2 Strokes Down Under

I'll chuck in a coupla hundred!
I reckon its inevitable we're going to need new tanks, they are famously prone.
Its whip-round time.
The plastics are covered (with NOS quality) by 14 cheeks in the UK.

They are selling the mould to stamp a fuel tank I believe.
It doesn't say if they are selling the one pictured, or if they make them to spec though

tanks... Im staying away from this subject again!

I always thought the RD/RZ fraternity would end up going FZR 2KR style of tank setup, best cost option IMO..


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Hey Jon, weren't you.....

Do you seriously think there would be enough people willing to chuck in a couple of hundred each to get a mould made and a production run?

How much $ really would you need?

At $10,000. for a run you would need 50 people @ $200.ea, I imagine with the rest of the process, welding etc. you would need $20,000. or $400. each.

I couldn't get 5 for fairings, but I wanted at least $1200. per head..


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Are you asking me?
I put it up as a joke, but for the record, I think very few people would be willing to front up with some cash.

I know for sure that they wouldnt.. LC/RZ guys just wont do this stuff it seems. sad but true.

Oh yeah I was staying out of it wasnt i LOL!

Yeah Jon, you stay out of it ;-)

Joking aside, it is tricky, unless you're an altruistic Jay Leno type enthusiast. Enough people would need to reliably put a few hundred in, GMU's second estimate per tank would be nearer the mark I expect, the joking couple of hundred I chirped in with is unlikely to be enough! Getting people to actually cough up would be hard, and into a central account or you couldn't manage the logistics and payments. Trust is a must. I trust Jon..... ;-) hee hee hee
If "we" could enlist the UK LC Club and other forums we might stand a chance of getting the numbers.
"We" would need to be damn sure of the perfection of the new tanks or there'd be a lot of disgruntled ingrates to deal with.
Contacts would be necessary (who probably speak business level Mandarin) and contracts would be involved.
I'm in if anyone's up for it, but I would be reluctant to do it myself, I know bugger all about manufacturing in practice.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of us are scratching around for a few bucks, so even a small investment needs careful consideration.

Risk is something that would need to be accepted before funds sent.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/establis ... 66521.html

Imagine exporting new tanks to Japan [emoji1]

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Trying to get a group together to do that would be impossible. Just as a bit of a benchmark 10k would be way under what the die alone would cost being a pretty large item. A die required to make a bracket say 100mm square with a Z shape end product costs around $3500 locally to get made. Then there is the cost of the press to do the job. Then there is the issue of getting the die made correctly in the first place to do the job. Not saying it can't be done but its a job for a single brave soul willing to take the punt.

No way you would get it done out here.

I have contacts that could get it all done in China and I would be surprised if it was 10k, but it's still a pipe dream and can't see it happening. You'd need 3-4 dies just to cater for the popular yams, let alone others. You'd be looking at 10 years to re-coupe costs IMO.

JonW wrote:Fibre would be fine if ethanol didnt eat the resins :/

I guess you could always flow a liner in the alloy tank, that would stop any leaks. My worry would be the shape, but of thats ok then its probably a no brianer if you like the polished look... not for me tho.

It's the resin that matters. The fiberglass itself is entirely inert. What binds it all together is what gets attacked. Vinylester/DCPD resins are VERY resistant to aggressive chemicals and can last indefinitely. Hetron and Derakane resins are especially good these days.
Polyester and to a lesser degree epoxy resins will slowly degrade and eventually fail.. Also, A critical step that I'm guessing the "ultra-light" tank makers skip is to apply several coats of resin without fiber to the interior of the tank to form what they refer to as a barrier layer to keep fuel from entering the matrix along exposed fibers and start the osmosis process.

To make a mould, and a tank from it, would be a fair cost.
really quickly and roughly:
3 piece mould to make a tank in 2 pieces to be joined together.
some type of aftermarket fuel cap assembly
A plate/nut set up for the fuel tap
a jig and plate set up to set the front tank mounts in place
tank liner to further add a barrier to fuel contamination
and here in oz, to sell legally, you'd need the tanks tested and approved for legal road use.
and than, paint...


It certainly isn't impossible, tricky, but quite doable. cost wise inc. paint and quality composite materials I seriously doubt you'd get change out for 1500 bucks per tank. more like 2 grand.

It's something I've been half heartedly thinking about as a one off, as the tank i have is pretty shithouse and needs a fair amount of massaging.

surely someone like this

http://classic-motorcycle-fiberglass.com/index.html

or these guys at phillip island if they are still going

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prixhist ... 5520112996

could do it...

umm, ok, prixhistoric are no longer. shame really, they helped me a couple of yrs ago in the Phillip Island 8hr race when one of my team mates reckoned naked bikes were better and binned the bike in friday practice.