Back in Black

[EvilClown]

[Geek]

It might be a couple of days before I get to the fuel tanks again

[unaweep]

Originally Posted by xianx

just when i think im over my "wanting an Adventure" phase i see your bike and i've got to have one again.
i need a 12 step program or something.
you've got a beautiful ride brother

Fuck that. 12 step programs are for quitters!

[Yellow Pig]

Out of curiosity why did you decide to go w/ the Safari tank vs. the rear mounted Adventure tank?

[EvilClown]

Originally Posted by geek

...i looked at the various fuel options and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, my adventure is my adventure touring bike and i want the ability to go as far as possible between fill ups when i need. An option quite a few of my buddies have gone with are the adv tanks that neduro has designed that replace one of the exhausts. as it is, i have some other plans for the back of this bike that the advtank will not be compatible with (though i'll probably use ned's system when i add an se to the stable).

...

[FINNDIAN]

@ yellow Pig

Geek said this at the beginning of this thread .

Originally Posted by Geek

I looked at the various fuel options and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, my Adventure is my Adventure Touring bike and I want the ability to go as far as possible between fill ups when I need. An option quite a few of my buddies have gone with are the ADV tanks that Neduro has designed that replace one of the exhausts. As it is, I have some other plans for the back of this bike that the AdvTank will not be compatible with (though I'll probably use Ned's system when I add an SE to the stable).

I'm actually going with both. You can never have too much fuel when riding in the middle of nowhere.

[Geek]

See? As per post # one, Dan's the reason why I'll add random photos to this thread





I'm guessing that loaded Safari tanks will be a workout in sand... good thing I already have upgraded my fork springs.

[Geek]

Transferring Hardware

Murphy's Law.. My stock tanks were nearly full. I don't have nearly the patience to drain them through the petcocks so instead I made a mess.



The instructions are rather sparse.. a single piece of paper - but I don't think you need anything more; it is pretty obvious what you do.

I like sentence one... something along the lines of "if you can't figure this out, get a mechanic's help"

Two nuggets of information on the sheet:

1) rinse the tanks out with a small amount of gas and discard to get rid of shavings.
2) use an anti-seize compound, NOT a thread-locker, on all bolts going into brass.

So first I rinsed out the tank and made another mess



I decided to to the left tank first as it's the "more complicated" one (although I dunno if you can really call any of this complicated).

Here's the stuff you need to transfer over:
The fuel level sensor
The petcock
The crossover petcock
..and the 3 sets of rubber mounts.

First I removed the fuel level sensor. If you ever wondered what it looks like on the inside.. now you know



Next came the crossover tube. For some reason they included different bolts for mounting it (and for the petcock too). I dunno why but just incase there was a real reason I used their hardware



If you ever wondered what the petcock looks like on the inside.. now you know


I then mounted it on the block-off plate. If I owned a 990 instead of a 950, I would insert my fuel pump into the hole that this block-off plate blocks.
As it is I mounted the petcock to the bottom of it with the supplied hardware.
In the background you can see the rubber gasket the plate uses to seal against the tank.


...transfer all the rubber mounts over:


et Voila...



I did one more swish with fuel, dumped it out adding to my mess, and test hung the tank on the bike



Easy peasy. Maybe 15 minutes work and that included playing with my camera.

...and at this point I came inside because the gas fumes are making me sick :puke

I'll go do the other tank after the vapors expire a bit.

[boat.man]

Geek,
are the tanks black plastic or are they painted? how would you rate the appearance of them compared to the OEM tanks? is that an "adventure" decal on the side or what?

Thanks!!

[Geek]

They are black molded plastic (not painted).

You definitely don't by them for finish. They are not glossy at all and the surface is by no means perfect. You can see molding pocks & stuff on them (little sand grain sized things here and there). If you are concerned about "finish" you will not like them. I'm trying to think of an equivalent plastic finish in every day life.. but all that comes to mind is "a thick version of the plastic used in dirtbike gas tanks".

That and....
The white ones turn yellow.
The orange ones look like a giant pumpkin.
The black ones explode in the sun.

I chose the lesser of the 3 evils. Why did I spend $1500 on these again? (j/k)

All that said, I really like the finish on the tanks. It gives the bike a "tougher offroad" appearance so that the harley guys don't think you are on a sportbike with knobblies

I dunno how the "adventure" labeling is done. I was looking at it and I can't tell. I dunno if its a "surface mar" in the molding or if it is sprayed on or what
I like it a lot though.. I'm digging the subtleness of the black on black

[Geek]

Does anybody know if it matters which way up this thing faces? Now that I think of it.. i have no idea which way up I put it...

[bikyto]

Originally Posted by Geek

Does anybody know if it matters which way up this thing faces? Now that I think of it.. i have no idea which way up I put it...

Ooopsie!
Well you don't need it anymore

I think it's down... If I remember correctly... I think

Will you be adapting crash bars on these monsters?
And yes I want them too

[Geek]

p.s. I do have a "non-glossy" set of rear fairings on the way too... they'll help with the blackout.
That way I can squirrel away my entire set of stock black body work.

I also gotta figure out how to get the damn yellow sticker off my skid plate

[Geek]

Originally Posted by bikyto

Ooopsie!
Well you don't need it anymore

Yeah.. I'll just have to remember to fill up on the first Tuesday of every month

[FINNDIAN]

Originally Posted by Geek

p.s. I do have a "non-glossy" set of rear fairings on the way too... they'll help with the blackout.
That way I can squirrel away my entire set of stock black body work.

Did you get a set of used side panels? I was planing to paint a used set with a flat or semigloss.