Transalper
19th June 2007, 10:15
May 2007 we bought two tanks from justgastanks.com (http://justgastanks.com)
Cost US$199 + US$70 freight.
Total approx NZ$375 each to the door.
They were left at my door even when no one was home.
I started with cleaning the new tanks out, swirled a bit of gas about then dumped it quickly out the top. Did this a couple of times, second time with the tap in, it went better the second time.
Gas taps... the easy option was to use the supplied one (plenty of clearance from engine with my one). The Stock Suzuki one might be able to be made to fit but i'd have needed to cut/file my tank cutting in to the plastic holding the brass inserts that the petcock attaches to and probably grind a little off some engine cooling fins. I thought if it was going to be prone to leaking, that cutting in to the tank wouldn't help.
I capped off the vacuum line.
I put an anti seize compound (they said even just a little grease will do if you don't have the good stuff) on the bolt threads which hold the petcock on as advised. Steel bots in brass holes usually eventually seize i'm told, something to do with the different metals reacting together.
To install the petcock I got a fuel safe o-ring 10mm x 2.5mm and discarded the supplied o-ring and gasket.
The o-ring cost less than $2 from DAS.
My Tank fit was tight on the rubber frame bumper, Js tank was better.
I couldn't get the back of my tank to sit down nicely to bolt it on, so i moved the rubber bumper forward on the frame about 5cm which allowed the back of the tank to sit down and became easier to bolt down. I might revisit that issue later.
The seat is now under a little more stress and had a small wrinkle on top where it bends up the tank, but that disappeared after a while.
I find it a little harder now to get the two seat hooks to go in to their slots (one on tank, other in frame under tank mount area) but by no means impossible..
I slotted the holes in the seat brackets where the seat bolts to the frame.
I cut my fuel line shorter (mine was not the stock line anyway) to make it fit better but just used Js as stock. They almost have a kink in them now but so far doesn't seem to be affecting the fuel getting through. The only way i can think of avoiding the kink would be getting an extra long fuel line and looping it.
Finally, but not life and death stuff, i turned the indicator mounts upside down to raise the indicators as the right one bumps the tank on hard lock. I had expected that, thanks Nordie. On J's bike i had a clash of Barkbuster and indicator when raising the indicator so files the mounting hole in the indicator bracket so it could be turned forward a little with out the indicator facing down.
Capacity... Advertised as 4.9 US gallons (= 18.55 liters)
No two plastic tanks are created equal, it's something to do with the rotary molding process.
coming home from the Brass Monkey Rally the other day i ran the tank dry, including stopping and tipping the bike over to get as much of the gas to the tap side as i could. When i got to the garage and looked inside it was dry, only gas left on the tap side was in the fuel line already. The right side still had a dribble but i don't think i'd have gotten that out.
It took 18.3 liters to fill to as far as i felt comfortable filling to with risk of overflowing.
It will be interesting to see how much Js Tank holds when i fill it, just waiting for a nice weekend day to take it out.
Guys at DAS say the tanks inherently contract over time and to fill it with several jugs of hot water (straight from the jug kinda stuff), then attach a bike pump to the gas tap vent line and pump her up.
Do that a few times and I MIGHT gain another liter or two.
I actually tryed it on Js tank and that may be why it slid on easier. I didn't move the rubber frame bumper on hers. I don't think i gained any more than half a liter capacity but then i also don't think i got it hot enough. I know i got the pressure in it because when i took the pump off the cap i could see the tank deflate.
1 frame bumper
2 gas taps... supplied on left, stock on right
3 and 4 Js DR with Yellow IMS
5 My DR with Natural IMS half full.
6 Up turned indicator mount
Cost US$199 + US$70 freight.
Total approx NZ$375 each to the door.
They were left at my door even when no one was home.
I started with cleaning the new tanks out, swirled a bit of gas about then dumped it quickly out the top. Did this a couple of times, second time with the tap in, it went better the second time.
Gas taps... the easy option was to use the supplied one (plenty of clearance from engine with my one). The Stock Suzuki one might be able to be made to fit but i'd have needed to cut/file my tank cutting in to the plastic holding the brass inserts that the petcock attaches to and probably grind a little off some engine cooling fins. I thought if it was going to be prone to leaking, that cutting in to the tank wouldn't help.
I capped off the vacuum line.
I put an anti seize compound (they said even just a little grease will do if you don't have the good stuff) on the bolt threads which hold the petcock on as advised. Steel bots in brass holes usually eventually seize i'm told, something to do with the different metals reacting together.
To install the petcock I got a fuel safe o-ring 10mm x 2.5mm and discarded the supplied o-ring and gasket.
The o-ring cost less than $2 from DAS.
My Tank fit was tight on the rubber frame bumper, Js tank was better.
I couldn't get the back of my tank to sit down nicely to bolt it on, so i moved the rubber bumper forward on the frame about 5cm which allowed the back of the tank to sit down and became easier to bolt down. I might revisit that issue later.
The seat is now under a little more stress and had a small wrinkle on top where it bends up the tank, but that disappeared after a while.
I find it a little harder now to get the two seat hooks to go in to their slots (one on tank, other in frame under tank mount area) but by no means impossible..
I slotted the holes in the seat brackets where the seat bolts to the frame.
I cut my fuel line shorter (mine was not the stock line anyway) to make it fit better but just used Js as stock. They almost have a kink in them now but so far doesn't seem to be affecting the fuel getting through. The only way i can think of avoiding the kink would be getting an extra long fuel line and looping it.
Finally, but not life and death stuff, i turned the indicator mounts upside down to raise the indicators as the right one bumps the tank on hard lock. I had expected that, thanks Nordie. On J's bike i had a clash of Barkbuster and indicator when raising the indicator so files the mounting hole in the indicator bracket so it could be turned forward a little with out the indicator facing down.
Capacity... Advertised as 4.9 US gallons (= 18.55 liters)
No two plastic tanks are created equal, it's something to do with the rotary molding process.
coming home from the Brass Monkey Rally the other day i ran the tank dry, including stopping and tipping the bike over to get as much of the gas to the tap side as i could. When i got to the garage and looked inside it was dry, only gas left on the tap side was in the fuel line already. The right side still had a dribble but i don't think i'd have gotten that out.
It took 18.3 liters to fill to as far as i felt comfortable filling to with risk of overflowing.
It will be interesting to see how much Js Tank holds when i fill it, just waiting for a nice weekend day to take it out.
Guys at DAS say the tanks inherently contract over time and to fill it with several jugs of hot water (straight from the jug kinda stuff), then attach a bike pump to the gas tap vent line and pump her up.
Do that a few times and I MIGHT gain another liter or two.
I actually tryed it on Js tank and that may be why it slid on easier. I didn't move the rubber frame bumper on hers. I don't think i gained any more than half a liter capacity but then i also don't think i got it hot enough. I know i got the pressure in it because when i took the pump off the cap i could see the tank deflate.
1 frame bumper
2 gas taps... supplied on left, stock on right
3 and 4 Js DR with Yellow IMS
5 My DR with Natural IMS half full.
6 Up turned indicator mount