The 7 liter CCM petrol tank (the black thing bellow) has to be the most hideous vessel ever to grace a motorcycle, it looks like a Stealth bomber that ate a few too many donuts. So the tunnel section of the svelte Sprite tank above, was cut out with a Makita fitted with an extra thin disc meant for cutting stainless steel, so as not to make too much evil dust (a pro would use a smaller disc on an air powered grinder). Actually the whole of the bottom section needed to come out to make it fit on the oil-in-frame CCM top tube, even then it's going to need widening by 2cm otherwise there will be just no fuel capacity. Finally it should be sitting a little lower than in the bottom photo, but it's always a knock-on effect, as then the oil filler will look like a snorkel and need cutting shorter too. BP
One of the worst tanks I've ever seen is from a Ducati single, looks as though it was left in the oven a bit too long.
ReplyDeletesorry ben, compared to the tank on my mz racer this is a thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteAh, cool project! Nothing like throwing out a perfectly functional (albeit ugly) OEM part for the sake of making your own, I always say.
ReplyDeleteSo are you going to use the outer shell of the sprite tank as a plug to build a new glass tank, or are you going to create a new underbelly with a wider trough and bond it to the existing shell?
AB
ReplyDeleteI had intended to make the old shell fuel-tight with a new bottom / tunnel section, but reading your indepth blog again last night I was reminded what arseache it is, so I may just run with the original CCM tank for the racing season & have my new customized / bodged Sprite tank copied into aluminium by a panel beater.
Yours unfaithfully BP
Makes perfect sense, actually. You would be shocked to see how much the good epoxy costs, the S-Glass, fittings, etc. Then there's the amount of time it takes, the abject mess...
ReplyDeletePlus Alu Tanks are so much better looking.