buildin' me a tracker

[1974jh5]

I live less than 20 miles from where the San Jose Mile used to be. The old Baylands Raceway/Fremont Dragstrip is less than 3 miles from my house. Drag racing, Speedway, Motocross, Sprint Cars, you name it and I was there, starting in the early '60's.
At my first San Jose Mile I was standing at the fence between turns 1 and 2, it was first practice. Bubba Shobert came flying down the front straight (top speed then was about 125 mph in the straights, 90 or so in the turns). He came into 1 a little hot, pushed to the outside and clipped most of the hay bales on the outside of the turn next to the fence. Never missed a beat. Never lifted. Left turn 2 on the back wheel and shot down the back shute. I'll never forget it. Wanted a flat tracker ever since.
this pretty much explains it..................And the fact that the XS650 was and STILL is being raced was not a small part of it.

1978 San Jose Mile.... 90MPH

-=PO

Man oh man, I wish flattrack and/or TT had been more common on this side of the Great Satan. Don't get me wrong, I loved MX etc but just never had the chance to do any FT, always wanted to.

 

[Leslie]

I got the Brass Head bolt washes from Heiden Tuning in holland they ship world wide.

They cost 1 euro each , don't know what that is in dollars

I got the 4 M5/4 Allen cap bolts from a local Engineering supplier.Cheap as chips.

Leslie

 

[pregrid]

^^Mike's XS has them both, screws in either aluminum or stainless.

 

[pregrid]

Same story here Pregrid. I'm a bit younger than you so my heroes were Chris Carr and Jay Springsteen in the mid 90s. Tim Green's son was one of my childhood friends so I got to spend time in the pits at various World of Outlaws races as well. Grew up in Union City but now over on the Peninsula near SFO. Sacramento Mile is July 28th and Santa Rosa is Sept 30. You thinkin' of going to either?

Not sure, missed them last year (both races fall on wedding aniversary and wife's b/day)

 

[plowboy1]

Sounds like the perfect anniv. and birthday presents!

 

[pregrid]

Sounds like the perfect anniv. and birthday presents!

For me, yup, for her, not so much!

 

[SWLXS650]

Pre, this is the tank Leslie is looking for. This one is aluminum, they also were made in steel. They were on Yammie MX bikes in the mid to ? 70's. I've had this since Dec and have still not decided if I will use it or not. I really like the Champion style tank but am very fearfull of ethanol problems with fiberglass.

I'm using the same type tank as this on my XS2. Check out the enduro bikes from this era- Mines off a 1975 DT400. Same shape and style as the aluminum. Be forwarned though- It doesn't just slip on. Have to notch inside of tank to get it low enough to fit over the head mounts.

 

[Leslie]

SWL,
Nice tank, is it steel?

Leslie

 

[SWLXS650]

SWL,
Nice tank, is it steel?

Leslie

Yep- Mine looks just like the white aluminum in steel. Petcock location is a bit different. Part of the notching of the tank to fit the frame backbone/head-engine mounts took out the stock petcock location. I am adding (2) 1/4" NPT fittings farther back for the petcocks.

 

[racerdave]

Leslie, the white tank above is mine.

 

[1974jh5]

I got one of those DT tanks off of fleabay as well, just haven't had time to fiddle with it yet. Mine has a two bolt petcock and it looks to be further back than the one on the white tank. What has to be notched to get it to work and does anyone have pics of that modification?

EDIT: Pics of my tank, if it helps. I think this was off an enduro bike, not a MXer but the shape etc is right. It has a 'bayonet' type cap instead of a screw on.

Preliminary very rough measurements indicate the petcock will have to be moved, or I may need to fabricate a plate to run a hose to an inline petcock.

 

[Leslie]

Leslie, the white tank above is mine.

Racer that should say "OURS"

Leslie

 

[SWLXS650]

I got one of those DT tanks off of fleabay as well, just haven't had time to fiddle with it yet. Mine has a two bolt petcock and it looks to be further back than the one on the white tank. What has to be notched to get it to work and does anyone have pics of that modification?

EDIT: Pics of my tank, if it helps. I think this was off an enduro bike, not a MXer but the shape etc is right. It has a 'bayonet' type cap instead of a screw on.

Preliminary very rough measurements indicate the petcock will have to be moved, or I may need to fabricate a plate to run a hose to an inline petcock.

Same tank I bought- 1975 DT400- Mine has a lot more dents though! I cut out 8" slots on both insides of the tank from the petcock holes forward- 1.25" wide x 1.25" deep. Formed an 20 ga. angle to weld inside. This "pocket" allows clearance for the top engine mounts.

 

[metalcrafter]

I think its easier to re-make the top motor mount to something like this than to section the tank, but thats just my opinion.

Jimmy

 

[1974jh5]

metalcrafter, I was wondering about just that last night. The pic you posted does not show the whole top mount, any chance you could post another taken a little further back?

Thanks!

 

[metalcrafter]

That picture was just a mock up picture I happenned to have on my phone. As soon as I get back home I'll take a couple of better pictures for you.

 

[racerdave]

Metalcrafter I'm interested in seeing those mount pics also.

 

[metalcrafter]

This is the deal: These mounts are nothing more than 2 pieces of 1/8" angle welded together. I drove myself nuts trying to fit a steel mx400 tank using the stock top motor mount. I even spread the tunnel with a small screw jack and there is simply not enough room in the tunnel to clear the stock top engine mount. Period. So the choice is to either 'pocket' the tank on the sides to clear the stock mount or to narrow the mount to clear the tunnel. After I fabricated these mounts there is a bunch of clearance and the stock c cups fit the mx tank perfectly so it slides right into them. The only other fabrication necessary is to shift the single mount at the seat side of the tank. I made an adapter (not shown) to shift the tank mount forward at this location. I'm still studying the idea of using a remote petcock as I'm pretty sure the mx petcock location will make things too tight but that will come when I have a little more time.

Hope this helps.

Jimmy

 

[racerdave]

Metal, interested in making another set of top mount's?

 

[1974jh5]

I was thinking something like that might work when I was looking at all my stuff and that's something I can fab up pretty quick. Now it's time to clean out and paint the tank and reposition the petcock. Thanks for posting the pics!