» Sponsors
BikeBanditMotorcycle.comTrident-Exhausts.com

» Sponsors

Hinckley Classic Triples 885cc Classic Styled T3's: Legend, Thunderbird, Thunderbird Sport & Adventurer.

Please Visit our Site Sponsors Page

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-13-2007   #1 (permalink)
New Member
Production 125
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 9
Comments for tank repair

You know how the story goes. It starts on a beautiful day with nothing much to do, perfect for a long ride. Wanting to hit the roads as soon as possible I begin hustling through a quick repair (the plastic elbow for the coolant overflow tube broke). As lady luck would have it this $1 part was in stock at my local dealer the day before, much to the surprise of both the clerk and I. Anyway, in my rush to get this simple 5 minute repair done, the tank happened to slip and go crashing to the concrete below. It’s been a few days now so I’ve moved on to the “acceptance” stage of the grieving process, though I still struggle at times to forgive myself fully for what has occurred. My only solace is that all the damage is cosmetic so at least I can still ride.

So, all in all, the fuel tank damage assessment is as follows. There’s a nice avocado sized dent on the right hand side above the badge complete with scrapes. There are some scrapes on the top of the tank. Along the right top edge above the knee pad there’s some scrapes and small dents. And to top it all off it hit and scraped the left side cover on the way down. Here are some pics of the damage if anyone would like a closer look.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mattandkasia/TriumphDamage

So now what? I’m looking for any and all advice regarding how to best fix this. Do I sand it down myself and bondo it up? Do I bring to an auto body shop and let them deal with it all. I’ve done some searches on the board trying to figure out how to acquire the proper paint thought I haven’t yet explored it fully. Obviously I’m looking for the route of least money spent so any feedback would be appreciated.
magistermatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Advertisement
 

Old 08-13-2007   #2 (permalink)
Senior Member
Formula Extreme
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Brisbane Australia
Posts: 441
Mate I would take it to a proper motorcycle repairer. If you do it yourself and it is less than perfect I dont think you'll ever forget it. Better to get it done properly and say oh thats a nice job.
__________________
I believe there is no such thing as accidents. When I ride I must leave enough room for others stupid mistakes, added to that is enough room to make my own.
WoodsieIII is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2007   #3 (permalink)
Senior Member
250 Grand Prix
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Leeds, England
Posts: 104
Know how you feel magistermatt,

Very similar thing happened to me last week, resulting in a similar dent on the left hand side of the tank (must remember to place it somewhere safe next time I service it). Decided against doing it myself and currently looking for someone in the Leeds/Bradford area to do a repair/paint job as I don't have the time or skill to do a proper job
stevesrs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-13-2007   #4 (permalink)
Senior Member
World SuperBike
Favorite Bike: Mutato -- 2K Adventurer
 
jimmyj900's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Leander, Texas, USA
Posts: 2,462
Having gone the Bondo route on a few tanks over the years, I highly recommend taking it to a professional.

Jim
__________________
Note: This post may have been altered without the knowledge or consent of the author.
jimmyj900 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2007   #5 (permalink)
Senior Member
World SuperBike
Favorite Bike: 98 Thunderbird
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Surrey, UK
Posts: 2,014
Other Motorcycle: 91 Zephyr 750
A good body shop might be able to pop that dent out without filler.

Filling and sanding on a complex curved surface like a tank is a very hard thing to get right, it takes a lot of practise.
__________________
"You can't fly with the eagles if you keep scratching with the turkeys."
Slinky is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2007   #6 (permalink)
Senior Member
Formula Extreme
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: SoCal
Posts: 487
I have a good body shop close to home with which I've had good experiences with previous bikes. Find someone in this industry who you trust and fork out the few hundred dollars for a result you'll be pleased with.
stmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Tank dent repair... ShikePoke Club Cafe 0 05-29-2007 12:39 PM
Tank Dent Repair (myth?) Digby Twins Technical Talk 13 11-25-2006 11:25 AM
gas tank repair -- seem fair? johnnypence Classic, Vintage & Veteran 17 08-14-2006 06:32 AM
fuel tank leaks & repair johnnypence Classic, Vintage & Veteran 12 06-20-2006 04:37 AM
DIY dented tank repair RaceDweeb Twins Talk 7 10-06-2005 09:45 AM


Motorcycle News, Videos and Reviews
Harley Davidson Suzuki GSXR Honda 600RR Yamaha R6
Sportbike Forums GSXR Forum Honda 1000RR Yamaha R1
Sportbikes Forum Ducati Forum Kawasaki ZX R6 Forum
Motorcycle Forum Ducati Monster Kawasaki Forum R1 MessageNet

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.1.0