New developments in the chain guard / gas cap situation.....
I decided to not use the chain guard with the new clevis mount, but we're reworking the reproduction one instead. My good friend Rick Rubin ( http://www.harrisrubin.com ) and his welder, Jack Volker, are re-working the guard, and as Jack put it to me, it will now be 'bomb-proof'. The rear mounting point will be reinforced, and the rear section of the chain guard will be reshaped so that the tail end will curve around the sprocket somewhat. Presently they're working on it, and I should hopefully have the finished piece back by the end of the month. Hope this is the end of it.
The gas cap has now evolved into an interesting project: As a few of us have discussed in the 'Gas Cap Blues' thread in the Carburation section of the Forum, the SuperHawk gas caps are prone to having wet gaskets, and opening up the possibility of fuel getting underneath the paint on the tank and causing all kinds of nastiness. It seems that there's no real solution.
I've always thought that a gas cap arrangement similar to a CB/CL350 would be better, as there is a raised filler neck on that type of tank, and there is also a collar that goes down into the tank, not to mention the fact that the hinged gas cap is at least an inch above the top of the tank. So, this is the plan: I'm in the process of acquiring another SuperHawk gas tank, as well as a CB350 tank. My welding gurus are going to cut the section of the CB350 tank that has the gas cap (including the tabs for the gas cap hinge and the lockdown latch). Then, the gas cap area of the SuperHawk will be cut out, and will be replaced with the CB350 section. The inside of the 'new' tank will then be treated, and the final product will be painted black with the checkered stripe motif. The chrome panels, rubber knee grips, badges and petcock from my 'old' tank will be transferred over to this new tank, and away we go.
Hopefully this plan will actually work when put into practice, but from talking to the welding experts, it's more than doable. I'll keep you all posted on the progress.....
Japan Meets Britain
Picked up the SuperHawk tank today, and it's actually in pretty good shape -- there's a very slight dent on the top of the tank, and the inside is in relatively nice shape, so it should work out just fine. The CB/CL350 tank is on the way, and should be here by Thursday. Next step will be to take it to the welder to have the 'grafting' done, and then John is going to clean and treat the inside of the tank. I spoke to the painter today, and he said that he should be able to knock it out in about a week. So, it may in fact be ready for Mid-Ohio!
One question is whether to put the 'new' cap in the same spot as the stock one, or it might be interesting to mount it right in the middle of the tank. Hmmm, decisions decisions......
Heard from John last night, and his welder said that it is no problem to put the gas cap in the center of the tank, and he'll fix the dent. As well, he's going to weld a collar that goes into the tank from the filler neck -- almost like a baffle that will prevent any sloshing gas from getting into the cap.
So hopefully this will finally solve the leaky gas cap syndrome!
No I didn't - the tube arrangement was going to interfere with the use of a tank bag, so I shelved that idea. Plus, I didn't really like the look of it.
Hopefully if all the stars fall into alignment, the tank will be ready for Mid-Ohio. Right now the welder has the tank, and he's going to remove the dent on the top of the tank, and position the cap in the middle of the tank. Then John gets it back, cleans and treats the inside, then it goes to the painter to have it painted black and have the checkered stripe painted. Hopefully this can all get done by the end of the month! The chain guard is still being worked on -- that one's making me a bit nervous!
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