Safari tank owners!!!

Mods you can merge this if needed, I just didn't want it to get buried in the Safari tank threads.

Check your fuel lines coming out of the fuel petcocks. I had one rubbing against the battery box cover and rubbed through the fuel line. Time to break out the Dremel.

Why not just space the bottom of the tank out a little with a larger fender washer over the bolt. This gives more support to the tank from pushing in on crashes too?

I guess a pic would help.

Yeah it happened right when I was headed to a final exam review.

From the petcock, there is a part of the plate that is recessed right above the lower tank bolt. That little recessed area was what was rubbing the fuel line right where it connected to the petcock.

Pictures to come.

Ok, here's a picture and a better story.



On MY bike, and I stress that this is only mine and I'm not saying that Safari tanks are a bad design, will steal your girlfriend, and vote ___________, the fuel hose that connects to the petcock had touched the battery cover plate right where my finger is pointing in the picture above. It had actually worn the rubber right that was covering the tip of the petcock.

Now that I had a chance to think about it (because I was cursing in 3 languages trying to get it to stop leaking fuel so I could go to a law exam review), I had to ride with it for about 50 miles because I sold my old crash bars and couldn't find the bolts that would allow me to bolt the battery cover plate back on. No harm, I thought, because I thought there was enough clearance to allow for that. Well, I was wrong (no surprise).

Moral of this (psychotic) story is when you fit your Safari tanks, check to make sure there is enough clearance between the petcock and the cover plate. There is just barely enough to see light around mine so I'm going to grind some of it away simply because I want more clearance.

I too had the same thing many years ago. Save your time grinding away at the cover plate, it will only get worse again with time.

Or.....
Why not just space the bottom of the tank out a little with larger fender washers over the bolt. This gives more support to the tank from pushing in on crashes too?

Reason I say this again, is that the rubber grommets on the bottom tank mount WILL push into the tank. You can see that there is about an 1/8" of space now. After a few dirt naps it will be zero. A larger washer /Disc ( I made some .2" thick Alum discs about 2" in dia) that fit there to prevent it from getting worse. This is mounted between the OEM Alum spacer IN the tank and the Tank mounting plate.

If you need help sourcing this, send me an email. I'll see if I can turn some up.

Good Luck.

Ok, I'm with you now. I didn't know how thick the spacers were. My dad's does a lot of gunsmithing and machining so I'll send him some dimensions and see if I can get him to cut some out of some old barrel blanks.

Thanks CJ!

I had a conflict with my valves as well but I just flipped them 180 degrees in the mounting holes so the hose faces forward, I lengthened the hose length and looped the hoses back around. It was a simple solution and has worked fine for over three years. no machining or cutting required.
Kail

Took your advice, CJ...





Pretty simple and pretty affordable... quick trip to Ace Hardware for some M8 washers and 2 new M8 bolts.

What's the thickness you ended up with? might need to make up a batch....

Just about 15mm. I had to go from a M8 50 (stock bolt) to a M8 70. (Though an M8 60 would be plenty... Ace didn't have any 60s)

Ya I noticed mine are getting tight as well and need to do some shimming to get it off the brace.
Small price to pay to ride the distance.

Sounds good.

You're going to want to get something larger in Diameter though. First fall and it will push the tank over the rubber grommet and be back where you started. I'll see if I can get you some test parts sent out.

+1.

Just go back into Ace and look specifically for "fender Washers".

Funny, I've done this mod too. The largest washers I could find are nearly the same diameter of the grommet.
So I cut a piece out of a flat bar to make up for it and it works. But I have some round and some square.

Sign me up for a proper set Craig.

See what happens when you post, CJ? You end up with even MORE work

(Hope you know how much we all appreciate it, though )

No joke. I sent CJ an email asking about his ver.2 light brackets for the Rigid lights I plan to buy this fall. Poor guy has such a workload that you have to plan a purchase months in advance!

Nah it's good to have products that are of such a quality that people are keeping you busy. Hell if he quit doing shipping I'd ride up there and pick it up myself.

I put a couple of large 2" OD 1.0625" ID 0.11" thick 18-8 made in the USA stainless washers between the lower mount rubber bushing and the Safari tanks with a couple of smaller washers to provide some extra clearance. I may put a piece of thin rubber
to cushion the washer against the tank

I'v just bought used crf450x with safari tanks,21front with saddle tank rear..But fill up and is start to leak from rear tank, then there was continuous fuel out from carburator black small hose,breather I think!..what a bad sell,it was my first attempt,wake up early morning..

I found an aluminum spacer that's about 14mm and spaced mine out because I didn't like the lack of space.