Topic: good lookin' late K tanks?

[KB02]

As I stare into my crystal ball of future gazing at the completion of my 750 K8 cafe project, I look to my means off fuel conveyance and ask myself, "What tank should I use?"

Now, I don't really see this bike hitting the road this season, so I've got time to figure this out. I really like Benji's Whale and Dolphin tanks as they would look great with the seat I have planned. But the price is a bit more than I really want to pay. AND, as my F1 is now For Sale, I'm thinking that I may need to reconsider the thought of buying a tank and just use what I have.

It seems to be a general consensus that the late K tanks are the ugliest that Honda made for these bikes. I tend to agree. BUT, has anyone made do with small modifications to these later tanks to make them look better? Any pics of Knee indents or the like?

[eldar]

Uglier? You must be talking to pre77 owners! I personally dislike the 76 and earlier K tanks. Bulky looking and with that gay filler on top!

[Aaron J Williams]

Uglier? You must be talking to pre77 owners! I personally dislike the 76 and earlier K tanks. Bulky looking and with that gay filler on top!

Oh Eldy, you never give up do you? Fight the good fight brother.

Sandcast! Sandcast! Sandcast!

[754]

The last hetero models Honda built were in 1976..

[Geeto67]

unless you are increasing the capacity of your tank - knee dents for the sake of knee dents are lame.

[kghost]

unless you are increasing the capacity of your tank - knee dents for the sake of knee dents are lame.

And its hard to see how denting IN the tank does that

[S-Dog]

unless you are increasing the capacity of your tank - knee dents for the sake of knee dents are lame.

And its hard to see how denting IN the tank does that

Reverse osmosis? 

[Geeto67]

If you are physically making the tank wider, then knee dents make sense. If you are just pounding in dents because you like the way it looks....well, It is bad enough that you only get about 100 miles out of a stock tank in mixed riding, anything you do to decrease that to me is pointless.

On the flip side of that I recently bought a kz1300 tank because I saw one fitted to a cb750 and the thing so so freaking wide I may just have to pound some knee dents into her so I can put my feet on the pegs. then again a kz1300 tank is over 7 gallons so I think I have a little capacity to spare.

[Andoo]

There is a reason the CR bikes had narrow tanks and centralised oil tanks. Once you ditch the side covers, fat seat, and big tank it looses that "pig" feel. You also eliminate the cowboy effect after long rides. It is replaced with a soar back! 

[eldar]

Only cool thing on a sandcast are the sidecovers!

[acaruth]

I understand where all you guys are coming from. I myself have a 77' and wouldn't mind modifying my tank to a certain degree. I like the look of knee dents and I'm sure knee dents aren't the first mock-ups that some of us have done to our bikes that doesn't add to the function of the bike. But we can go all day long about this but I think KB02 is looking for pics and ideas to draw from, so bring on the pics!!!

[dustyc]

I just picked up a late tank with dished sides.  I'll post a pic. 

I don't think they lend themselves to bashing since they taper down in the back so much and they have an edge in the style.  I think Honda was taking a cue from HD with the shape of the tank on the late models, which makes sense since they were going different directions with the K(touring) and F(sport) models. 

I'd go with something non stock since it's such a big part of the look of the bike.  Dunstall, Ohio Cafe Racers, Benji, etc.

[KB02]

Yeah, gas capacity isn't really the top priority on this. I want something that's going too cool driving down the road (or just sitting there as far as that goes).

[Jeremiah]

Knee dents are for your knee to grip the tank while you're hanging off the side in a turn.   I think looking cool is a by-product...    I've been staring at an ugly 77 tank in the garage for a couple months now wondering how to make it pretty, it's such an akward shape.  Makes it look 80s. 

[dustyc]

Pics.  Special thanks to another member for actually doing this to a tank.  I'll let him reveal his own identity if he feels inclined to.  Don't bash his efforts -you never know until you try.

[S-Dog]

Pics.  Special thanks to another member for actually doing this to a tank.  I'll let him reveal his own identity if he feels inclined to.  Don't bash his efforts -you never know until you try.

SEXY!!!

[troppo]

OK, probably going to show how dumb i am here but why does it look like that tank has two filler holes?
it has the recessed filler section like my F tank but mine only has one filler hole..
waiting for the shots now

[Geeto67]

because it is an A hondamatic tank and the second hole is for the fuel sender. Otherwise I hear they are pretty close if not identical in shape to a 77-78 K tank

[Geeto67]

Knee dents are for your knee to grip the tank while you're hanging off the side in a turn.   I think looking cool is a by-product...    I've been staring at an ugly 77 tank in the garage for a couple months now wondering how to make it pretty, it's such an akward shape.  Makes it look 80s. 

yeah um not really - the hanging off riding style really didn't become prominent until the 1980s. Before then Guys would just tuck as just as close to the tank in turns as they did in the straights. That is part of the reason Mike Hailwood's victory on a ducati in the 1978 Isle of man was so amazing, by then it was thought that the old riding style would never be as fast as the new knee down riding style, but here comes this 38 year old retired racer to prove them all wrong.

Anyway, if you look at bikes from the era of the tucked in riding style you will see two reasons for "knee dents". the first is that is where the rubber knee pads that were popular on 50's brit bikes would go. the second is that a manufacturer could build a larger capacity tank and still keep the rider able to tuck in clean and not splay his legs.

On modern sportbikes, knee indentations are there for hanging off but if you look at the shape of the rear of the tank it narrows down to be as thin as possible and give the rider the most range of movement. They are also wide flat surfaces not dished concave surfaces.

Unless you are narrowing the rear of the tank or expanding its capacity, knee dents don't add anything to the bike but looks. To me something done for looks without a function is for the chopper or posuer crowd, a cafe racer is supposed to be a functional race replica for the street and anything done to distract from that dilutes the spirit of the bike.

That is not to say that there isn't a lot of talent that goes into banding these "dents" in. Metal work of any kind is sometimes more art than science and does require a certain amount of concentration and skill.

[754]

So you are saying, doing anything just for looks on cafe's is out??

unless it is a posuer cafe..
 I think anyone should be able to do whatever to their bike for whatever reason as long as it is safe. Sorta like a free country..

 So how many people do you know that need extra fuel capacity on a cafe racer??

[Geeto67]

What I am saying is that if you are going to build a bike, it should be well thought out and the tradeoff of diminished fuel capacity just for looks is just effective as 2 gallon peanut tanks on choppers.

I know when I look at a set of knee dents the first think I look at was if the rider needed them. If they are there purely for looks and add nothing else then that says to me and other people savy with motorcycles that the bike does not get ridden enough. I don't know about you but I commute on my K5 and sometimes even the stock capacity doesn't feel like enough.

Sure it is a free country, bash away at whatever tanks you want, I am just telling you what messgage it sends to me, thats all. To often guys want to build these bikes for an image purpose, they want to feel like some ton up badass and they kinda forget what drove people to build these kind of bikes in the first place way back when.

If you want your cafe racer to be obviously more show than go it is totally your perogative to do that just as it is my perogative to laugh at no-go-showboats (remember that beach boys song?).

As far as how many people I know that NEED extra fuel capacity on a cafe racer? right off the bat there is me, so 1. Outside of that I don't know that many people you could call real cafe racers. I know a bunch of weekend warriors who have "cafe styled" bikes that maybe see 100 miles (and 2 fuel fillups) on a weekend. They don't need it but I don;t really like waiting for them at fuel stops either.

I do know a ton of real racers however that tailor their fuel capacity to the track they are running and there are plenty of racebikes out there that have larger fuel tanks than their streetbike counterparts. I am not saying you need 7 gallons but I sure as hell like the 5 the dunstall tank gives me. 

[754]

I see what you mean, but I am not against anyone individualizing their bike...makes life way more interesting..

But I am more of the camp of build your bike to suit what you need 85% of the time. ..So maybe you have to pack a bit of fuel or ride with someone with a biger tank those 3 times a year.. as opposed to packing an extra 3 gallons around the rest of the year. A dished tank might loose 1/2 gallon of gas but it should leave at least 3 gallons.. good for 100-150 miles for most...not really in the same range as a Sporty or peanut tank..
 

[Geeto67]

I think we are on the same page about things just from different approaches. I am not against people modifying their bikes but I do live in a city with more hipster than anywhere else and a lot of the "scenesters" just discovering "cafe" bikes for the first time all they ask about is those stupid knee dents. I mean really, forget dual discs, forget cool carbs, all they want is to have that little piece of individualism they saw everywhere else on the net and they want to bash their tanks in with claw hammers and run clubmans with stock pegs on a stock bike and call it cafe.  ugh.


As far as fuel goes I always think about in terms of flying adages I learned over the years: There is nothing more useless than the runway behind you, the altitude above you, or the fuel you have already burned. In city riding I am lucky to see 90-110 out of a full stock tank, that averages out to three or four fill ups a week. My car's range is 300 miles - If I could get half of that I am happy.

[KB02]

and to pull it back on track... 

Yes, I am planning on making a bike that people are (hopefully) going to stop and look at as they walk down the street. That is part of my attempt. I am also a member of the AMA and have been riding since I was Eight. I comute to work on my motorcyle all the time (to the point that co-workers have noted my "dedication" to motorcycling). I was crowned the Americade King at the 2002 Americade Motorcycle Rally (King Bob '02 = KB02). I am also a Rider Coach with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and thus train and license people to ride motorcycles. SO, I would hardly call myself a "poser" (is that how you spell that?) for wanting knee dents. 

Let's be honest, I just think they look cool. 

Now, the picture that was posted is not something that floats my boat, honestly. BUT, that's kind of why I started this post. I'm looking for options. I thought about denting in the sides of the tank on my F1, but since the tank is as narrow as it is, it really didn't need it. This K8 tank is just so wide and ugly (personal opinion) that it will not work for the "look" that I am going for. I'd like to put on a CR tank, but they're a little more boxy than I'd like. Like I said, I love Benji's Whale tank, but his prices make my wife say, "No."    So tht's why I'd like to see what others have done.

Yes, I plan to ride this bike. I plan to ride it alot. I'm hoping for 130+ per tank, but we'll see. With any luck this is going to be a really fun bike to ride, and the occational comment from a complete stranger along the lines of, "Nice lookin' bike, mister," will truelly make my day.

NOW, with all that said - don't worry guys, I'm not offended.  Everyone has an opinion and a preference. As my Dad (and others) says, That's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

MORE PICS!!!!!!

[Jeremiah]

Knee dents are for your knee to grip the tank while you're hanging off the side in a turn.   I think looking cool is a by-product...    I've been staring at an ugly 77 tank in the garage for a couple months now wondering how to make it pretty, it's such an akward shape.  Makes it look 80s. 

yeah um not really - the hanging off riding style really didn't become prominent until the 1980s. Before then Guys would just tuck as just as close to the tank in turns as they did in the straights. That is part of the reason Mike Hailwood's victory on a ducati in the 1978 Isle of man was so amazing, by then it was thought that the old riding style would never be as fast as the new knee down riding style, but here comes this 38 year old retired racer to prove them all wrong.

Anyway, if you look at bikes from the era of the tucked in riding style you will see two reasons for "knee dents". the first is that is where the rubber knee pads that were popular on 50's brit bikes would go. the second is that a manufacturer could build a larger capacity tank and still keep the rider able to tuck in clean and not splay his legs.

On modern sportbikes, knee indentations are there for hanging off but if you look at the shape of the rear of the tank it narrows down to be as thin as possible and give the rider the most range of movement. They are also wide flat surfaces not dished concave surfaces.

Unless you are narrowing the rear of the tank or expanding its capacity, knee dents don't add anything to the bike but looks. To me something done for looks without a function is for the chopper or posuer crowd, a cafe racer is supposed to be a functional race replica for the street and anything done to distract from that dilutes the spirit of the bike.

That is not to say that there isn't a lot of talent that goes into banding these "dents" in. Metal work of any kind is sometimes more art than science and does require a certain amount of concentration and skill.

A cafe racer isn't "supposed" to be anything really, other than fast, and your own.  If you want to go fast, then you're probably not going to be concerned with the gas capacity.  Knee dents, like the earlier rubber knee grips help to control your bike with your knees (here is purpose).  Sorry, I shouldn't have said "hanging off", because you can enjoy them anytime.  Curved indents, help even more with this purpose because your knees get better grip, and you have narrower (&faster) profile .   There's no rules, it's an art!  And what better way to use an old, dented up tank than to make a sexy cafe tank?   Oh whatever, it's all about the love.   I say, hammer on!  Do something creative!