Tank mounting - Sunday fettle

Busy times at the moment, far too much work and not enough play!

Sneaked a couple of hours in today on the 45.

Started cleaning up the tanks....



After Indi asking about the integrity of tanks that have been chopped I had a run over the welds to make doubly sure...



I've been putting off doing anything to the frame, the fear of buggering up Toddy's hard work, but thought it best to man up and take my time to get the tanks mounted. Turned up some stainless bungs to weld into the frame, then set a string line up to ensure the bike was vertical. Plenty of marking and measuring, then time to drill....



Happy with that effort, I used some laser cut tabs (well worth buying in IMO) for the base tab...





That allowed me to have just one tank mounted, so I could check clearances.... The tank was sitting too high, and there was plenty of room for me to drop it, so I trimmed the front of the lip....





I had a little play with bars for 5 mins, and these bars were shovel bars until mr grinder had his way... Contemplating some of cro's handlebar clamps if I go down this route....



Matched the second tank to the first, and they are beginning to look how I want! Still the front mounts to figure out, which will also even the spacing out between the 2. The plan is for a 5mm gap down the middle of the 2, a bit of metal beating, and I'm afraid some filler before that looks right though...







Oh, and the seat came with an xs650 project I bought to sell on. It's comfy as hell!

Man up with some tank action

Spent most of the weekend being dragged around wedding fairs and craft shops. Hurrah for weddings!!!

Spending time being surrounded by flowers and tea lights and lace bows and other wonderful things it was time to leave the world of all things shabby-chic, vintage and overpriced it was time to get my ass in the shed this evening and have some man time!

Just started with the strips either side of the tank which will hide some of the back bone, and make the tanks look bigger than they are...

I'll let the pictures do the talking tonight...

Still loads to do in them, both in making them match, mounting to the frame and making frame mounts, filling and testing for leaks, but I feel more manly once again...

GRRRRRR! MANSPORTS!

Skinny bobs

So I've had a bit of time out - shit to do round the house, work to catch up on etc....

Anyways - popped over to see Toddy yesterday to discuss the frame for the 45. Its full steam ahead with it now, and he's gonna be getting on with it in my absence.

I scored an old set of fatbob tanks a while back - came with a lot of parts, that i sold on and made a tidy profit on. Anyways - these were part of the deal, plenty of surface rust, but I thought they may just work for the bike. I've seen loads of cool bikes in Greasy Kulture, and Dice, plus all the blogs with skinny 2 part tanks, so I just had to have a blast at that!.

Took them with me to Toddy's, and he agreed that with a suitable amount of cutting they would work a treat.

Toddy marked up with masking tape on the first one where he thought - couldn't agree more, so when I got them out the car about an hour ago I couldn't just leave them like that.....

Got some tape and marked the second tank. This was my first lay of the tape and I stuck with it rather then fannying about with it...

Cut the first one, and you can see how much has gone from it...

Then cut the second one....

Its amazing the difference between the shapes of the 2 tanks on the bottom. luckily they will be blanked off and stay as 2 halves. The plan is that they will run either side of the frame, so will appear slightly wider. Toddy suggested running a bit of metal down the top of the tank, so I can have the illusion that they are on top of the frame rails.

I'll get cracking on cleaning them up another day, but i'm really happy with having them sussed out.