Genesis of a Rear Tank Mount

[JimSbike]

I am currently building a bike using an Electra cruiser frame. I did not want to use the standard peanut tank because I didn't want it to mess with the flow of the frame. I bought a rear mount tank, but didn't want to mount it on one of the bike rack style mount kits. I really wanted something more stout that would hopefully add to the look of the bike.

I added a few pictures to show the process that I went through to come up with the final design.

In the first picture I show the different phases of the design and the different prototypes. In the top right corner is the original cardbord mock up that I took to work to give to one of our cad jockeys to draw up. The picture on the lower right is a paper cut out of the first design. The upper middle shows the first sheet metal build. We found some issues that included the tank sitting too low to the tire and a general lack of fine tuning once the tank is in place. The bottom center is the next generation which was pretty close but stilll needed some more fine tuning. The final design is the set on the left of the picture. I wanted to add some larger corner radiuses and the ability to mount the tank with the cap toward either the front or the back of the bike. The whole process took about a week from start to finish.

I will post pics of the actual build in the Cruisers section later in the week.

Jim

[2door]

Very nice, Jim. Clean and simple yet functional.

I am curious as to how tight that clamp will hold and if the seat post will be secure. I also like your lay-back post but with the cap in front filling the tank might be a challenge.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Tom

[JimSbike]

2Door,

I lined the inside of the clamp area with a piece of a thorn proof bike tube. It seemed to be pretty stout when it was tightened up.

The tank can be mounted with the cap to either end of the bracket. I really like the way it looks with the cap side forward. The seat is tightened with a quick clamp so lossening it up and pushing the seat to the side to fill it isn't to big a deal.

The seat post was the original that came with the bike. I cut it to the length I wanted and had it welded at work.

Jim