The RYCA tank sits above the frame in the rear. There is a discontinuity between the bottom of the tank and the bottom of the seat. I think it looks better when the seat and the tank bottoms are on the same plane, so to speak. We were going to cut off the bottom of the blue mod tank like Ryca does but my bro didn't think he was up to the welding. Also, if we did that then the tank wouldn't sit low enough. As you can see, a lot of work was done to sink it down as far as we did.

Look at the Ryca Street Tracker and compare it to my build. You can see what I mean by aligning the bottoms of the tank and seat. My tank sits so low that it will have to be removed to change the spark plug. Not too practical but I figure once the carb mixture is set won't have much reason to pull the plug.

John in Kalifornia

Wow, have you got me wrong! I have minimal metalworking skills. My main tools are a BFH and an angle grinder. Managed to set my sweatshirt on fire last week with the sparks from the grinder, and then caught it in the wire brush chucked in the electric drill. That tank tunnel cutout wasn't my idea; I copied the Ryca mod. It was a real challenge to bend the tunnel with a cheap HF brake clamped to the bench.

In the sixties when I went to junior and senior high school there was a big push for college prep courses to educate future engineers to fight the commies, a response to the Sputnik scare. I would have rather taken shop classes like those that my brother did, than all that math, science creative writing, etc. that I had to endure. Consequently, my shop skills are rather lacking. Perseverance and common sense make up for lack of skill sometimes, though I have never been accused of having an abundance of the latter.

I think this tank will work out but I still think it is too big for the Street Tracker look. Fiberglass tanks are out because of the problems with reformulated gasoline used here in Kalifornia. The search is still on for aproper sized tank that will fit over the frame. Modifying the frame, as has been pointed out just creates more problems.

John in Kalifornia

I ordered a strip of plastic from McMaster Carr as a rub strip. Don't remember what it was only that it was black. Something like UHMW nylon or Teflon type stuff. It's somewhere in the garage.

I went to big sprockets at both front and rear because of the chain rub problem. 18/49 I think. Haven't tried to adjust the chain and then see how much it would rub. Way I figure it, with my 250 or so pounds sitting on the bike the swing arm won't be spending much time in the down unloaded position anyway. The static unloaded angle when nobody is on the bike isn't a good indication of real world riding conditions. Now, if I were to be riding off road over jumps, etc. the story might be different. Haven't looked into this yet.

BTW, the 18 tooth front sprocket does fit and there is no clearance problem. Think I have a 530-size chain.

John in Kalifornia