Got a dent in fuel tank. Absolutely gutted..

[jimbo_on_travels]

Hi everyone.. I'm completely new here, and had a sniff about the search but couldn't find what I needed. So here's the situation:

Recently found a 3 cm dent in the tank (2005 R6) from some muppet's handlebars as if it had been tipped into it by accident in a bike park here in Wellington.

I have insurance, but already have high premiums from having my last bike (VTR 250) pushed over at the Hataitai 'One Love' concert (another story). So need to know of any good panel beaters in the Wellington area that are good with bikes, esp. tanks if possible. I've been to a few in the Hutt - but they all seem a bit brain dead when prodding and poking my bike.


I'm absolutely gutted and a little bit emotional - tbh I might even trade up to that tasty ZX10 sitting in Motorad :P

[p.dath]

Probably just easier to fill the hole in, sand and paint?

Pulling the dent sounds a lot more dangerous and expensive.

[LaytonNZ]

um?.. Take you're tank off fill it with water and put it in the freezer

There Problem solved

[Pussy]

Shame you're not closer to New Plymouth.
Franz ( "Frenchy" on KB) is a real gun at that sort of thing

[Owl]

um?.. Take you're tank off fill it with water and put it in the freezer

There Problem solved

Or new problems created!

[LaytonNZ]

noooo wayyyy. When the water freezes it expands valla.

[Pussy]

walla.

Voila

[jimbo_on_travels]

Not thought of the filling in option.. as for freezing sounds good but don't have a freezer big enough. Also not sure if there is a membrane on the inside of the tank or not.

Was thinking of getting a tank off a wrecker and getting that sprayed silver - might be cheaper, then shove some custom decals on it (?)

Oh yeh its a limited edition silver with black flames. Saw one on US ebay today - but the seller didn't allow postage to NZ. Meh.

[Owl]

Not thought of the filling in option.. as for freezing sounds good but don't have a freezer big enough. Also not sure if there is a membrane on the inside of the tank or not.

Was thinking of getting a tank off a wrecker and getting that sprayed silver - might be cheaper, then shove some custom decals on it (?)

Oh yeh its a limited edition silver with black flames. Saw one on US ebay today - but the seller didn't allow postage to NZ. Meh.

Give "crazefox" a PM and get him to have a look at it before you make any decisions dude. He is local to you and a painter!

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/member.php?u=4949

[98tls]

Give "crazefox" a PM and get him to have a look at it before you make any decisions dude. He is local to you and a painter!

Yep agreed,definately worth a shot.By all accounts very good at what he does.

[LaytonNZ]

The freezeing idea worked with an old xr i found and fixed up then killed haha..had a few dints in the tank so i filled it up and froze it

[CookMySock]

The freezeing idea worked with an old xr i found and fixed up then killed haha..had a few dints in the tank so i filled it up and froze it

No shit? That idea is so crazy it just could work! Where did you get that from?

Steve

[xwhatsit]

No shit? That idea is so crazy it just could work! Where did you get that from?

Steve

Yeah but you also hear stories about people doing that... then the tank has expanded in the wrong places and won't fit back around the frame any more... or the seams split

[robo555]

You've got insurance, why don't you use it?

Yes you'll need to pay excess unless you found out who dented your bike, but your insurance premium shouldn't go up, given that it wasn't your fault.

[vifferman]

Ring the paintless dent repair guys - they're good at removing small dents like this. We had a discussion about this recently (here? or on another forum??) and that was the best solution.

Probably just easier to fill the hole in, sand and paint?

Pulling the dent sounds a lot more dangerous and expensive.

Apparently not. Sometimes they attach it from the inside, but more often, they glue a stub to the outside and pop it out.
There's also another method that works of the edges of the dent aren't creased - apply dry ice to the centre of the dent. The temperature differential across the surface of the tank pops it back out. Google "dry ice dent removal" - there's a few NoobToob videos on the process.