Got the GZ250 tank in today. Like I said, once I got 15 minutes this evening to mess with it, that's all it took to assess the situation.
Put simply: It's not looking good. The first and most obvious problem I had already anticipated:
The rear mounting tabs are a bit farther apart on the back of the GZ250 tank.
That's only a minor hassle if you have the right tools to move them. I have the cutoff wheel, and skill to use it. What I don't have is a welder to put them back on with. I'm tired of mooching little favors from my welder neighbor, even though I do offer to pay him, and have taken them dinner over to make it up... but I still get tired of asking. So... since I keep coming up with welding jobs I really need to break down and get their son to teach me how to use the plasma torch and TIG weld. I'm pretty darn good with a stick, MIG and even old gas welding, and cut like a pro with a gas torch, but this new plasma and TIG stuff is beautiful. Real art when done well. I may have to trade some work for some training and the use of their equipment to learn enough on to be able to make an informed purchase.
Anyways... back to the tank... It is certainly not going to be and easy bolt-on fit. Besides having to move the rear mounting tabs, the location of the front brackets that hold the tank's rubber isolation pads is way off. I mean WAY off. Besides sticking out about 3/4" or so too far on each side due to the more narrow tunnel on the GZ250 tank; they need moved up and forward several inches. It is hard to tell exactly, but here is a look from standing over the tank looking down:
Understand what you are looking at: You are standing over the bike's seat, and setting the tank on, like you are installing it. You are looking up-side-down into the tunnel and seeing that the bolts which the rubber tank mounts slip onto are way too long to allow the tank to be installed.
Just for those whose minds don't do "up-side-down" here is a picture straight down the main frame rail. You can orient yourself by seeing my chrome o-ring foot pegs down there in the background.
You are looking down the frame. Notice how far off the mounts for the rubber tank snubbers are. Not even a close fit as is, but I'm convinced it can be made to fit well. Eventually, we'll see! I think the rounder "Mustang" style tand might look good on the Savage.
Even once those hurdles are jumped, then the bottom of the tank will need to fit:
And once positioned over the things it will have to clear:
I'm hopeful, once all the mounting is repositioned well, that the bottom will fit good. Most of the stuff mounted on the mainframe backbone can be moved around a bit to allow the tunnel to fit without a lot of hammer work. Other hopeful good news... The rear mounting bracket seems to have a natural rise to it; which I would try to keep, and also, the petc0ck hole looks like it might be in good position for the stock vacuum petc0ck, which I prefer to keep.
All in all, what with having to relocate the speedo and other instrument stuff, it looks like the project might be of questionable advantage for the approx. 1 gallon gain involved. I'm not even sure which bike the tank may end up on eventually, but for now I'm riding the 99 chopper most of the time, so the old 87 will be used as the 'fit-up' bike.
Oh... since I've got the tank, I'm sure I'll follow through on setting it up for a Savage before too long... maybe this winter?
If there is one thing that I'm really happy with about buying this tank (again, for too much money) it is that it has really pointed out my need to buy a decent budget welder/plasma torch, and learn how to use it. With that in hand there are lots of other jobs I'd like to tackle.
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