I've got a 82 Honda V45 Sabre I've been working on, which I posted about pre-crash. Here's a pic of the bike again:


And the latest step is on the gas tank. The gas cap leaks...badly. If I ever laid the bike down at speed and metal sparks on pavement with all that gas flowing out...well, that'd at least be the end of the bike at least. I've been on some motorcycle forums trying to find solutions to it, but I haven't had a whole lotta luck. There have been some good tips, and the best one yet is to get some rubber gasket material and make my own gasket. I've been looking locally for gasket materials, not much luck.

So I've been trying to find another way around it, and here's what I've been learning. I got this stuff called "Seal All" which I was able to repair the tear that was in the gasket (my suspected leak), but the problem isn't necessarily the seal, it's that the cap isn't being held closed enough to keep the gasket seated on the tank.

Starting out:



At first inspection, the metal is bent around the filler hole in the tank, and after some quality time with a hammer, some wrenches, and a hole saw I've been mostly successful with flattening it back out (and have gotten it to sit much better), but there's only so much I can do and it's still leaking. The easiest thing to do short of finding a better tank is to just build up the gasket to be taller with some rubber that's fuel resistant.

I've posted this on bike forums too, but I'm not holding out for much of an answer. That said, I know my fellow 'Stangers here are a **** resourceful bunch. Does anyone know where I can find said material? Advance auto parts only has Felpro mats that are rubber-fiber. Like rubbery cereal box cardboard. I need something much more pliant, softer than that stuff. Thanks !

 

Any idea on exactly how thick it needs to be?

 

Ummm I got something you can try if you want rubber. It is prolly really easy to get it too. How bout trying a innertube?

 

Doesn't need to be very thick, probably could get away with 1/32".

Will inner tube be resistant to gasoline?

 

Yes inner tube will be resistant to gasoline


If you want you can try a lil experiment by putting a small piece in a cup of gas and see if it will disolved.

 

If I understand what you are saying, you feel that you have the tank pretty well repaired. If that is the case you can get a new filler cap for $70, this should include a new seal. I don't know what your budget is for the repair but it could be an option. Only down side is you will have two keys for the bike. By getting the new cap you eliminate and possibility of the cap also being bent causing a poor seal.



This is a pic from Bike Bandit, I buy parts from them quite often for my Valkyrie.

It doesn't show the part being available for order on their site but maybe you can call them or check around at dealers seeing how you can get the part number.

-----On a side note I see a wineberry GL1200 in the pic too, what year? My father had a wineberry 84 GL1200 Interstate when I was a kid, I learned to ride on it.

 

While I"m all for figuring out a solution that's somewhat unique... I don't think you're ever going to get a really good seal on it.

I would suggest getting this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=350256234971
or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Unkno...#ht_2383wt_939
or maybe even this, although I'd look at the inside real good:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1983-...#ht_1180wt_939

And then some of this... the PB161 looks close, but maybe you find another color:
http://www.colorrite.com/matrix-colo...TOKEN=46083114

And you're done. Perhaps enough paint to do the other bits as well. A few preval spray bottles later, and you'll have a brand new lookin' bike, man.

Or, if you want it easier:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda...#ht_7667wt_939

There ya go, prepainted, a little worn...

I did this route with my yellow/silver PC800. When I plonked it down, we inspected it. I've replaced the left mirror housing and the two side protectors. The front center of the 3 piece fender finally was retired and a 'new' one put on. A 'new' faux gas tank is now on it. Looks a little like a Golf Harlequin. It will be painted next winter when I'm done farkling it and fixing the panels. Gonna be great. But in the mean time, I'm sorely tempted to paint up some of the panels with spray bombs with white, green, purple... and make it a Pacific Coast Harlequin for the rest of the year.

Well, anyway, I'd recommend replacement on the tank. Fix it right, IMO. But, if you go with the rubber material, good luck, I'm sure you'll get it figured out!

 

07S197, I'm trying to keep my budget pretty low. I've been to Bike Bandit and a couple other online stores, not having much luck. Besides, $70 is pretty steep for a gas cap. My father got the tank off ebay years ago when he still had the bike. It looks like someone tried to pull its gas cap open by brute force on this one (maybe they lost the key? ) which is why the metal is bent. The cap I have is the original one to this sabre, which I'm happy to say never went through that abuse.

On the GL1200...you sir have a great eye! It's my dad's bike. An '85 GL1200 Interstate. It's in great shape (can't tell you miles though) and he got it from my grandfather last year (he was getting too old to step over the seat so he got the 400cc scooter in the pic). My dad let me ride the Goldwing. I can't believe how easy such a big bike is to ride.



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houtex,

yeah it's funny I was actually looking at all the red tanks on ebay. One was dented, another is pretty significantly rusted. Unfortunately the black one is off an 83 and they changed the mounting system between those two years so it won't work with my 82.

The blue one however looks to be in pretty nice shape.

Regardless of what tank ends up on the bike, I'm going to Kreem the hell out of it. I'm sick of dealing with rust. The carbs had to be rebuilt late last year ($400) because some rust dislodged and got down through them. Fuel filter will also be installed on bike (honda only put a microscreen in the tank).

good luck on the PC800. Body work is my least favorite part. I know exactly what you mean about mismatched panels.

I'm not worried about color, I'm actually having the whole bike repainted in Belize Blue Pearl like the 2009 Accords (sharp color).