Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Electra & AVL => Topic started by: Samir72 on July 13, 2013, 02:13:59 pm
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Yes, I layer her down, sliding out in a left turn.
The tank has a dent in it from the left hand light switch/decompression lever getting rammed into it.
Do I need to replace the tank or will a body shop be able to fix it? There's no puncture as far as I can tell.
I ruined a bunch of other parts that I can order but the tank is rather expensive.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Samir
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Post some pics and I can tell you what needs to be done to get it looking new again. Where area do you live in?
Scottie
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Hey Scottie,
I'm in Baton Rouge, LA. I'm also looking for a mechanic in the area.
Here's a pick of the tank, I ordered a new toolbox for $60 already.
Thanks!
Samir
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I hate to say it, but being that your tank is black on chrome, it's going to be very difficult to fix the dents on that tank and keep the chrome finish. Motorcycle tanks (especially these RE tanks) are made with heavy duty steel to help keep them rigid. Unfortunately when you dent them up that deep it is next to impossible to remove the dent without tearing or putting a hole in the steel. Typically to repair a gas tank in that state it is easiest and most effective to fill the dent with fiberglass body filler and then use regular body filler, glaze and primer to get the surface true again. This is where the chrome issue comes into play. Chrome will only stick to metal and has to be dipped in a tank. Body filler is non metallic and very porous and will soak in any liquid it is exposed to before being painted. Not to mention you'll still need to address the hand painted gold stripes after it's repaired.
In my professional opinion, if you want it to look original I would replace the gas tank with a new one. If you just want it repaired with the dents fixed and painted the original color but solid (no chrome) a guy like myself can repair it for about $150-$250.
Hope this is of help.
Scottie
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That's bad news for a sunday morning ;)
I had a feeling you might say that though.
Well, there's a guy in town that's gonna try to get it our from the inside without tearing the steel and if it doesn't work out I'll start saving my pennies for a new tank.
Thanks for the reply
Samir
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You won't want to hear this... You have other damage. For the switch to hit the tank the handle bar has to be misadjusted. To hit that hard the handle bar is probably bent from the impact and/or the steering stop and/or steering stem is bent. You need to carefully check the handlebar/steering stem/fork alignment. the switch housing may be broken. Look underneath at the part that hit the tank.
You may be lucky and had the bar merely flex from impact, but you really should check the other stuff.