More fuel capacity for the sportster: Paughco Fat Axed.
I put about 40 miles a day on my sportster, and even at 53-55 mpg the stock 2.25 gallon tank (pic below) would only last 2 1/2 days before refueling.
So I bought a Paughco “Fat Axed” tank from Jireh Cycles (~$97), it was the biggest and cheapest bolt on tank for sportster I could find (4.2 gallons).
Unlike the catalog picture, the weld seam joining the two halves of the tank was warped about 1/4″ low in one spot and the same high in another. Some beating with hammer, some bondo and spot putty and it didn’t look too bad. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on it, so I used some purple marbleizing on it (left over from the trike). This helps hide the poor preparation.
One problem is that the hole for the bolt at the rear of the tank is too close the tank. It can’t pinch the mount closed and the tank would rattle at highway speeds.
My solution was to cram in washers between the mount and the frame. Turns out that cheap grade 2 washers from the hardware store are probably made from scrap, so if you search through the bin you can find an assortment of thicknesses to use as shims.
I did have to switch out my lower handle bars for buckhorns because the tank sits higher and the lower bar could hit it. Now I only have to fill up once a week, I hit reserve around 185 miles.
I came across your blog while looking for pictures of Sportsters with the 4.2 gallon Paughco Tanks installed. Believe it or not I was actually planning on ording from Jireh Cycles. The problem I had was that the tanks I was interested in didn’t have the overall dimensions. Is your tank by any chance P/N 20-75 or 20-77? By the way, it looks great. I’m looking forward to reading thru more of your blogs.
Comment by Bill — February 26, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
I used part 20-75. I had to use a different petcock (right angle instead of straight down), so maybe the the left side petcock tank would be better. Or just order a petcock with the tank.
Comment by Administrator — February 27, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
Do you know of any after market bolt on tanks for an 85 Honda VT700C Shadow. Has the same problems as the small sporty tank. 2.5 days and the tank is calling for more gas. I ride my VT700C 60 Miles round trip and use a hair over a gallon a day. Would be nice to make at least 3 or 4 days.
Comment by Paul Bahre — April 14, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
I think your best bet is to go to a motorcycle salvage place and check out other hondas with bigger tanks for one that mounts the same way. The place I bought my tank now has a metric catalog: http://www.jirehmetric.com
Comment by Administrator — April 14, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
Want to sell the 2.5 gallon tank? I am building a bobber and it would be a perfect fit for it really. If so leave me a message htt://www.myspace.com/dickmcnasty
Comment by Rick — June 28, 2007 @ 7:40 am
hey man how did you change the angle of the gas tank?
Comment by bryan — February 3, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
In which country do you live?
Comment by mozilla — March 18, 2008 @ 4:47 pm