New gas bike - Custom chopper

[dragray]

the jesse james tanks are not plastic. They are made from heavy gauge steel.
You have to weld or braze closed a bunch of gaps and holes in the bottom of the tank.
Then you have to make 2 fuel outlets (one on each side of the tank towards the rear of it). You have to cut a hole in the top of the tank and make a gas cap.
when I did mine, it took me about a week to do the whole thing start to finish including paint and bodywork.
The jesse james tanks have a big ugly weld that runs right across the front of the tank where a nose peice is welded to the sides and bottom of the tank.
I ground that weld down to make it a valley, then i filled it with bondo and smoothed it out. This sort of re-shaped the front of the tank and made it much smoother looking.

here's how these tanks look in their stock form.

here it is with the weld ground down and filled with bondo.
Also notice the fuel outlets that I put in the tank (made out of copper tubing and silver soldered in place)

here's the hole that I cut in the top for a gas cap. I used a dremel with a cutoff wheel on it to cut this hole, and then i used a small drum sander attached to a drill to make it perfectly round.

here it is all finished and painted. I used grey sealer primer on it, and then 5 coats of metallic black laquer, and 5 coats of clear laquer. wetsanded with 1200 grit paper, and then buffed.

 

[dragray]

here's the gas cap that I made for it. It;s just a push in oil fill cap for a car valve cover. I drilled a hole in the center for a vent and then covered the hole with a pewter skull. The skull is not solid and the eyes are holes, which allows the tank to vent properly.

here's the same tank with it's second paint job. I got tired of the black and went with a high metallic silver laquer for the second paint job. up close, the paint reminds me of a bowling ball.

here's the tank on my bike. I made a hidden mount under the tank so there's no visible mounts, nuts or bolts.

 

[dragray]

here's another one that I did but this one is not functional because it went back onto a jesse james peddle powered bike.
I did the same body work to the weld on the front of the tank and smoothed it out.
I didn't have to make fuel line outlets, but i did cut a hole in the top and I put in the same kind of gas cap as i did on my other tank just to add some realism.
I used 5 coats of metallic orange laquer and 5 coats of clear laquer, wetsanded with 1200 paper and buffed.

I added an o.c.c. 24 inch front wheel and tire, billet aluminum grips, and i painted the pedals to match the tank. I also put a smaller front sprocket on it to lower the gearing to make it easier to pedal. I put an 18 tooth on the rear and a 36 on the front....made it super easy to pedal.

 

[kidgambit]

I might find a small motorcycle gas tank on ebay

 

[kidgambit]

I dont have that kind of fabrication stuff. I live in a apartment

 

[tooljunkie]

nice work,Dragray.
wish i had the patience for paint.
i love metalwork,dont care for finishing,thats where it all falls apart.
guess i will need to invest in a decent spray gun,i'm about done with rattle cans.