Interest in widened zl9 tank?

[lowlife]

I have a friend who builds rat bikes and also does stockcar bodies and the such. We were looking at maybe widening some 900 tanks out for increased fuel when he has some down time. First what kind of interest is there in this and second how much would you pay for a primed or "as is" tank. Please keep in mind Randy needs to make some profit from this as a business that doesn't make a profit doesn't stay in business long. I may make them to help hold the cost down. TIA

[Jarney]

I may have an interest in one depending on how the final product looks - as in how much wider/how much extra capacity/change of shape and size of tank/etc/etc/etc. Later.

[paulfun]

I would be interested depending on how its done? and cost?

[MachIV]

Dibs!!!!

I get 55 miles before reserve if I take it easy.
Too bad a wider tank will make my motor look smaller.

[WillyD]

I would definitely be interested...again it would depend on how it looks and how much more fuel cpacity it gets as to the price...

Jay, if you want this tank I just got as one to mess with, let me know. U can have it...I am going to keep the fuel fill cap from it though. It is black and my current one is chrome...I am gonna get the bike repainted back to just a basic black...

One thought I had on a mod is how does a tank on most motorcycles vent? Through the cap somehow? I wondered how it would be to fab the 900 tank to make it just a thread in type of cap and eliminate the flip up fill and the venting system that is in place...Giving the top a cleaner look and a lower profile

Willy

[MachIV]

I've got a few ZRX caps,you'd need to cut the section out of a junk tank
and weld it in.

[LUMI]

this is the best looking way in my opinion:headbang:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p299/LUM-1/dd_1_b.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p299/LUM-1/26_1_b.jpg

[lowlife]

Not sure how we are going to attempt it yet. i like the looks Lumi however I would like to keep more taper in it. We will sacrifice a tank in a while, be patient, I will not have forgotten, might even be winter. There was a thread here somewhere from someone who did it and I liked the looks of it. Randy is a first class fabricator. Zeke a first class certified welder and I am a true blue BS'er so we make a good team. I just wanted to see if there was enough interest. Willy bring it to M/O. I have one from MOAB through Wuputt but I am actually thinking it is a better tank than is on my black ZL. A major problem would be trying to match the ZL Red!!!!

[lowlife]

Dibs!!!!

I get 55 miles before reserve if I take it easy.
Too bad a wider tank will make my motor look smaller.


Don't sweat it Bill after the said that about your pants...you eventually got over it:rotf::rotf::rotf:

[WillyD]

Will do...

[zrexxx]

I put the zl-1000 tank on my 900, cut the seat back a bit, I think it looks cool on the bike. A whole different lok but still the same zl.

[WillyD]

I like that idea...That is what I was going for when I bought the tank I just bought, only when I got it, it was a 900 tank...

Has anyone thought of taking another tank and maybe just modding the mounting tabs to make it fit a ZL?? I actually saw this tank

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-NOMAD-1600-FUEL-TANK_W0QQitemZ190300097902QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor cycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item190300097902&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A131 8

And I really like the look and shape of that tank, but have no idea how it would fit..but it seems that modding the mounting tabs would be far easier than cutting a tank and welding in pieces to make it larger...

Willy

[rkerg]

[quote=WillyD;102737]I like that idea...That is what I was going for when I bought the tank I just bought, only when I got it, it was a 900 tank...

Has anyone thought of taking another tank and maybe just modding the mounting tabs to make it fit a ZL?? I actually saw this tank

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-NOMAD-1600-FUEL-TANK_W0QQitemZ190300097902QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor cycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item190300097902&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A131 8

And I really like the look and shape of that tank, but have no idea how it would fit..but it seems that modding the mounting tabs would be far easier than cutting a tank and welding in pieces to make it larger...

I have seen a few guys do that. There used to be a guy on this forum who used a tank from a Buell...it was...interesting, I saw another guy who used one from a Honda Shadow, so there are lots of possibilities. Since you have a spare 900 tank, you could take it with you to a motorcycle salvage yard and compare it to the tanks there to see what might work.

[kawboy]

Has anyone thought of taking another tank and maybe just modding the mounting tabs to make it fit a ZL?? I actually saw this tank

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-NOMAD-1600-FUEL-TANK_W0QQitemZ190300097902QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor cycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item190300097902&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A131 8

And I really like the look and shape of that tank, but have no idea how it would fit
Willy

Willy - I bought a Nomad tank some time ago with that same idea. The Nomad tank is GIANT. Way too long. And wide. Someone on here had fitted an older Shadow tank that looked pretty good.

[WillyD]

Yeah...real hard to tell without actually having the tank and the bike in the same place at the same time....

I may just keep lookin for a 1000 tank..

Willy

[LUMI]

now that i have been looking closer i think that on that green bike it can be a shortened ZL 1000 tank on it :crybaby2:

[Markzl1100]

Hi Lowlife,
here's a link to my website showing how my tank was modified.
Hope the information helps.
http://markzl.ucoz.com/index/0-6
cheers

Markzl1100

[lowlife]

Thats what was looking for . I knew someone knew thanks jay

[markus56]

Hi Lowlife,
here's a link to my website showing how my tank was modified.
Hope the information helps.
http://markzl.ucoz.com/index/0-6
cheers

Markzl1100


Very, Very Nice Job on Your Bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zlMark]

Hi Lowlife,
here's a link to my website showing how my tank was modified.
Hope the information helps.
http://markzl.ucoz.com/index/0-6
cheers

Markzl1100Nice job on the tank Mark. How much does it hold??

[Markzl1100]

16 liters, in european money :)


cheers

Mark

[WillyD]

Now that I looked at Mark's tank again and went out here and looked at this tank I just got...I kinda see what they did...My initial thought on widening the tank was way more complicated...it looks like what they did was just cut the side caps off and add to it...I was thinking of truly cutting into thirds and that would get into all of the contours of the underside and make it VERY difficult to match up steel to the cut parts..I guess if you added a couple inches to each side, you could take some sheet metal that is the same thickness and just work it around the open part and work it and bend it to the shape of the tank and weld it in...Of course you need to follow the taper from the center to the edges to make it look right...Then you gotta have someone weld it up good and tight before doing the bodywork to smooth it all back out again....

Interesting...

Mark do you know about how much more capacity you gained?

Willy

[WillyD]

16 liters is about 4.2 gallons...So that is a pretty good jump

Willy

[zl900_moab]

That was my plan....Cut off the sides and add in (2 inches???) material...Keep the stock shape without having to play with the underside mess...I dunno...I love the stock ZL tank, but you combine that motor with a stage 3 and exhaust and she gets awful thirsty!
moab...

[WillyD]

I was really really motivated to do it before I had my ZL1...If I ride the bike to work (ZL9) I am about 12-15 mi each way...So If I ride to work one day round trip, I am about 30 miles if I don't drive it anywhere else...Even if I just drove a short amount other than work, that would mean the next morning on the way to work I was going to reserve and I had better get gas before going home...If my son had a baseball game (lives with the ex and even his home games are about 50 mi round trip) that would mean filling up befroe heading out and hitting reserve before I even got back home...all of these include no extra riding....

With the ZL1, I get 4.9 gal gas and I am around 28-30 mpg....So with 4 gallons of gas I can go over 100 miles on a tank...It makes a difference of not having to stop so darn much....With Mark's mod you get up to about 4 gallons and at 25 mpg you should have a range of just about 100 miles..

Willy

[WillyD]

machiv....

Do the ZRX fuel caps you have vent through the cap? Just curious as to how the tank vents on a set-up like that...

Willy

[MachIV]

Yep,cap vented.
I've seen a Vulcan 750 tank mounted on one somewhere.

[lowlife]

Taiking to Andrew and he jogged my memory. Whern I was looking at Randy's bike he had an auxillary fuel tank mounted down low and had a electric pump connected to his regular tank. This migh tnot be so hard on a pod bike but might require more thought on a stock 900.

I lkke the looks of the 900. Part of the reason I like the looks of the 900 is because of the tank. I don't want any other tank on there. If I did I would have just bought the other bike. I want to keep that stock look about it. Yes I bought the 900 for its looks not for its performance and certainly not its handling. I bought the Zrex for those other 2 items Certainly not its looks...though I am attempting a styling change of the Zrex... if it turns out it will look great... if not it will be a very expensive oops!?!?!?!

[Jarney]

Here are some different and modded tanks, some good some bad - just my opinion.
Don't care for the blue one - too plain and wide looking, don't care for the flush cap idea.

The second one looks good I think - If I was going to get a different tank to make fit - this is the way I would go - zx or zrx tank?

The third one is modded as you guys are discussing but just looks too wide to me, but keeps the side view shape.

And this last one looks alot like Markzl1100's but with a flush tank cap.

I like the looks of Markzl1100's the best - with the regular tank cap.

Later.

[WillyD]

I think I am just gonna stick to the stock tank on the 900....

I am gonna get my bike repainted too...I got a set of the decals from prfixer and I am gonna go back to just a basic black. The stock mufflers I got from that guy in Iowa, I will just have to see if they clean up good enough for me...The one has road rash on the end and the other one has a dent about the same place...I would rather them be nice and clean and straight, but we will see...

Willy

[SnakeDoctor]

What tank is that in the second pic? I think it gives the ZL a little later version look to the bike and looks like it would have a lot more capacity to it as well.

[gds]

I like Markzl1100's.

[lowlife]

willy i got 2 extra muffs, not sure of the cond. send me a pic of yours and i can compare

[WillyD]

I will try to get some pics....Let me get the other muffler cleaned up real good first...

The first one I worked on, here is what I did..

SOS pad first, removing alot of the surface rust...Then I took 800 grit wet sand paper and sanded, then 1200, then 1500, then 2000...after that I took some stuff and a wool pad and a drill and buffed it out. Some of the parts of the muffler look perfect, some parts have discoloration and there is that little bit of road rash....It turned out pretty well.

I will try to get some pics

Willy

[furchin]

I was really really motivated to do it before I had my ZL1...If I ride the bike to work (ZL9) I am about 12-15 mi each way...So If I ride to work one day round trip, I am about 30 miles if I don't drive it anywhere else...Even if I just drove a short amount other than work, that would mean the next morning on the way to work I was going to reserve and I had better get gas before going home...If my son had a baseball game (lives with the ex and even his home games are about 50 mi round trip) that would mean filling up befroe heading out and hitting reserve before I even got back home...all of these include no extra riding....

With the ZL1, I get 4.9 gal gas and I am around 28-30 mpg....So with 4 gallons of gas I can go over 100 miles on a tank...It makes a difference of not having to stop so darn much....With Mark's mod you get up to about 4 gallons and at 25 mpg you should have a range of just about 100 miles..

Willy
Willie, is your right hand that heavily into speed. Your gas mileage is terrible on the 1000. I can get 35 plus with no problem. If I'm on a trip or on the interstate I have gotten 40/41 mpgs. Need to back off or have the carbs checked my man.

[WillyD]

furchin...

I am really chomping at the bit to ride the ZL1 again...I only rode it a few times before I put it away for the winter (I bought it at around the 1st of November)...

I really didn't ride it that hard, but I did notice that just before I would go to reserve (at least I think it was reserve...it would chug and I would reach down to flip the petcock to res) I would get a wiff of raw gas and then once on reserve it would run terrible untill I got gas in it again and went back to "ON"....I wanna get a pingel for it too...

Right now it is still in my buddy's garage...all safe and warm....I got the 900 out of storage and rode it a couple times, but it has been cold and rainy and just crappy outside...The 900 is on my back porch under the bike cover...

Willy

[furchin]

Willie, I have had that happen too. I think the problem is a dirty screen in the petcock that won't allow gas to flow in the reserve position. Those petcocks should be activated and ran in all positions every so often to keep things cleaned out.

[kawboy]

Willie, is your right hand that heavily into speed. Your gas mileage is terrible on the 1000. I can get 35 plus with no problem. If I'm on a trip or on the interstate I have gotten 40/41 mpgs. Need to back off or have the carbs checked my man.

Me, too.

[markus56]

Willie, is your right hand that heavily into speed. Your gas mileage is terrible on the 1000. I can get 35 plus with no problem. If I'm on a trip or on the interstate I have gotten 40/41 mpgs. Need to back off or have the carbs checked my man.

I'm getting 36mpg in town with the connie 1000 motor, ZL1000 carbs & ZL1k CDI installed recently.

[Bacchus]

zl1k --- 32-35mpg in town, 40mpg highway. calculated by veypor guage, confirmed by checking at time of fill up. the veypor is generally as acurate as .01 gallons off from actual fuel used. essentially, the veypor guage is spot on accurate.

I love that **** thing, if nothing else its fuel guage function is awesome. I used to worry about fueling up, now I know exactly how much fuel I have and how far I can get with the fuel that remains. I can go for long trips confidently knowing that I've got a 180-190+ mile range. Factory fuel guage is telling me to get fuel when I've got almost half my fuel left!

[WillyD]

here is how I check my mileage...On bikes, cars, etc

I fill up the tank. On the bike I can see the fuel level and I fill to the same spot every time...I re-set my trip odometer to zero...Then I drive untill I fill up again...On the 9, I usually know that once I hit around 42-45 miles it will happen very soon...Once it starts to chug and miss I know it is running out of gas...I reach down and flip to reserve and it picks back up. I then go to a gas station fairly soon (usually within 5 miles)...I fill the tank back up to where I fill...I look at the amount on the gas pump and it is usually about 2.0 gallons to maybe 2.1 gallons...if trip odometer reads 50 miles, then I know that it took 2 gallons of gas to drive 50 miles and that equals 25 miles per gallon...I had other vehicles beside me (people I know) tell me how fast they were going and I look down..I am at the same speed...I have also looked at odometer at a mile marker on the interstate and then when I reach the next one the odometer added 1 mile, so I am pretty sure I am accurate by the trip odometer..

Willy

[paulfun]

Willy you need to look at your cams/timing advancer to see if they are stock. I would also guess that the carbs are still not jetted properly as I can pull 41MPG with factory carbs/stage 3 carbs/and 34mm ninja carbs with stage 3 jet kits as long as I stay easy on the throttle and cruise between 65 to 70 on the interstate.

[rkerg]

I get around 40 mpg on my bike too, but with the size of the tank on a 900 that still is not very much range. I have thought about the tank modification thing and even bought an extra tank from prfixer with that in mind, but I like the way the bike looks with the original tank, so I will probably leave it that way. I have thought about rigging up another small tank under the seat, but have not explored that possibility because there just is not much room and I don't know where I could find a tank with the right shape to fit and one that would hold enough gas to make the project worthwhile. I guess that the 900 is a drag bike that can be a streetfighter but not a sport tourer. LOL.

[WillyD]

hhhmmmmm....Interesting....

Paul...

Everything in the carbs are stock (pilots, needles, diaphrams)...I can't remember exactly now, but I am somewhere around 2.25-2.5 turns out on the mixture screws. I THINK I have 127.5 mains with .019 shims that you sent me...

Easy on the throttle, let me see.....Pull choke on, hit starter, engine fires up...Immediately, I am easing off the choke untill it idles good on its own (under 1 minute usually) and then choke is fully off (yes the enrichment slide is moving fully to off).....I pull away and go down the street. It is about 2 miles from my house to where I get on the highway...Throttle probably never passes 1/4....for sure not EVEN to 1/2...rpms never peak at 6,000....I get on the highway and easy throttle (still maybe 1/2 max)...I shift around 6,000 untill I hit 4th. At that point I click it up into 6th gear and ease the throttle up untill I am about 60 mph...There might be 1 stop light I hit on the highway untill I have driven about 14 miles, then I might hit one or two between there and arriving at my shop. Each time I stop I follow the throttle/rpms that I mentioned....I do this with the intent of seeing what kind of mpg I can achieve...I might get 48 miles on the trip odometer and I have to go to reserve...Every single time I fill up right after hitting reserve, it takes 2 gallons to refill tank....That is 24 mpg.

This is the 2nd set of carbs I have had on the bike...The first (original to when I bought it) set was the set that Rick did for me and that we pulled apart 2 times last year at mid-Ohio...These carbs are identical...I pulled them apart and checked everything in them and they are all completely stock with the exception now of shims and the smaller mains...I am running factory air box and F1 Cobra slip-ons...My emission stuff is gone from the motor and all blocked off..

As far as the advancer, I am not sure...Someone told me that I must have one because even at 40 degrees, I can hit choke, start it, and I will have immediate crisp throttle response...My 1K has sluggish throttle when cold for a minute or so....

I adjusted the valves last summer, on it....

I dunno....I am lost....to know that I am getting 24-25 mpg and other guys are getting 40, makes me scratch my head and wonder what is wrong??

Now when I want to play around and really drive it hard I might drop 1 or 2 mpg on mileage...You said something about these bikes having a rev limiter, but I tell you what...I have had a couple occasions where I was ripping on it and looked down to see the tach at 12,000 and it was still pulling hard (by mistake, I don't rev to 12k on purpose)

Willy

[ian]

Here are some different and modded tanks, some good some bad - just my opinion.
Don't care for the blue one - too plain and wide looking, don't care for the flush cap idea.

The second one looks good I think - If I was going to get a different tank to make fit - this is the way I would go - zx or zrx tank?

The third one is modded as you guys are discussing but just looks too wide to me, but keeps the side view shape.

And this last one looks alot like Markzl1100's but with a flush tank cap.

I like the looks of Markzl1100's the best - with the regular tank cap.

Later.

I'm in love with the zl in the 2nd pic. Anyone have info on it? Mod list or build or anything?

[mreinh3233]

I would be interested in a wider tank, depending on particulars.

Mike

[toolmaker129]

I just got my bike out of the shop. They had to adjust two valves, adjust the carbs, and replaced the automatic cam chain tensioner with a manual tensioner, I had all that work done to keep the ZL in top condition. I also have a timing advancer in it and I am getting 40-45 miles a gallon. The following may help with mileage, I also use Engine Ice for my coolant, and it definetly runs cooler, and I run AMS OIL in the engine which really helped my clutch. I have been using AMS OIL and Engine Ice for two years now and would not switch to anything else, those products work.

[Blagadán]

Back on topic.... Has anyone access to fuel tank catalog? I recall seeing an episode of UK biker buildoff, and one of the guys was flicking through a catalog which seemed to have a lot of different types of teardrop tanks, bare metal ready for paint.
I still havent seen a zl900 tank mod that I could honestly say looks proportional. A lot of them just look plain weird.

I think its a great idea for someone to bring a 900 tank to a breakers yard and offer up the tank to others to see which tank would look right.
Unfortunately, we dont have such a paradise over here so I cant do it.

Until I find a perfect fit tank, I think I'd prefer to modify something like a NOZ bottle to hold fuel and strap it on for long rides.. Fit a 12v fuel pump for fuel transfer...

[toolmaker129]

J&P cycles has a large selection of tanks in their Harley cataog, even a design by the late Indian Larry.