SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Gas tank off another bike ?
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1343061045

Message started by srinath on 07/23/12 at 09:30:44

Title: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by srinath on 07/23/12 at 09:30:44

I am a bit flustered, the savage has the largest triple clamp offset of anything I have ever seen. Now a smaller offset and a shorter length fork off a GSXR - like upside down would make one hell of a mod for a cafe. So Now that I got that out of the way, it will hit the tank, hard and at very small turn radius.
Is there a tank that would fit the savage frame - and no a sportster tank would be the wrong look. Its gotta drop in on the frame and hug it.
Thanks.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/12 at 09:44:18

Tank swaps have been talked about a good bit, but usually the goal is just a larger tank. YOuve added a dimension that hasnt been considered that I can think of,, every tank swap thats been done has been a good bit of work I think,,I wouldnt even know how to go about finding what youre needing, You may have to mod a tank pretty hard,, If I was gonna go hunting one, Id probably look at some dirtbike tanks. They work to keep stuff low & they dont try to haul 300 miles worth O gas, so theyre slim,

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by srinath on 07/23/12 at 09:53:42

The last resort for me is to get the tank "dented" to clear the forks.
I have a few tanks some with dents and some with other issues but figured they are as good as any to "dent". If some other idea doesn't present itself. By dirt bike you mean something from the 70's, cos the newer dirt bikes all have plastic tanks that look like a camel hump. I'll check it out. Thanks.
Cool.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/12 at 10:21:33

Yea,, I had the 70s in mind, They were solid.,,.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by Dave on 07/23/12 at 10:35:08

The dirt bike tanks are probably not a good option.  They are slim on the outside - but the backbone on dirtbikes is normally a single tube and the tunnel on the tank will not provide enough room for the coil, decompression solenoid or the point where the backbone splits which is about at mid tank on the Savage.

Early street bike tanks for the 60's tended to be slim at the front and very tapered and might give you more clearance - but you will not find any single tank that is just a bolt on.  They are all going to require new mounts and possibly work to the bottom to provide clearance for the frame.

Perhaps your best bet is to modify the fork stops.....until you create your Cafe Racer and decide what tank you will modify and use.  

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by Serowbot on 07/23/12 at 10:44:46

I remember seeing somebody,(don't think on this site),... mounted a standard looking tapered tank, backwards... for clip-on clearance...
Looked a little odd to me,.. but maybe practical...
Just a thought... :-?...

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/12 at 10:53:02

Just hafta stop every so often & siphon the gas out of it,, goin backwards like that its gonna fill up as you ride.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by srinath on 07/23/12 at 11:13:03


12292433222E353328202D32410 wrote:
Perhaps your best bet is to modify the fork stops.....until you create your Cafe Racer and decide what tank you will modify and use.  


Not the stops the legs clobber the tank. The stops are a mile away. Not even close to hitting the stops. The bike cant even turn enough to get out of the parking spot. Or change lanes @ 50 mph.
Cool.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/23/12 at 11:19:30

This doesnt sound like a quick fix. Sounds like you have other tanks you could run,, maybe youd be ahead to just slam something on so you can ride, while you hunt a tank that will look good,

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by Spamy on 07/23/12 at 11:35:29

Ive gotten a different tank to fit pretty easily. I will start posting pics of my build this week. You can post questions in there if you want to know more, the pics should show what it took.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by Cavi Mike on 07/23/12 at 12:33:54

I bought this tank and it arrived just now. 1988 GS450L tank
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251096124744

The posts/donuts will have to be moved and it will need some slight massaging where the frame splits but with my drag bars on very short risers at full lock, this is how it sits on the bike untouched.

http://cavimike.com/savagetank01.JPG

http://cavimike.com/savagetank02.JPG

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by Dave on 07/23/12 at 12:36:09


71706B6C63766A020 wrote:
[quote author=12292433222E353328202D32410 link=1343061045/0#4 date=1343064908]

Perhaps your best bet is to modify the fork stops.....until you create your Cafe Racer and decide what tank you will modify and use.  


Not the stops the legs clobber the tank. The stops are a mile away. Not even close to hitting the stops. The bike cant even turn enough to get out of the parking spot. Or change lanes @ 50 mph.
Cool.
Srinath.[/quote]

I didn't mean you should modify the stops so they don't hit the tank.....I meant modify the stops so that they limit the turning movement enough that the new fork legs don't hit the tank.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by WD on 07/23/12 at 15:28:45

So you need the tank to sit more like...this?
http://ravenscroftart.net/jowens/Tracker2.jpg

Lot's of room at full lock, but the tank is a dork-mobile special unless you just like early 60s Japanese knock-offs of late 50s English parts. 1963 Honda CL72. The tank can be adapted to a Savage frame (pain in the butt) however, you are going to pay through the nose for one...

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by teabowl13 on 07/23/12 at 20:26:59

This guy, Spamy, just posted up some amazig pictures of his RYCA-esqu cafe project with a '75 GT550 tank. It looks really good, and he says it was very simple... and he's got great pictures.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1343089863

I used a '69 Suzuki T350 tank for my project. I personally like the look of it, others have not. I used it because I had it here in hand; I didn't get it to fit the Savage. My buddy Jay, who was doing the build decided he needed to cut-up and re-weld the frame to get it to work. I disagreed, but he did it anyway. Could have pounded in the insides of the tank instead, I thought. Either way; it's pretty narrow inside. My wiring will fit, but the decomp solenoid won't work, so I'll have to go to a manual lever for that...
The thread with pics is in my signature line..

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by srinath on 07/24/12 at 07:10:06

Well these bikes are gorgeous. Mine is a rat.
In fact this bike I am planning to slap together in a jif and ride it till it is sold.
There is a couple of frames I have, I may mod them using some of these as inspiration.
The single cyl motor is tailor made for a cafe. The frame however is screaming chopper. The savage is one of those bikes you can rake another 12 degrees, use a 9" longer fork and still be very rideable. I did it a couple years ago using dirt bike forks. The next savage I do will be raked at the frame and run dirt bike forks, not be raked at the triples like my previous one.
Cool.
Srinath.

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by thomasoconnor19 on 07/24/12 at 10:38:04

I just bought this 1969 T250 tank on ebay - hope I can get it to fit w/o major frame mods!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170875489454?item=170875489454&viewitem=&vxp=mtr

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by teabowl13 on 07/24/12 at 13:10:30


2E3235373B29353935343435286B635A0 wrote:
I just bought this 1969 T250 tank on ebay - hope I can get it to fit w/o major frame mods!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170875489454?item=170875489454&viewitem=&vxp=mtr


I definitely think you can do it without touching the frame, but you'll need to hammer the inside of the tank in a bit to get it to squeeze over. See my reply in the thread you started...

Title: Re: Gas tank off another bike ?
Post by srinath on 07/24/12 at 14:13:32

http://picasaweb.google.com/srinath.the.man/SavageChopperBuild#53768675803138...

That was the previous chopper I built.
Cool.
Srinath.

SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2!
YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved.