KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Steel Frame Conversion (SFC) => Topic started by: gwcrim on February 21, 2014, 08:12:34 AM
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So, things are moving along, parts are ordered and arriving. The one big hurdle left is a fuel tank. What options are there other than smooshing in the bottom of a stock tank? I'm thinking about using a plastic welder and sectioning a Clarke oversized tank.
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Check last two pages of k5 rebirth. Yeoman gave me a few words of wisdom on that
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Not sure what was said there but I would not trust a plastic welded tank without perfecting the process first. Having said that I have done a fair amount on various items and would not do it on a gas tank unless it was just for show.
Just read the K5 rebirth and the "new' part" could be why I have had trouble and would not trust a welded tank. A future experiment!
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OK, lots of advise on what NOT to do. We ride woods and having an oversize tank is pretty much mandatory. Ideas????
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What I got from K5 rebirth thread is a new plastic tank CAN be successfully cut and plastic welded. One other option (difficult and expensive) would be to weld up an aluminum one.
Fiberglass used to be an option but the ethanol in fuel has screwed that up. If anyone wants to read a boating study about ethanol ruining fiberglass tanks here is a link.
https://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/fueltest.asp
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When I originally had the tank welded I was told the tank had to be new , the left over oil residue in a used tank from pre mix will mess up the plastic welding process.
I was worried about welding at first as well. The guy that did the work has owned his own plastics company for over 25 years.
He had done 2 other tanks for a guy in town before mine. Both of these tanks have ran the past two seasons with no issues, and both bikes are being raced. Both are two stroke CRs
The tank was also tested with pre-mix before it left his shop for leaks and held for two weeks, but still has not run next to my hot cylinder head yet.
I've also thought about running one of those pro circuit heat shields like the four strokes use, to help to cut down on additional heat and help to hide the welds.
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I did find a company around here that fabricates polypro but of course, they won't touch a fuel tank. I think I read somewhere that kayak shops can do this stuff so maybe I can go that route. If nothing else, I'll just do it myself. Ya, that's it. Waste $300 and ruin a new tank.
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What year chassis are you guys using?
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What year chassis are you guys using?
I'm using the 99-02 kx 250 frame.
And yeah, the idea of ruining the tank scared me at first too.
I know the standard tanks for the 250's weren't an option for me, they don't hold enough fuel.
Even on my 250 in the woods with friends I'm always the first guy to turn around for fuel reasons, the four strokes they are all on sip gas compared to me
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02 chassis her too. I have an 02 250 with an over sized tank on it. Need a new one though, right?
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Geez. Bad enough cutting up an old one. I would cringe on that first cut on the new one! Probably cry just a little too. And drink. Drink a lot. That would help. Hot loose women would help get over it too. Wait. What were we talking about???
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02 chassis her too. I have an 02 250 with an over sized tank on it. Need a new one though, right?
Thats what my plastics guy told me anyways. I trusted his judgement, but I couldn't say for sure.
He told me it the Clarke ones were made from low density poly.
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Geez. Bad enough cutting up an old one. I would cringe on that first cut on the new one! Probably cry just a little too. And drink. Drink a lot. That would help. Hot loose women would help get over it too. Wait. What were we talking about???
Lol, Hot loose women and booze help every time :-)
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Yeomans, would your guy be willing to do a tank for me? Can you put me in touch?
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I'm not sure if he would, but I can defiantly put you in contact with him.
I have his card around here somewheres, I'll take a look for his contact info today and post it for you.
Not sure if you know we are in Canada though.
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Yeomans, would your guy be willing to do a tank for me? Can you put me in touch?
gwcrim heres the info I have for him
Baileys Plastic Fabrication Ltd.
His name is Chris Bailey, really nice and super knowledgeable about plastics.
email baileysltd@ns.sympatico.ca
web site www.baileysplastic.com
Just let him know you've seen one of his tanks and explain to him thats what you're looking to have done.
He's a small local guy, so he'd probably be really surprised about someone calling from the U.S lol.
When I got mine done he told me it wouldn't be pretty, but it would hold. I also was told that I could get a sander out and sand some of the welded area down to smooth out the tank for looks if I was concerned.
Figure out how much tank you need cut off and mark it. The tank was cut on a bandsaw so the new piece of plastic could be a flat bottomed tank with grade towards the petcock.
Your petcock placement is key as well. If you need any better photos of my tank just let me know :-)
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Canada may be my only option.
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Don't know if you were on suva's thread he had started ''k5 rebirth'' but the ims tanks are a much closer fit to start with then the Clarke tanks, they require way less modification.
I only found this out after I had modified my Clarke tank when I bought a used ims tank for my 250.
Had I have known this earlier I probably would have attempted the boiling water trick on the ims tank at home. I'm assuming you wouldn't also have to use a brand new tank doing it that way.
I could get you some pics later on this week once my frames back from powder coating if you'd like
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I did read that thread. I'll see what a Clarke tank looks like up close and personal soon.
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I put the word out on Facebook. One of my son's pals is in welding at the vocational school. He asked his teacher (who is a dirtbike guy) and I now have a plan. I talked to him last night and he said he'd do it but wanted to research a bit first. He also said that a new tank would be a good idea.
Making progress!
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Nice,
Wished I could have done a tank in metal.
Don't have any friends who weld aluminum through, so it would cost too much to pay someone to do it.
Can't wait to see some pics of that bad boy.
True works style
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I guess I should have been more specific. He's going to cut and weld a plastic tank for me. He recommended starting with a new one.
Aluminum would the da shizz. :mrgreen:
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How big a tank are you looking to build? Attach a gallon or build a bigger tank, that is the question. :-D
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I'm going to buy a new Clarke or IMS tank and cut the bottom for clearance. The way that Yeomans did it.
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As I'm putting this thing together, I'm wondering if I ought to cut the rear bracket boss off the head for added clearance. I'll be using a Jfab head stay.
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You might be able to pull that off but I wouldn't risk it....
Then again you can always re-weld and patch if there is a problem :lol:
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I dunno........ it would free up more than an inch of room. Might have to take the sawzall to that hunk of aluminum.
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I agree something needs to be done with that hunk of aluminum but over kill is better then snapping your frame rails after you just cleared that 100' quad jump :-D
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In my case, it wont be used. There's nothing to bolt it to. I'll be using a Jfab head say that mounts at the front of the head.
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Just talked to the guy at justgastanks.com. IMS has a 3.7 gallon tank for the 2002 KX250. I think I've seen one. The extra capacity is up top. Fugly as all heck but given A) the 500 sucks so much fuel and B) that I'll be cutting capacity off the bottom, I just may go that route.
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I have also tried the Ims tank, the are ugly as sin. Overall It would be less work to get the ims tank to fit rather tan the clarke.
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Thanks for all the input. I ordered the big fugly 3.7 gallon IMS tank. We ride Hatfield McCoy trails and I'd like to have as much fuel as possible. Lots of parts are arriving this and next week. Hope to have the bike and tank at the vocational school by late next week.
I'll take lots of photos.
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Looking forward to seeing your results with the IMS tank.
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Progress made. Got the tank. Cut about 4 inches off the bottom then stepped up and cut another 4 inches above the spark plug. Looking for scrap parts to graft in. Then off to the local vocational school for welding.
(http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x96/gwcrim/kx250-500/20141116_140628_zps3de24f90.jpg) (http://s185.photobucket.com/user/gwcrim/media/kx250-500/20141116_140628_zps3de24f90.jpg.html)
(http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x96/gwcrim/kx250-500/20141116_140814_zps12b7ac9b.jpg) (http://s185.photobucket.com/user/gwcrim/media/kx250-500/20141116_140814_zps12b7ac9b.jpg.html)
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Looks great.
I'll be doing something similar soon.
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I run the IMS 3.2 gal unit on my 2002 KX/500 hybrid.
I was able to clearance sparkplug and pipe side using a blow torch and a series of 18mm - 24mm deep well sockets. I would heat them up with the torch and melt and push the plastic up to deform it. It still is a bit tight fitting, and generally takes some patience on reassemble.
It still fits better and easier than my Acerbis 6.6gal tank on my XR650r...