Riders Of Vision

I just got my tank from the German Ebay site. It cost 99 euro and 42 for shipping and took about 3 weeks. I tried purchasing one for $199 from a scrap yard in NC that had me on hold for 2 months and never delivered so I was about to give up looking. I was real happy to find this one. The tank appears to be in great condition without any signs of outside rust.  However, there is some rust in the inside under the cap. I am tempted to get POR-15 but was wondering if it is worth the effort? Since the tanks paint is in pretty good condition and it somewhat matches my existing one besides the Yamaha sticker and the white strip, I am considering to not even get it repainted.

Please let me know what everyone thinks about cleaning and coating the inside with POR-15. The POR-15 literature says to keep a tank filled and use fuel stabilizer and it will not rust so their liner is not required. Maybe I should just do this?

The next step is getting carb rebuild kits which appears to cost more than the tank. Yikes! Go figure?

Below are some links to photos of the new and old tank

new tank
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank3.JPG  (internal surface rust)
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank5.JPG
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank8.JPG
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank4.JPG

old tank
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank.JPG
http://members.cox.net/icstars/tank2.JPG

Thanks,
Wayne

Hi wayne,
Protect your investment and get the POR15.
I too purchased a tank from a German ebay seller.  I was lucky enough to get a NOS, never used new tank.  It had the OEM seals on it and was airtight so there was no rust inside.
I posted a comprehensive thread about a year ago all about my stripping it down, painting and POR'ing.
It was a difficult decision to do but the silver tank didn't match my bike.  I put  a lot of work into it and the POR assures me that my efforts will last a long time.

David

Forgot to mention that the POR15 kit has all the stuff you need to clean the tank AND seal it.

David

The silver tank is what I needed. I will check your thread on applying POR15. I read your experience about getting a tank from the German ebay that is what prompted me to look there. I will get the POR15. It just seems to be a lot of work.

Thanks,
Wayne

David,
what kit is recommended for this tank? POR15 appears to have multiple options. They have a "UTILITY & CYCLE FUEL TANK REPAIR KIT". It has the Marine Cleaner, Metal Ready and Tank Sealer plus brushes and cloths. It appears to be the right choice?
http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=CTRK&dept=11

thanks,
Wayne

if 'ya don't it will end up like your old tank.... water settles into the corners and they rot

since this tank is in good shape... you could save some money by just getting the 8oz. sealer and using household or hardware store chemicals...

http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=TS&dept=12

Janitor in a Drum or Dawn dish soap will clean it out nicely, and some Muriatic acid will get any varnish and rust, plus it will etch the metal to receive the Por

 :) Nice find... 8)...and I have the 4 side plastics to match (the diamond battery cover is cracked!!)...Wanna swap!!!

I don't have my tank on "The Mistress" treated with anything. She has gas additives added during the season and the tank is emptied and refilled using fuel stabiliser and fresh gas during the winter.

             

Tiger,
what do you want to swap?

Wayne

Quote from: wboeck on November 16, 2008, 07:51:48 PM
Tiger,
what do you want to swap?

Wayne

I have the two plastic covers that go either side, under the seat, the large right side cover (TCI/coolant bottle) and the left side battery cover (top) all in the Star Silver with the white stripe through them, the same as your new tank. However, the battery cover has a large crack and needs repair.
If your interested, I would like to swap them for a North American Star Silver set, (without the white stripe), the same as the tank I got a few weeks ago...

                       

Man i've been out of the bike loop for a bit, i clicked on this thinking "tank? model tank? rc tank? abrams tank??"

Tiger,
do you have photo of the crack and the panels? I will need to show a buddy of mine to see if he could fix it.

thanks,
Wayne

Quote from: wboeck on November 17, 2008, 09:33:42 AM
Tiger,
do you have photo of the crack and the panels? I will need to show a buddy of mine to see if he could fix it.

thanks,
Wayne

No problem but it will have to be at the weekend...

                   

That is fine. I am not in too big of a hurry. It took a over three months in searching for the tank.

At the local Oregon Vintage Motorcyle meetings the members are all warning that the POR 15 in member tanks has begun softening since Ethanol has been added to the gasoline up here in Oregon.

Have any of you guys got ethanol gas in your POR'd tanks yet?

Guys are advocating a couple of different epoxy coatings. I've got no experience with any of the coatings so I'm just passing this on.

$0.02
;)
Coil

Quote from: coilXZcoyle on November 17, 2008, 08:42:50 PM
At the local Oregon Vintage Motorcyle meetings the members are all warning that the POR 15 in member tanks has begun softening since Ethanol has been added to the gasoline up here in Oregon.

Have any of you guys got ethanol gas in your POR'd tanks yet?

Guys are advocating a couple of different epoxy coatings. I've got no experience with any of the coatings so I'm just passing this on.

$0.02
;)
Coil

We've had ethanol in our gas in colorado since the earth was cooling it seems, and everyone i know of here has por in their tanks. It hasnt been a problem for anyone i've heard of, personally all my por'd stuff is as right as rain, no softening to speak of.

10% ethanol for years in my (POR-type) lined tank.  No problems at all. (knocking furiously on wood)

My 83 tank will get the Caswell treatment, though.  It is currently non-rusted & unlined (thanks Leather!).

H₂O

AZ. has ethanol too, I've experienced  no problem . MN has ethanol too , and I hear of  no problems there either!   You will have to take what those doofuses in OR, have to say with a grain of salt , there brains are water logged and covered in moss :D

They were probably "sponsored" by the makers of Kreem.  ;D

David

Copy that!

All I could tell them was that the guys in California were using it with MTBE and I had never heard of a Vision having a problem with POR.

It's probably a case where they blame their AMAL carb problems on the tank coating, you know how those Brit bike guys are.

Thanks,
;)
Coil

I just got my POR-15 motorcycle kit. It will be a chore. Anyone have any recommendations when performing this? Like how to keep things clean and how to seal the holes on the tanks?

thanks,
Wayne

My por kit should be here this week end, I was wondering if temperature has any affects on the results of a por job.

Yes, follow the directions.

My instructions do not say anything about temperature besides using warm water to rinse out the Metal Ready. I would assume you want to apply the sealer above 50 degrees. You sure do not want to apply when it is freezing. The instructions I got with the kit are the same as on the POR-15 website.

I did my first POR job when it was cold and it turned out like crap.  Not sure if the cold was the problem but I did my second job on a warm day and it worked perfect.

David

Ya I would think warm would be better, i just didn't know how much it would really effect the por job.

I did both my tanks in the basement. The smell is only from the coating (not the cleaner or acid etch) and it's not that strong.

As far as sealing the pet cock opening , I made a plate , of 1/8 inch aluminum strap and bolted it on the opening , with a gasket I made up, to match.  An old gas cap sealed the  filler opening.

Just an FYI if yo do it in the house.  Pud down a good tarp - preferably plastic becasue if the phosphoric acid leaks out of any rust holes or such onto a carpet or a concret floor, it will eat up the carpet, ruin any kind of flooring, and permanently stain concrete.

David

I was thinking of using duct tape to seal the openings but I assume it will be eaten away. I like the aluminum idea but I do not have an old cap to use.

I've had good luck sealing the petcock opening with a piece of a magnetic business card and some GOOD duct tape... not the cheap stuff... chemicals will defeat the duct tape quickly...

Lucky used a cork/rubber stopper for the filler opening.

Quote from: YellowJacket! on November 20, 2008, 09:48:40 AM
Just an FYI if yo do it in the house.  Pud down a good tarp - preferably plastic becasue if the phosphoric acid leaks out of any rust holes or such onto a carpet or a concret floor, it will eat up the carpet, ruin any kind of flooring, and permanently stain concrete.

David

;D ;D C'mon Dave, tell us "the Rest of the story".

;)
Coil

I found a magnet roll from ACE that appears to be fit over the petcock but I could not find a pipe stopper that fits. The diameter of the opening is 1 3/4" and the stoppers were 2" therefore they would not fit. There are rubber and cork plugs that would should fit the opening. However, even if the the plugs would fit the opening, how do you seal the notches? They are 1/4" deep by 1/2" wide. I assume they need to be drained after each cleaning and metal prep so they need to be reusable.

wboeck,

i was just wondering how your por job went? I'm going to do mine on friday so I thought one newbie to another might provide some good insight. :)

how did plugging the tank go? I had a bitch of a time with the acetone, couldn't keep in my tank.

To seal the filler hole I made a piece of inner tube, a hose clamp, and a round 3/4" thick wooden disk the same size as
the filler neck. It worked pretty good, but still had a little leakage. The petcock hole was sealed with a piece of inner tube
and a metel plate I made. That did not leak at all.

I used Blue tape on all the holes.  Just apply multiple layers on the tank while dry and press down firmly.

I have a petcock that will never be in use again, do you thing I could just use that? shouldn't be a problem.

I haven't had a chance to use the POR. I am thinking about waiting till it warms up. I am going to try the carb rebuid kit before I do the sealing. I think the tape around the filler hole and using a rubber plug from ACE Hardware should work.