XJ550 Bobber Custom Gas Tank

Hey all,

I'm currently rebuilding an 81 XJ550 (my first rebuild-project) and am trying to figure out the overall design/look I want for the bike.

I'm not loving the shape of the original gas tank and how low it sits on the frame.

Does anyone know of a website where I can find custom gas tanks that fit an XJ550? Or does anyone know of a tank for a different bike that would fit an XJ550 without much customization to the fittings?

Ideally, I'd like something along the lines of a sportster-tank that sits high on the frame and doesn't overpower the bike with its size.

Much thanks.

 

Without some frame modifications you're going to have trouble mounting the majority of tanks because of the XJ's triple tube backbone.

 

Tank modifications are preferred though.

 

do you have a maxim or seca 550?

 

It's a Maxim

 

I was hoping to find a tank that would sit on top of the frame, rather than wrapping around it for that reason.

 

I can manage minor tank modifications but may not have all of the necessary equipment available for anything very complex.

 

You could try a shallow tunnel peanut tank and see how it sits on there. The coils will end up being exposed along with some wiring hardness depending how much modification you have already done

 

You'll have to come up with cowling to cover the tank mounts for the grommets if you don't wrap the front tube section. I have a tank here I blew a hole through on the side you can have if you want to cut it up. I gave up trying to stop the blow out with the TIG. Needs to be cut in half, cleaned and rewelded. I'm not doing that for an OE tank at this point. Just pay for shipping.

 

I was thinking maybe something along those lines too... thanks!

I'm going to do some more surfing to see what possible tunnel length options I can find in a peanut. I'll share anything useful I find here.

 

That's very generous! Give me a little time to see if I can find anything else that may be more suitable. Is that a peanut or the OE tank?

 

I could dig around when the snow melts, probably haxe an old dirtbike tank that would sit up on the frame, only abot 1 gallon tho.

 

I think I may have found a solution. I'm trying to figure out whether or not this idea would look completely ridiculous... thoughts?

If I were to take this gas-tank-tunnel piece (below) and cut and bend it to fit around the triple-bar frame-segment, I could weld it in place and create enough clearance for any shallow tunnel tank. Easy enough to drill holes in the tank-tunnel and attach it there, however the tank would be sitting at least an inch above its intended resting point on the frame.


https://www.throttleaddiction.com/gas-tank-high-tunnel/

 

You could also make a support from the bottom of the stock tank and use the existing mount points.

 

I like the sound of that.

 

Even if the metal is too thin to weld, you could spot weld a skin up and around from the bottom to cover the frame and give you a base to attach a tank to. Dunno how odd it would look. Kinda need to make some paper templates and see.

 

This type of situation is unfortunately a slap one on there, see how it looks and if you like it then go from there.

 

OE tank off my project bike. I've got another one on the way. You could chop the bottom half off at the seam and go from there with it.

 

I think what I'll try first is creating a mount for another tank from my oem one