March 2024
It would perhaps be more accurate to title this as 'projects', as one thing has led to another in the tank dept. and I have found a new paint guy, so it is time to test the water.
Both of these tanks require repairs, one to just the paint and one to take out a dent plus attend to the paint. There has not been any desperate need, as both look fine from a respectable distance such as this.
There is also a spare tank of the large size which arrived both with aged non-original paint and recent repair, so it will need paint before gracing any bike someone is proud of.
A previous owner went to a good deal of trouble to have it painted like this back when, as the red tint fades from front to back and the silver would have been a good compliment, but age has ruined its looks.
Because this tank has no centre stripe, and because I have become enamoured of trying a slightly wider stripe to reduce the visual effect of sitting astride an aircraft carrier, I am going to experiment with photoshop to see what appeals to the eye, most likely in the white/yellow colour scheme.
While not exactly to my taste, the tank below is what got me thinking about the centre stripe dimensions. The factory stripe was in fact a decal or transfer of only 20mm width, but these have been unobtainable for some time, and if it is to be painted on I can select any width at all.
It is difficult to imagine the optimum width for the stripe, and one does not intend to paint it twice, so the photoshop trickery would give the most flexible approach to trying a number of options.
But then - not only but also - I used to run a small period bikini fairing which was removed as paint was required for that too, and I was thinking of adding a yellow flash to mimic the tank, so that will get added to the mix.
The painter did suggest that the white/yellow combo would be the cheapest paint-wise as it would not require the sort of base coat that red/white would. Also, the more pieces that could be painted at the same time would economise on producing the batches of specific colour needed.
Final consideration is whether to use a decal of some sort on the fairing to mimic the tank badge.
And - speaking of tank badges - the spare tank did not have any, but they are readily available and quite faithful in their reproduction, but arrive unpainted. That gave me an easy window in which to kick this lot off, by painting the badges their original hue.
I have owned my T160 from new and the badges have lasted extremely well, but besides giving me a template to recreate from, I might just give them a touch up as well. Original at top and stages of completion of the new ones.
Now here is a graphic (lol) example of why you need to include the badges when you submit a tank for painting. You can see that the previous artist had no reference to align his designs to around the badge area, and thus lost the plot completely. It is possible that some non-standard badge was fitted instead of the original type, but the radii of the upper and lower flashes should be able to join up if you extend their path as the factory intended, and it makes a pleasing symmetry to the eye.
That original T160 flair was one of the reasons I did not turn my bike into a Legend when Les was ready to build mine but could not buy a donor bike in the UK. That plus freight both ways...
So after some faffing around with printed images and a ruler I came up with what I thought was the best compromise for the stripe. Being of the mindset that 'less is more' I curbed my impulse to turn a stripe into a feature by only doubling its width. This way it is less immediately evident that it has been modded while still reducing the visual impact of the sea of white.
Interesting to note that the original transfer was well off centre to begin with, but it never offended me until photoshop pointed it out, and now I can't unsee it. What a pity it is not this easy to remove a gark in my paint physically. It was the result of another bike's brake lever gouging around during an earthquake because the other bike was only on its sidestand and the shaking flipped it over centre to fall this way...
I have learned to my own expense that it is unwise to ever paint a fuel tank without first making sure it holds fuel successfully. I thus fitted a pair of fuel taps to this tank in preparation for such a test.
Kind of interesting that they painted the bottom of the tank with the silver option, perhaps the red was too expensive.
I put several litres of fuel in, sloshed it to and fro for a bit then left it on the dry concrete to tell me what I would most like to know.
Yup - not only dry as a bone, but I now know I have a pair of viable fuel taps from the reject box. Win.!
Meanwhile the artwork continues on the styling of the new colour flashes. It is tempting to try to copy exactly the same pattern profile used on the tank, but all the curves and edges mean that is hardly going to work.
I did however find a small gold decal that would fit in the gap between upper and lower flashes, so we came up with a suitable compromise. Hopefully our painter will be able to make this happen, although he may also have some useful knowledge of his own that will help decide the master copy.
You can see that the gold background on this side badge has mostly faded away, so today I have been touching up even more badges and giving the tanks a good coat of polish while they are off.
The mounting screws are somewhat aged, but rather than using shiny new ones I decided to try painting the heads gold. It tends to make them disappear rather than becoming a separate feature.
Well thats about enough excitement for one day - better go and have a cuppa and a wee lie down...
Actually, and pleasingly, I do have at least one tank that does not need painting. Unfortunately I don't have a bike to go with it as I swapped it for a Legend exhaust system I was no longer using. I really need to sell it, as it sits around here making the other tanks look bad.
This 3½ gallon T160 tank has an awkward dent as in difficult to get to for repair, plus the paint has been rehashed unsuccessfully and is minus the pinstriping topside, so it will need a full repaint. I intend to give it a centre stripe of the standard dimension as I think it will look fine.
The flashes look to be in the right place as echoed in the 4½ gal behind it and the colour seems good too, so a pity it has suffered otherwise. Guess I will be getting some extra paint mixed in anticipation.
