Replacement tank suggestions?

Hello!

I have an 82 XJ550:



I am going to have the frame and bike painted here in the near future, and the current tank has a good sized dent in it. I'd either like to fix it if possible, or replace it with a larger tank. Since I'm fairly new to this "scene", I figured I better ask the experts before I start wasting money

Is a larger tank an option, and if so, what do I look for?

Thanks in advance!

 

I have an 82' XJ550 as well and unless you want to swap it and the seat out with one from a 550 SECA your out of luck. The XJ650 and XJ750 have interchangeable tanks but us with the 550's are kind of stuck with what we have unless you want to cut and weld. I would poke around on eBay as there are some cheap tanks on there every once in a while. I saw one go for under $60 last week with no dents. It had a little rust but nothing that wasn't fixable.

 

My neighbor has sons that race dirt bikes.
They bang up tose tanks pretty bad too.

Joe says he blanks off the outlet and has made a tank cap with a schrader valve on it and pops the dents out with air pressure.

They turn out real nice unless there was a crease.

 

Good paint shops can tack weld (very low heat) rivits to the metal and then pull the dent out, knock off the rivit, a little bondo and it's good as new.......

If you use the "air pressure" method just be aware that it takes a surprisingly small amount of air pressure to pop a dent out. Too much pressure and you'll risk weakening or fracturing a welded seam, in which case it's "game over" for that tank.

 

Careful with the air pressure, it can cause the tank to blow open at the tunnell.
Probably best to go the tack weld/dent puller weld.