So I bought a tank from India

[tlmark]

My original has had a weep from a seam along the tunnel. not bad but over the layup overwinter there was some sains on the rocker cover.
so I bought a tank from India, and I thought I'd share my experience.
First, when it arrived the colour wasn't the same as in the picture (That would have matched my bike pretty good).
but my paintwork is not original and not in great shape so I wasn't too worried. the paint did look good though as did the chrome. 
I bought the tank last winter but it was only last month I had cause to fit it due to my petrol taps leaking very badly(Ewart type) 
so rather than fit new taps to the old tank, I put them on the new one.
first issue the threads for the taps were gunked up with paint so I ran a tap through them and fitted the downsize brass adaptors for the new taps.
and you could tell they were sloppy 
I put some PTFE tape on them and that seemed to fix the problem. 

Next problem was my petrol cap didn't fit, not even close. I measured the two parts and the hole was a good 1mm larger, I figgered that this was mainly paint. I used a Dremel and a sanding disc to take the paint off. it was a lot better but some metal needed removing before the cap would fit over. all good?
No, the cap now would screw down. doing side to side measurements the lip of the ramp the screws the cap down was too large to the cap engage, so I had to file a mm of that too.

Now to test fit the tank. it was really loose from side to side. 
The two rubber bungs that stop the tank rocking were nowhere near to touching. so I took them out of there lower holes and moved them up to the higher ones, better but still the tank rocked. so some new foam rubber was fitted to the spine frame tube and also taped around the rubber bungs. Much better it moved a bit but I hadn't fitted the centre bolt yet.

As I mentioned it the centre bolt there's not much metal for the bolt to pull on so caution to not over tighten that is required.

fit badges and knee pads. Now my tank when I bought had a mixture of teardrop badges and round badge knee pads, not stock but I got used to it and now prefer it I think they look better.
The tank badges won't fit with the backing rubbers into the cutouts on the tank so I took them off, they don't fit 100% but good enough.
knee pads, well mine obviously weren't meant to fit that type of tank but had been modified to fit... not enough to fit this tank though 
Oh yeah, the threads for the pads and badges are metric M4 and M6 
The under tank strap I have yet to find what size nut fits be it metric or imperial, the original strap doesn't fit anyway(the studs are much further apart)  so not to worry.

So put some petrol in, and it came as a not great shock that it leaked around the taps 
drain the tank, and use tons of thread lock on the brass adaptors leave them for a couple of days to properly dry. Fit taps try again
All good 

Now it seems like a lot of grief but I knew a tank from form India would have problems so I was ready for it, however, it does look good I think and finally, the garage doesn't stink of fuel. 

I plan to repaint the bodywork over the winter so the colour mismatch will be sorted.


 

[BigJim]

H tlmark. did similar work to my India tank. Mine got quite rusty inside on the top of the tank, sealed it before it got bad. Am also pleased with the result as my original was a real mess.

[Greybeard]

I know people can have trouble with those new Indian tanks but let's just appreciate that it's possible to buy such a thing at all.

[RoyC]

I purchased my Indian tank about 2½ years ago.
I am, on the whole very pleased with it.
I checked the inside a couple of days ago and no sign of rust.
When I purchased my tank it had a cap on.
I had to make a new strap ½ inch longer and the knee rubber screw holes were not correct so I stuck them on with one screw and 3M double sided tape.
It was painted silver when I purchased it.

[tlmark]

I know people can have trouble with those new Indian tanks but let's just appreciate that it's possible to buy such a thing at all.

Absolutely.  For about £300 plus import tax It pretty good value.
Can only guess how much a tank would cost made/chromed and painted in England

[RoyC]

I know people can have trouble with those new Indian tanks but let's just appreciate that it's possible to buy such a thing at all.

Absolutely.  For about £300 plus import tax It pretty good value.
Can only guess how much a tank would cost made/chromed and painted in England

   

http://www.thetankshop.com/

http://www.terryweedy.com/tanks.html     

[bsa-bill]

Nice Roy but not replicas of standard tanks

[BSA_54A10]

I know people can have trouble with those new Indian tanks but let's just appreciate that it's possible to buy such a thing at all.

Actually it is the opposite.
We had 2 really good tank makers down here and both have closed because they can not match the price of junk tanks that don't fit and still eat.
So we have LOST a valuable resource because these people actually KNEW which tank fitted what bike and what the detail differences were year to year,
So thankful I for one am not.
It just goes to prove that no matter how bad a parts is BSA owners will fit them if they are cheap enough.

[bsa-bill]

It just goes to prove that no matter how bad a parts is BSA owners will fit them if they are cheap enough.

Very true Trevor, however depth of the pocket is a considerable factor for many these days

[Swarfcut]

  Well, it looks the part and solves the problem. I did think the angle of the filler cap looked a bit askew, tilted slightly forward as if the filler hole was too far forward on the tank top, but this is  maybe a trick of the light. Shame the colour used was a different  Golden Beige. Back in the day I used a Ford colour, Saturn Gold (if the old memory still works), straight off the shelf. These days there are thousands of golds....some an extremely good match for the colour we remember.

 Speaking of depth of pockets, some eBay sellers have a mistaken idea of value. How can a Plunger Stand sell at £200? You would have to be desperate of foolish to punt that one. Hardly value for money. On the other hand some  enterprising fella is offering reproduction Plunger Air Filter/Battery Mounts  for £18, OK you have to make or source a filter/box, but that seems better value to me.

Swarfy.

[Rex]

I know people can have trouble with those new Indian tanks but let's just appreciate that it's possible to buy such a thing at all.

Actually it is the opposite.
We had 2 really good tank makers down here and both have closed because they can not match the price of junk tanks that don't fit and still eat.
So we have LOST a valuable resource because these people actually KNEW which tank fitted what bike and what the detail differences were year to year,
So thankful I for one am not.
It just goes to prove that no matter how bad a parts is BSA owners will fit them if they are cheap enough.

It may be OK if it fits with minor fettling but there's too many tales (mine included!) of Indian stuff which is useless in quality and fit.
Riders are known for being tight as a duck's wossname and I reckon if someone was knocking out good tanks for good money there'd still be some who'd take a punt on cheap repro imports rather than spring for a known good one.

[RDfella]

Dunno about that, Rex. We've recently discussed examples (rear sprocket) where the fault was the UK made part. And how many parts are ACTUALLY UK made, and not imported with a 'made in UK' label stuck on? Personally, I've found Indian repro stuff as good as OE (which wasn't that great back then - we tend to compare with today's standards).

[Greybeard]

I think many of us here are on a fixed pension income. The motorbike is just one of many calls on our dosh and probably of low(er) importance to She Who Must Be Obeyed. 

[tlmark]

Price was a big factor, although I'm not retired (yet) running 7 bikes means I can't throw what would probably end up the thick end of a grand after chrome and paint.

[BSA_54A10]

Trev used to charge around $ 1200 to $ 1500 ( AUS) for a tank from "Tanks by Trev " ( No relation ).
For that you gat a brand new tank that would drop strait in bolt right up and you could ride away.
Fully painted or chromed .
Replating an old tank was $ 400 to $ 600
and then there was another $ 200 for a reasonable paint job, or $ 400 for the Keed bros perfect match paint job plus badges & taps so not much change from a grand.
And yes it is a lot of money, in your mind as $ 1500 is the average weekly wage down here and $ 800 is the median weekly wage.
On a full aged pension it is 3 weeks pension or 4 weeks on a couples rate.
Not really a large amount although more than I have in my back pocket right now.
But an amount that could be budgeted for over 12 months fairly comfortably.

So now there is no one in Australia who will make a tank for a British bike other than some one who makes custom tanks for HD's and has less than no idea what your tank should look like and will hit you for $ 3000 because HD riders are not terrified to open their wallets.
Using the "I have too many bikes to be able to afford good quality parts " gets the response "Sell one "

One of the reasons why there is so much trash out there is the people who actually know what a part should look like and more important what it should be made from are all going out of business because cheapskates decide that only the cheapest possible part found after scouring the entire planet can ever be put on their bikes.

And then it comes to things like fuel tanks that split & leak, really ? perhaps 2/3 of you will have to die or be roasted on a flaming bike to come to your senses.