member here on site

just some new thoughts for you
bottle type tanks look pretty cool on motor bikes

MM

 

[srdavo]

so awesome.....

Tell us who authored this great poem??

In the mean abode of the Shankhill Road
Lived a man named William Bloat
Who had a wife - the bane of his life
Who continually got his goat.
So one day at dawn, with her night dress on.
He slit her bloody throat.

With a razor gash, he settled her hash,
Oh never was a crime so quick,
But the steady drip on the pillowslip
Of her lifeblood made him sick
And the pool of gore on the bedroom floor
Grew clotted cold and thick.

Now he was glad he'd done what he had
As she lay there stiff and still
'Til suddenly awe of the angry law
Filled his soul with an aweful chill
And to finish the fun, so well begun
He decided himself to kill.

So he took the sheet from his wife's cold feet
And he twisted it into a rope
And he hanged himself from the pantry shelf
Twas an easy end let's hope.
With his dying breath and he nearing death,
He solemnly cursed the Pope!

Now the strangest turn of the whole concern
Is only just beginning
For he went to h*ll but his wife got well
And she's still alive and sinning,
For the razor blade was Chinese made
But the sheet was Belfast linen!

 

[Irish John]

Tell us who authored this great poem??

It is attributed to Raymond Calvert and was written in Belfast in 1926. In the original the razor blade in the poem was German made, but sometimes written also as Dublin made because they must have thought the Germans weren't much good back then and of course they have no time for catholics from the south.
It's been around the Ulster pubs for 100 years but it got a boost when it was recited in the Holywood movie "Dead Poets Society" starring Robin Williams.
I suppose you could describe it as an early commercial jingle for Belfast linen.

 

[Irish John]

when you have the chance
check out ((((( lhemrick's ))))) custom old tanks -- he a member here on site

just some new thoughts for you
bottle type tanks look pretty cool on motor bikes

MM

Have you got a link to these Mountainman?

 

[gppeej]

Well let's talk about manufacturers then. Obviously I'm sitting in Milwaukee, Machine shop to the world. Home of Harley, Master lock, Briggs + Stratton, etc, etc, etc. I'd love to have them all made here, but is that realistic. I can't just throw China and India out of the pile 'cuz they have produced lots of cr@p. Getting the product you want from a manuf means lots of legwork. Good communication, contracts, clear standards and force of will are all required to get what you want.

The problem with communication is knowing whether or not it actually happened. Sometimes you buy what they sell, other times they make what you specify.

If The majority consumer of MBs are buying cheap kits that retail under $200, then they probably won't spend more than $50 to $100 for a replacement tank. Also, builder won't pay big dollars 'cuz they cut, weld, modify, adapt, refit, and reseal themselves.

I tend to think that having an improved, quality checked, purpose-built tank from Asia can fit the bill, and here's why. Buying the best that China has to offer means getting a middle quality product...and even then only with strict quality control measures. The middle quality will be good enough for bargain user and builders. Budget minded folks still get a design upgrade and style and color choice. They could have a painted tank that is ready to use as a drop-in replacement. Additionally, I could bring those same tanks in raw for builders who would use them as blanks for customization.

Providing lots of options gets expensive fast. You can see that a simple plan can get big fast if you try to please everyone. For example consider 4 tank designs, with 5 colors, 2 petcock choices, 3 caps, and raw stock also. That's alot of inventory, storage space, and order filling options to take care of.

Peej

 

[Irish John]

Maybe Gpeej you should focus on India because they make steel products better than most western countries. They have been making high-tec steel products for a very long time.
You omitted to mention one key ingredient to getting satisfaction from a Chinese manufacturer - you need an AK47 and the ability to speak fluently in Mandarin and even that won't get you acceptable quality.
Remember if you think you are competing with the likes of the Chinese kit suppliers you might have missed the point. The market that wants cr@p is saturated with service and the market that wants quality has not yet been served except for some of Staton's products that don't include tanks.
It woulds be nice to see it being made in Milwaukee but I would prefer to see them made by Harland & Woolf in Belfast because if you crashed into a river or a lake you would know at least that your bike would stay afloat.

 

[lordoflightaz]

Providing lots of options gets expensive fast. You can see that a simple plan can get big fast if you try to please everyone. For example consider 4 tank designs, with 5 colors, 2 petcock choices, 3 caps, and raw stock also. That's alot of inventory, storage space, and order filling options to take care of.

Peej

What's that like 120 individual SKU's? Narrow it down to certain basics. The tank openings (cap and petcock) are the same for all 4 designs. So your 3 caps and 2 petcock fit all the tanks. Petcock is threaded on the tank side the same as current kits. All tanks are stocked primer gray, maybe some unfinished. Give the customer an option it get the tank unfinished or unpainted. A specific color adds a day to order processing. Or just set customer expectation to be that they can't get it overnight (I know that is a tough one, and say shipping cutoff for orders is 10:00AM EST)

Find a paint shop that will work with you and does real QC. You give them tank, addons (cap and petcock) with shipping label. Let paint shop ship for/as you. Note: make sure one box size can handle all 4 tank designs,the packing should be be "green" You could also greatly expand the color choices to include metal flake. You also might be able to stock tanks at paint shop.

Pick a shipping company and go exclusive being small you won't get much of a discount but you might get something. I remember when we did it at a company I worked at and we got like a 5% discount on top of our previous incentives. Yellow trucks with red lettering can be as much fun as the brown trucks. I would stay away from the red white and blue trucks.

Now all you have to do is outsource your order fullfiment, I would look at a company the sells custom parts but not engine kits.

Ouila, Peej Light A-Z tank distributor is born, I accept Paypal

 

[gppeej]

That's a nice tidy plan LoF. It's streamline and efficient ...and splits the work with a paint shop...the folks who need the work right now. Also, I suppose color matched fenders might be needed.

Let me say thanks right now for the creative participation from all of you and the open forum on wich to do it.

From the manufacturers side I am finding plenty of capable producers who will do small runs of any design I hand them. Looking for other ways to sell the same tanks has yeilded two new ideas.

Firstly, I can see that all the DC electric bikes have hideous battery storage solutions. A tank filled with Lifepo4, wiring, ports, and securing lock would look good and be a drop-on.

Secondly, Similarly, as a place for dc controllers and hardware that is weather resitant and secure

Off topic - Here in Wisconsin if you register your motored bicycle as a moped (with lights, plate, and stuff) you can legally go up to 125cc...so long as you retain the pedals.

And Woo Hoo - I rode my new BB80 2t yesterday. Great fun.

 

[Irish John]

The battery storage tank is a winning idea Gppeej but the tank would have to open up to get batteries in & out. Probably that tank would need to be a rear mounted tank. Rear mounted tanks are a problem for MBc members because plenty of people want them and they seem to want the cylindrical old style of tank that can go behind the seat. They seem to be very hard to get unless you are lucky enough to source a vintage tank from old motor equipment. The larger tanks that come with the 4 stroke kits are not as pretty as the tear drop tanks that comes with the 2-stroke kit. I'm not sure why the 4-strokes opted for the larger tank when we can fill up at a service station and the 2-strokers can't. I think when it comes to top tube tanks on bicycles, size really matters because the tall people don't like to hit their knees on the tank when they are pedalling.
So their is a market for the top tube tank and the rear mounted cylindrical tank and the latter is totally uncatered for at present even if it may have a smaller demand.