Sizzling gas

I never got around to writing about this, but here it goes.

Over the summer I was riding a 12 mile route; around 5 miles in I noticed something was off. There was a strong wiff of gasoline, even at high speed. No gas was found around the filling cap, fuel valve, or carburetor. "Well, that's odd," I thought. Rode another two miles until I found a cop who was stopping cars in the road (It was a village cop). He asked me if the bike was legal. "Ehh...I don't know." Anyway, we had a conversation about the motor and conversion kits; he thought it was cool. As we were talking, I noticed something dripping at a rapid rate from the bottom of my gas tank. Uh, Oh. I looked down at where it was dripping to. Right onto the cooling fins!
At that point, I just wanted to get out of there. Cop told me to ride safely and we left on a good note.

I made it the rest of the way home only to find a small amount left in the tank. What was happening was gasoline was coming out of the right-rear stud on the tank, moving across the surface of the bike and tank, as well as dripping and sizzling on the cylinder head.

The reason for this happening was an overtightening of the bolts, thus deforming the tank, allowing a crack to form and leak gasoline.

yea sizling gas is cool ive seen it many times working on mc's after long test rides doing jet kits and taking carbs off when motor is still really hot.I dont waste time lol. i've tossed a cig in a tub of gas before and it went out not saying it cant ignite thats for sure

Thats why i moved my tank to the rear rack,just in case it gets a leak.

HT,

Unfortunately this is a rather common occurance.

Here is the, done for good, fix:

From new I strip the paint around the studs and add a fillet of brass where the stud meets the tank using an oxy-acetylene torch and fine tip. Then repaint.

Try it...it works! Prep the tank, and take it to a local welding shop. ask them to lightly braze the studs. Brass is extremely resillient...which makes a good choice where vibration is concerned. It is so fast and easy to do that a pro welding shop will charge you little or nothing. $10.00 max if they're feeling greedy...and you will have the security of knowing it isn't going to happen again!

I always assemble mine with two 1/8" strips of rubber placed front and rear where the tank meets the top tube. I also use rubber strips on the clamps below. This way it is not necessary to tighten the nuts excessively in order to keep the tank from rotating around.

Jim

Thanks for the advice, Jim. I think my brother can help with that.

after Jim's advice, i hate to say this, but i grinded mine clean, prepped it with carb cleaner, and used JB weld. it's still holding, after months of use.

(p.s. i'm not a big fan of JB weld, but it was all i had, and wanted a temp fix. and it's still fixed...)

i was wondering why coat hangers were suckin for brazing seen an old guy do it before and he made it look easy brass it is should i get the blue rods at the depot? they are flux coated and says its good for bike frames

My darn tank started leakin too before.
But my wife beat my bike up when she was mad at me 1 day.

Kicked the tank hard.

She acts like i'm cheatin on here with my bike or somethin.

I did the JB weld also.
It only has to seal it's not doing any structural work.

1 note here.

If you ever. and i mean ever had gas in the tank.
Better fill it with water and leave the water in it before you take a torch to it.
An empty tank even one thats been rinsed out is full of vapor that will explode really easily.

I plan on getting a new tank and welding it.