[outtafase]

Hello everyone,
I'm a newbie here in california and just joined this great forum last week.
I recently salvaged a 2007 R1 that's been laid down on the left side and left outside to rot for a few years with 15,000 miles on it. Previous owner replaced all the oem farings with a complete cheap chinese kit in an orange color (original color is Dark Bluish Grey Metallic 8 Charcoal on Charcoal/Black DBNM8). Frame and steering is straight and the bike runs and rides very well but when I pulled the cheap plastic fuel tank cover off I found the oem tank to be smashed on the left side. The tank is not leaking so I can still ride it without worry. It's just ugly. I went to my local YAMAHA dealer and found out that the oem tank is discontinued for this year and I haven't been able to find anyone with a new old stock tank of the same oem tank part number. Is there company that manufactures an aftermarket tank for these bikes? Searched the internet and so far I've only been able to find used tanks, mostly on ebay, that are all light to heavily dented. Repairing any tank seems too unsafe to even consider and is not even an option for me. These liter bikes can be dangerous as it is and I don't need the worry of a possible fuel leak while I'm riding. I can't imagine that people are throwing away perfectly good running R1's because fuel tanks aren't available anymore. Can anyone tell me how riders are dealing with replacing damaged tanks? I would really like to get my machine back it it's original glory.

 

[Loose]

Pics of smashed tank?

 

[outtafase]

Here are some pica of the tank.
Previous owner took the emblem's off.

 

[Loose]

I can tell you one of the tricks that we use to take the dents out of 2 stroke exhaust pipes would be to fill the tank with a water, seal it, and then stick it in the freezer. The expansion of the ice can help pop out the dents as long as the dense are not through a crease.

 

[Loose]

A good paintless Dent removal person may also be of some benefit.

 

[Smitty965]

A guy in San Diego. Motorcycle Gas Tank Dent Repair - Paintless Dent Removal PDR

If you want to go with a replacement tank, I'd try eBay first. If you don't see what you're looking for right away, set up a search alert so you're notified as soon as someone posts one. I've had some solid bike parts buys on there.

Good luck. Hate to see otherwise great bikes left out to rot.

 

[outtafase]

I can tell you one of the tricks that we use to take the dents out of 2 stroke exhaust pipes would be to fill the tank with a water, seal it, and then stick it in the freezer. The expansion of the ice can help pop out the dents as long as the dense are not through a crease.

Loose, thanks for the tip! I can totally see that working on the 2-stroke expansion chambers. I'd need to find someone with a large freezer unit in their garage or something for my fuel tank. I wish I would've thought of that when I still had my 2000 KX 250 outfitted with the Pro Circuit exhaust that I put a small dent in. what a great idea!

 

[outtafase]

A good paintless Dent removal person may also be of some benefit.

man, i've never heard of paintless dent removal. I have to apologize, I've been out of motorcycles for over a decade and haven't kept up with all of this. Again, thanks for the tip Loose!

 

[outtafase]

A guy in San Diego. Motorcycle Gas Tank Dent Repair - Paintless Dent Removal PDR

If you want to go with a replacement tank, I'd try eBay first. If you don't see what you're looking for right away, set up a search alert so you're notified as soon as someone posts one. I've had some solid bike parts buys on there.

Good luck. Hate to see otherwise great bikes left out to rot.

Thanks for passing the link on to me Smitty965. I really appreciate it! I'm in SoCal so shipping the tank to San Diego wouldn't be bad.
I just found a tank on eBay with the exact part number and so far the photo's look like the exact color as mine. It's pretty clean. Very light rust spotting on the mounting holes where the hex bolt for the locking gas cap threads in. No dents but it has 2 tiny chip's in the paint totaling about 2cm. I mean tiny! It was pricy though. The seller has a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay so I bit the bullet and paid a total, which includes tax and shipping, of $497.54. Still far better than the $1,200 a new old stock oem would cost, if I could even find one. Who knows when another one as clean or cleaner than this one will come up for sale again. If it has any small dents that I didn't catch, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for the guys at the Motorcycle Gas Tank Dent Repair. I sure as hell don't want to put more money into it though. Keeping my fingers crossed.
What's up with the tax on eBay now.......

 

[Smitty965]

Thanks for passing the link on to me Smitty965. I really appreciate it! I'm in SoCal so shipping the tank to San Diego wouldn't be bad.
I just found a tank on eBay with the exact part number and so far the photo's look like the exact color as mine. It's pretty clean. Very light rust spotting on the mounting holes where the hex bolt for the locking gas cap threads in. No dents but it has 2 tiny chip's in the paint totaling about 2cm. I mean tiny! It was pricy though. The seller has a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay so I bit the bullet and paid a total, which includes tax and shipping, of $497.54. Still far better than the $1,200 a new old stock oem would cost, if I could even find one. Who knows when another one as clean or cleaner than this one will come up for sale again. If it has any small dents that I didn't catch, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for the guys at the Motorcycle Gas Tank Dent Repair. I sure as hell don't want to put more money into it though. Keeping my fingers crossed.
What's up with the tax on eBay now.......

👍 - nice. $500 is about is pretty decent for an R1 tank in great condition. I looked for a spare tank for my '05 on ebay last year to avoid repainting my pristine tank when I changed out my fairings (from blue to red/white) but it was either crumpled rusty crap or almost a grand for a nice one. Sounds like you scored, good idea jumping on it. As long as the item is backed by EBay's money back guarantee you're good regardless of seller rating also. Just FYI, if the tank isn't as advertised (significant defects not photographed) and seller gives you a hard time, eBay will force the buyback or refund you and you keep the item. Shoot some pics when it's done. Yep, the big box store lobby whined and cried to Congress that online sellers should have to pay same taxes and them. It was a great few years of buying while it lasted.

 

[outtafase]

👍 - nice. $500 is about is pretty decent for an R1 tank in great condition. I looked for a spare tank for my '05 on ebay last year to avoid repainting my pristine tank when I changed out my fairings (from blue to red/white) but it was either crumpled rusty crap or almost a grand for a nice one. Sounds like you scored, good idea jumping on it. As long as the item is backed by EBay's money back guarantee you're good regardless of seller rating also. Just FYI, if the tank isn't as advertised (significant defects not photographed) and seller gives you a hard time, eBay will force the buyback or refund you and you keep the item. Shoot some pics when it's done. Yep, the big box store lobby whined and cried to Congress that online sellers should have to pay same taxes and them. It was a great few years of buying while it lasted.

Thanks Smitty965, for all the great information on eBay policies. It is greatly appreciated! Luckily, it doesn't look like I have any issues. The tank arrived today and it's exactly as described on the eBay listing. See photos. I'm sorry to hear that you've had a similar experience as I did, when searching for a fuel tank in good condition. Most were crumpled up and very few were lightly dented. I haven't even seen any new old stock tanks but If one would happen to pop up somewhere, the parts guy at my local Yamaha dealer show's the price at just under $1,200. This is the only one in good condition, after many weeks of scouring the internet, that I found. After all the searching, I understand how rare it is to see a 16 year old tank in this condition.
When I went to start my bike last week, it took a while to start and the battery was weak. About a minute after it started it suddenly stopped running. I recharged the battery over night and started it back up a few days later, ran a voltage test while it was running and found that the generator is not charging the battery. After checking this amazing forum, all signs point to the dreaded stator flywheel issue that plagues the 2007 and 2008 R1's. So now I have to deal with that before I put the new tank on. On the bright side, at least I can do everything while I have the tank off. More to come.......

 

[outtafase]