The very early ones did not have the pressed recesses in the bottom panels but were totally flat.
T: Fuel Tank Early Series 'B' Fuel Tank
- Thread starter Gene Nehring
- Start date
Gene… Is your tank already painted? If not you might be able to move the angle of the fuel tap bung a few degrees. Threaded rod into the bung for leverage and use some heat? Might be risky depending on the condition of the tank and looking at the tanks here… it might work ok on one, but not the other due to the location of the bung.
Thanks… I‘ve just taken it off and put it back on a couple of times. Some of it is slowly coming back to me. I tried slipping on an Indian tank I bought, because the gap between the front mounts is a good inch wider than it’s supposed to be. The rear won’t sit down because the tabs hit the cylinder studs and the tap bungs need relocating. By the time I repair and fit the thing, I should have the R&R part down pat. I also need to spend some time sorting out the path for the cables, harness etc.
Thanks to all that have replied. It’s becoming clearer that it’s a another area where each machine is an individual and I have one more thing to fettle.
Robert is correct that the very early tanks were flat bottom, much more pronounced down turn shape in the sheet metal at the end where the fuel tap is, no tabs and the fuel tap flanges are at an angle. Pictures attached. Note my tabs had to be welded at a fairly steep angle to miss the back head stud. I remember Robert and I looking at Rod Kenworthy’s bike and seeing the splitter on the left and Robert remarking how good it worked. I know Robert did the same on 1997, so I did that as well and boy it’s a great idea. The throttle is very snappy and the tank with small cut away fits really nicely. I also picked up some metal cable bends at Kempton Park on my recent trip and remade them to the corrrect angles for my use on this bike. Another great idea I’ve seen the Vancouver guys do, makes the cables flow much more nicely.
Ken thanks for the pipe differnces as I had not realised that they were also different at different times of production. As in Craig’s photos it can be seen that the rocker oil pipe has to be adjusted to miss the fuel tap on the early tanks.
Please see in photos small cut away underside as used on most b’s and then the very early tank underside before and after restoration.
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This is the underside of the tank off my November 1947 B Rapide with engine number below 300. I know the tank is the original one as its history is known.
Note the strange metal tag with numbers on it which has been spot welded on. I asked around and the opinion was its an identity tag from when a repair company probably worked on the tank in the past and there was evidence of rework to it. Apparently these repair identity tags were quite common in UK with companies that repaired vehicle radiators and fuel tanks etc.
The rear cross suppot tabs I have since added to hopefully stop any leaks as the tank was leaking at the rear.
I never paid any attention to the fuel tap angle and when I fitted the tank the tap cleared the rocker oil pipe OK and the pipe appears to not be kinked for clearance. In saying that looking at the photo the fuel tap boss in question does appear to be angled with distortion to the area and I don't know if that was done by the factory or by a previous owner.
Note the strange metal tag with numbers on it which has been spot welded on. I asked around and the opinion was its an identity tag from when a repair company probably worked on the tank in the past and there was evidence of rework to it. Apparently these repair identity tags were quite common in UK with companies that repaired vehicle radiators and fuel tanks etc.
The rear cross suppot tabs I have since added to hopefully stop any leaks as the tank was leaking at the rear.
I never paid any attention to the fuel tap angle and when I fitted the tank the tap cleared the rocker oil pipe OK and the pipe appears to not be kinked for clearance. In saying that looking at the photo the fuel tap boss in question does appear to be angled with distortion to the area and I don't know if that was done by the factory or by a previous owner.
G
Graham Smith
Guest
These photographs are of three different tanks that I took a few years ago.
They show the early tank with the small cutaway (some might call this the Series 'B' tank), a larger cutaway (some might call this the Series 'C' tank, and also a Series 'D' tank.
They show the early tank with the small cutaway (some might call this the Series 'B' tank), a larger cutaway (some might call this the Series 'C' tank, and also a Series 'D' tank.
I remember the late great Bob Dunn telling me that based on the large number of bikes he had worked on, he considered that the early bikes had the tanks hand fitted to suit each bike, such were the subtle variations he had encountered. He also told of having two early bikes in the workshop at the same time and he initially tried to fit the tank from one bike to the other and could not understand why it would not install correctly - until he realised his error and offered it to the other bike, on to which it went on first time properly.
I can imagine that situation not initially being a problem to the factory, until production volumes later ramped up.
I can imagine that situation not initially being a problem to the factory, until production volumes later ramped up.
Hi Phil, thanks for the reply and yes I tend to agree as a regular small cut away tank fitted my bike very sweetly, but the early b tank was not so easy.
A friend who has #34 gave me some photos of his tank today. I am posting with his permission the under side so all can see the smiliarities between that tank and mine.
really great information from everyone on this thread.
A friend who has #34 gave me some photos of his tank today. I am posting with his permission the under side so all can see the smiliarities between that tank and mine.
really great information from everyone on this thread.