For Sale - 2 nice Custom Paint gas tanks

DogBunny

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Price is $199 each, including U.S. shipping.
These are Brand-New, never used tanks. Both were bought on eBay and painted within the last 4 weeks. Both are steel, 2.4 gallon, made in Asia. In the next two posts I'll go into the details of each tank. In this post, I'll cover the similarities that apply to both tanks.

The painter is self-taught, and learning. Neither tank is perfect, but both are pretty cool. I'll cover the imperfections in the next two posts. I would not say that they are show-quality enough for a really prestigious show, but they are certainly good enough for a small or local show. They are nice enough to base a build on. They'd be great for a daily rider or a workhorse -- at this price, you can turn heads without worrying too much about them getting nicked up. They would also be great as garage art, hung on a wall, or on a shelf.

ALL of the paint has metal flake in it. Both large and fine flakes were used. The clear coat is Spray Max 2K High Gloss (two component).

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Both come with a nice, new cap and petcock. The paint layer was so built up on these tanks, that I had to modify the caps. In so doing, I had to disable the lock feature. The keys still work, and will turn the lock tumbler, but turning the tumbler doesn't do anything. Otherwise, the caps work and seal the tanks just fine.

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I'm not sure if there is enough clearance for the petcock that comes with these tanks if you were to use them on a stock XS650. You may need to use an elbow like the one above, and then use an in-line shut-off valve, or you may have to add a bung in a different position
 
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First tank. It looks like this tank will fit up to a stock XS6550 pretty well, if that’s your intention. The front tank mounting “cups” on either the tank or the stock frame will have to be shaved down a bit. They are hanging the front of the tank up, which is why the front looks so raised up in this pic. Otherwise, the tank tunnel is wide enough. When dropped, the tank will better hide the frame neck. The length looks pretty good for a stock frame and seat.

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This is the worst flaw, a scrape that resulted from a handling mishap. I covered it up with Testors model paint. If you think you can do a better job, I think the Testor’s can be pretty easily removed with alcohol or paint thinner without harming anything else. The truth is, this painted-over scrape is not very noticeable. It blends in pretty well with the surrounding purple and black mottled background. Look for it in the other pictures – it’s fairly discreet.

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This also occurred during the handling mishap. The rear corner got bent in a little. I straightened it, but the paint layer is slightly wrinkled. It’s hardly noticeable – you have to look really closely to see it.
That’s it for surface flaws. The only other flaw is in the paint – it’s the fish scales – look at the pics, and you will see that the painter used a little two much black on the scales in a couple of places.
Otherwise, a pretty much perfect tank.

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The tank has a very similar look, capacity, and dimensions to Trackmaster gas tanks.
 
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Second tank. This tank is very similar in height, width, length, and capacity to typical aftermarket peanut tanks. So, it would probably be good on a hardtail or other custom build. It is sort of a cross between a toaster and a teardrop shape.
It would also be great for a smaller bike.

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There is a pretty cool cloud effect in this red border, which I think is the painter’s own innovation. The silver border below it is actual real silver leaf – applied in the centuries-old traditional manner with glue sizing. He then added a repeating swirl effect to the silver leaf. The thin white border above and below the silver leaf is hand pin-striping. The painter did not do a perfect job on the pin stripes – they are uneven – however, there is so much else going on with this tank, that the uneven pin stripes are not real noticeable.

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The major problem I see with this tank is that the lace effect border in the red side panels is weak, particularly on this side.

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The red color in the side panels is a little uneven, and there are a few fish-eyes in the paint. The picture makes it looks worse than it is in real life. It’s honestly not that noticeable.

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The only other problem is a little very minor abrasion to the clear-coat layer around the cap hole. This occurred from using the gas cap before I modified it – see post #1 in this thread. The gas cap now works fine. The paint underneath the abrasion areas is fine. You could apply a little nail polish to it if it bothers you, but honestly, this is pretty much obscured when the gas cap is screwed in.

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Otherwise, a pretty much perfect, brand-new, custom-painted tank.

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