Project Capacity
 

Well as most of you probably remember I took a very nasty spill on the hawk back in October shattering my back in three places. Well the bike of course is pretty torn up as well but I should be able to repair her. Anyways the tank was dented pretty bad on one side so I am planning on repairing and increasing the capacity of the tank to 5.5 to 6 gallons. It will require repainting the tank though.

The plan is for me to cut most of the top of the tank then lift it aprox 1.5 inches and the weld and blend the tank back together with sheet metal. Unfortunately it won't be something I can do to anyone else tank unless they don't mind painting it. Or if people are really interested they could find an extra tank and I could do it to a second tank. I may start picking up dented tanks and building monster touring tanks as well. Over all though for starters I will do mine and post up picks to give you all insights on the project.

Cool, you do great work man!

How's the healing coming?

Well the Doc said its a lifetime injury but I think I will show him. Actually I feel pretty good, the doc was also surprised I was down to as few pain killer as I was. I am pretty much back to doing the things I normally do minus lifting heavy things. It will be nice to not have to wear the brace any more after mid January or so. Then I will probably start getting back into my athletic routines a little at a time again, and hopefully riding. I am still in shock that I was able to overpower the traction of the front tire with so much ease. I went into that turn with total confidence.

Good to hear that you are recovering! I am sure you will beat it with the attitude that you have.

So bringing this back up because I have started working on the tank. I have lifted the entire top about an in so my initial estimate of the capacity change is + at least .85 gallons to a max of about 1.2 gallons. Here are pics.

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Good to see you are healing up well and are back to messing with stuff in the shop.

I'll be watching this thread as I really do need a larger tank ;)

So there is a buy-it-now vtr tank on fleabay for $10. How much do you charge for this "conversion":D:D:D

Yea great idea to enlarge the stock tank. I also am curious as to what you would charge for a good touring tank.:p

We will see how this one turns out to start. I am also considering other methods like moving the top by separating the bottom of the tank to try and avoid having to do so much bodywork. I didn't think about that until later.

As far as doing this for others it would cost $250 or so for the fab not including paint. I will have better numbers later but if people are interested I would suggest getting an extra tank to send. It can have dents and scratches that is no big deal. That way I can not feel too bad about cutting up perfectly good tanks. If I can get my hands on another tank I may try the underside method. Guinea pigs get a discount :D.

~LH

great work, looking forward to the final prod. my question /commment is being that the inside is no longer a smooth surface and will be jagged etc does it not pose a greater risk for it being an area of corrosion and future leaks?

Yes the risk for it being more susceptible to rust in those areas, however two things to take note. One being the availability of tank sealants like por 15 and kreme for instance eliminate the issue as well as the fact the only tanks I have seen have rust issues have been seriously and detrimentally neglected spending years unused generally in bad conditions out doors. On the tank I am modifying there was not a speckle of rust in the entire tank. I assume since rust inside tanks is almost never talked about on the forum that others have similar lack of rust as well, so I am not too concerned about it.

Sheet metal done pressure testing is next then the fun part of all the bodywork.

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That looks really cool. You mod keeps the same lines but accentuates them at the same time, I think when it is done that will look sweet. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Really interested in this build, what's the latest?

I am at the bodywork stage now. More sanding and filling then I will paint it and test out the capacity. Hopefully in the next week or so I will have more progress to post up.

Nice job on the tank mod. looking good. In the process of repair on my hawk as well. have both fairing sides that need to be plastic welded or i will use the fusor 143 on the fairing.( autobody product that is a super duper fast cure and dry but is stong as hell. we use it to repair cracks and gouges in bumper covers) any who keep us posted and glad to hear you are doing better. BTW when is the wifey due??

Philip

while ur at it by fixing up the hawk....u should polish the frame. would look pretty sick considering all the other projects of urs have come out to be killer looking.

For fairing repair I really like the panel bonding adhesive from 3M it isn't fast cure but it sure is strong and it looks like abs when dry. I probably won't do anything styling with the hawk I just want it back to a condition I can tour on it again. Thats the big reason for the bigger tank to make it a better touring bike.

yea i heard u on that. with al the twistys we did last july at a nice clip, i was surprised to get as many miles as we did out of the hawks. and we weremt being easy on the throttle either. LOL!! we have some of the 3m adhesive u are talking about at school. I might try the Fusor on one side and the 3m on the other to see which would be better for our fairings. So just out of curiousity...how much has this set u back for this conversion??? and keep us posted. i know alot of us are very interested and excited to see the latest product finished. lol!!!

No set back really just time...

just an updated shot, slowly making progress here.

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That's a clean job Horse. It looks like the stock 19 liter tank. What capacity did you end up with? I bet you could sell every one you make on this forum.

Awesome!can't wait to hear the capacity

Hey Little Horse, whats the good news?